To wake up with my feet on hard ground was a nice feeling early this morning. I’m on St. Brandon’s Atoll. About as far in the boonies in the Southern Indian Ocean as you can be. We finished a 30 plus hour boat ride to get here last night and my body felt the seemingly endless journey in many ways. But it was all worth it because I’m hosting a group of friends for Yellow Dog Flyfishing here for the next FOURTEEN days!
St. Brandon’s is considered one of the most remote saltwater fly fishing locations on earth. These spectacular flats are home to the finest bonefishing on the planet and one of the highest Indo-Pacific permit populations on earth. I can attest to that because I fished here in 2017 and again in 2018. On the 2018 trip I landed my personal largest bonefish 10.75lbs and a hard-earned first Indo-permit.
This isn’t a fancy lodge with luxurious rooms and ten course dinners each night. This place is plenty comfy but its primitive. There are four bedrooms for the eight of us and two shared bathrooms. Breakfast is hearty – two eggs, toast and either bacon or sausage. After fishing there’s appetizers to take the edge off before an excellent dinner.
The group consists of Michael Lodge, Jeff Smith, David Moeller, Morgan O’Brien, Bob Ylagan, Heath Marston and my roommate, and once fellow Jackson Holer, Mike Brennan. We’ll mix up fishing partners and guides everyday these next two weeks. Today we fished with our roommates. Mike B. and I fished with veteran saltwater guide, Jarryd Newell from South Africa.
We boarded the skiffs at 7:30 and then listened through a safety briefing. All the guides have radios able to connect with one another and each boat has a satphone. Once that was done, we headed off.
As the skiffs fired up their two 15 hp engines, I watched all my guys look around in awe. This place is so beautiful with endless flats and coral heads in every direction. Some of the flats are solid sand and it’s easy to see drop-offs and even the fish that patrol them. The water is so clear you feel as if you’re boating on air and deep water seems much shallower than it is.
As expected, Jarryd took us to a flat that with these tide conditions was loaded with bonefish. Any good guide starts new clients with the easiest fishing possible. Guides want to see your casting ability and overall fishing skills. Starting with stubborn permit cause some of the best casters to look awful where as bonefish generally don’t cause loose loops.
The name of the flat is one I’ve fished often, Julies. It’s a mix of sand and turtle grass with a few corals mixed in and expands for miles. For me a big part of flats fishing fun is spotting the fish then casting to them. I asked Jarryd to spend his time with Mike and I paralleled along on my own. The long 30 hour boat ride getting here was quickly forgotten when I spotted and landed this dandy of a bonefish the first ten minutes of the trip!
We fished Julies for four hours until the tide got so high we had to move. I fished a small Merkin crab about a size 8 all the time while Mike fished a spawning shrimp. Mike and I easily must have landed over a dozen bonefish. And I’m not kidding, they averaged 5lbs and we caught several bigger.
With the hightide our mid-day fishing was limited. Jarryd suggested drifting in the boat over some deeper flats to look for giant trevally. St. Brandon’s isn’t heavily advertised as a GT fishery like the Seychelles; however I’ve seen a few monsters here. I cracked a Phoenix and told Mike to grab his 12-weight and take the bow.
The rich blues and greens of water mixed with every color under the rainbow of corals is a sight to behold. To the untrained eye, fish blend in. But each species has their own distinct color and after doing this for a while, I can separate them. I was scanning the flat and spotted a chunky GT approaching on our right. Geet’s have sort of an odd gray color about them and a slenderer than you would think shape. Jarryd leapt from the boat to hold us in place and Mike made a perfect cast. Mike stripped and the king of all trevallies lunged for his fly. Here in the photo you can see Mike doing an absolutely picture-perfect strip set to drive his 4/0 Brush Fly firmly. The GT thrashed on the surface surely in shock there was a hook in his meal. “Fish on”!
We use 12-weights for GTs for a reason. These are one of the strongest fish in the ocean and their initial run takes the term “smoking reel” to a new dimension. Mike cleared his line and Jarryd reached up and cranked his drag a few notches. Within seconds the renowned flats fish was 150 yards deep in Mikes backing.
Big GT’s don’t give up easily and will run indefinitely if you let them. The only way to keep the fight from dragging on is to fight back with confidence. We use 100lb leaders for these fish an that’s hard to break yourself let alone for a fish. Mike tightened his drag to the max and leaned back for battle. The GT still pulled but within seconds knew he met his match. The fish halted his run and spun in circles in panic. Then Mike started reeling rapidly. The fish was confused and broken. Soon after Mike landed his first ever GT. On the first day of fishing for them!
Mikes Geet measured 103 cm. They get larger but any GT over 100 cm is considered a true trophy. Mike posed for pictures and I had to get in there with him for one. Years of planning go into these trips and when one of your buddies executes his dream fish on day one – it’s a thrill for all.
Mike came for the magnificent St. Brandon’s bonefishing. He hoped a chance for a GT would come but he certainly wasn’t sure he’d catch one. Mike admired his fish for a few minutes then released him and watched him swim away. When he got back in the boat I had a cold Phoenix waiting. We celebrated and spoke of how fortunate we are to be here. This is incredible.
I can’t remember exactly what we did the rest of the day. I’m not sure Mike B. could either. We were in heaven. The afternoon went by fast and before we knew it, a very successful day one was in the books for everyone. While there weren’t any more GTs caught today everyone caught plenty of bonefish including this double with Bob and Heath.
Fishing days end around 4:30. On these remote waters you can’t take a chance of being out after dark. Once showered up there were snacks and cocktails served and everyone shared stories of the day. While the stories flowed, I broke out my Sharpies and decorated Mike’s pack with his GT. A happy man all the way around. We ended our great day with a big dinner and we retired early to be ready for another adventure tomorrow.