Manhandled by a Giant Trevally – Day 2

by | Apr 8, 2015 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

blog-April-8-2015-1-flyfishing the-nubian-flatsDay 2 provided light wind and clear skies, ideal for flats fishing.  Mike and I went with Fede to a small island in sight of the Scuba Libre.  Our focus was triggerfish and giant trevally (GT).

 

blog-April-8-2015-1-jeff-currier-flyfishing-in-sudanWhen I walk the flats I have my 9-weight Winston in hand with my line stripped out ready to cast.  Sticking off the side of my Simms dry pack is my 12-weight rigged with a GT fly and my Abel with plenty of backing.

 

blog-April-8-2015-2-wild-sea-expeditionsOn one side of the flat island there was beach with fragments of shells and broken coral and the other was sharp lava rock elevated about 6 ft up.  Either side was a nuisance for fly line control.  To make life easier I walked in the water while Fede spotted for me above.

 

blog-April-8-2015-3-jeff-currier-flyfishing-for-orangespot-trevallyThere were lots of fish only most weren’t triggers.  There were yellow boxfish and blue boxfish tailing everywhere down deep.  One thing about the salt is that you need to be ready to switch gears so I worked the boxfish.  Sadly they wouldn’t budge for any of my flies and appeared to be eating something microscopic off the bottom.  I picked up a blackspot snapper and this orange-spotted trevally in the process.

 

blog-April-8-2015-4-yellowmargin-triggerfishThe weather was so nice by noon we could see on the flats perfectly in all directions.  There still weren’t many triggers and the few we saw spooked before we could get our rods up to cast.  Mike found a happy one and landed his third yellowmargin of the trip.  An excellent accomplishment being their stubbornness.

 

blog-April-8-2015-5-scuba-libre-in-sudanDue to the closeness to the Scuba Libre we went back for lunch then right back out to the flats along nearby Snake Island.  I whacked a quick bluefin trevally then got snubbed by a few triggerfish.  I was just about to cast to a passing boxfish when Fede started screaming GT, GT, GT!  Without wasting a second, I dropped my 9-weight, ripped my 12-weight loose and started stripping line off the reel.  I wasn’t as fast as would’ve liked and by the time I launched a cast the trevally was beyond range.  That’s when Fede chucked a hookless teaser a country mile the direction the giant trevally was headed.

 

blog-April-8-2015-5b-flies-for-giant-trevallyFede reeled as fast as he could and the GT appeared behind the teaser.  I knew right then and there the “***” was about to hit the fan.  And it did.  I launched my cast and the big fly landed next to the incoming teaser.  Before I could get a strip the GT exploded on my fly and took off.

 

This giant trevally was a big one well over 40lbs.  He took off so rapidly that despite the strength of my 12-weight and a tight drag on my Abel 11/12N, the fish ran deep into the backing as if my reel was on free spool.

 

blog-April-8-2015-6-Fede-of-wildsea-expeditionsThe run of a big GT happens so fast it’s sort of terrifying.  My drag was so tight that I was physically pulled along for about 50 feet.  The GT was virtually unstoppable and unfortunately for us, he wrapped my fly line and leader around the jagged coral and broke me off.

 

blog-April-8-2015-7-snake-island-red-sea-sudanIt took a good hour to calm down.  Not just me but Fede as well.  Fede’s favorite fish is the GT and anytime he sees one he goes nuts.  To help us calm our nerves we took a hike on Snake Island and looked for snakes but found nothing more than shed skins.

 

blog-APril-8-2015-8-teasing-for-trevallyWhen the sun got low in the horizon and spotting fish on the flats became too difficult, Fede took Mike and me to the reef for some teasing.  He launched cast after cast but nothing fell for our fake.  The three of us were losing interest and considering calling it a day.  That’s when a school of at least five bohar snappers (two-spot snapper) arrived.

 

blog-April-8-2015-9-jeff-currier-flyfishing-for-bohar-snapperMike and I tossed behind the teaser at the same time hoping for a double hook up.  I was concentrating on my fly and strip when I heard a tremendous pop.  I couldn’t help but look.  Mikes rod snapped on his cast.  Bad luck.  The bohars were hungry.  While Mike was unfortunately out of commission, the bohars were swarming and I hooked up.  For the second time today chaos broke loose only this time I’d prevail.  Although the awesome snapper pulled me into the sea, I stopped him before the first coral and landed this handsome bohar!

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing

1 Comment

  1. Jack Meredith

    Shared this with an avid Fly Fisherman friend of ours that lives here at Brays. He is a close friend of Tony Royals that use to own the Spotted Horse Ranch in Hoback and now has a Orvis dealership in Beaufort, SC. Great people. Jack

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I started fly fishing at age 7 in the lakes and ponds of New England cutting my teeth on various sunfish, bass, crappie and stocked trout. I went to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where I graduated with a Naturalist Degree while I discovered new fishing opportunities for pike, muskellunge, walleyes and various salmonids found in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

From there I headed west to work a few years in the Yellowstone region to simply work as much as most people fish and fish as much as most people work. I did just that, only it lasted over 20 years working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop in Jackson, WY where I departed in 2009. Now it’s time to work for "The Man", working for myself that is.

I pursue my love to paint fish, lecture on every aspect of fly fishing you can imagine and host a few trips to some of the most exotic places you can think of. My ultimate goal is to catch as many species of fish on fly possible from freshwater to saltwater, throughout the world. I presently have taken over 440 species from over 60 countries!

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