With the St. Brandon’s Atoll bonefishing as spectacular as it was yesterday, we had to go back to Boneyard Flat again. All four boats returned together promptly after breakfast. I fished with guide Juan again and my fishing partner was Heath. We came out of the gates on fire and things never eased until lunchtime.
There were a lot more huge bonefish caught. Yesterday Dave got his 10lber. Today it was Heath with a 10lber of his own. Congrats to Heath for a milestone catch! Mike Brennan landed not one, but two 9.5lbers, I had a 9lb, and I believe everyone caught at least one bonefish over 8lbs. It was another bonefish morning for the history books. For the second day in a row, as a group we landed over 40. I wanted a few epic bonefish days on this trip. I’m now far beyond satisfied. I reckon all of us are completely blown away!
After our fantastic bonefish morning we had lunch then did a drift in search of GTs. With my aching shoulder, I have not brought my 12-weight with at all. That’s fine. I kicked back and enjoyed a Phoenix and watched Heath and Juan on their hunt. The GTs were not stirring.
After an hour of no GTs I suggested some bommie bashing. Bommie bashing is a saying we use in the Seychelles for drifting over coral reef and throwing flies to them. We catch all kinds of interesting fun stuff in the Seychelles so one would suspect it to be about the same here. It’s something where the 12-weight is almost mandatory because even the small fish of the reef, often groupers, pull so hard they can break a lighter rod like it’s a toothpick. Being I didn’t even have a 12 on board, I had to either watch or take a chance with my 9-weight. I tried watching but only lasted about five minutes before I cut my bonefish leader off and attached 5 feet of straight 60lb Fluoro and went to work. I was quick to test my 9 with this beautiful brown African marbled grouper.
Though not a big fish, that first grouper threatened my under gunned outfit. But I used an old trick. Instead of fighting the fish with a bend in the tip of my rod, I had my rod nearly pointed straight at the fish. Nearly. But not completely. I allowed a tiny bit of bend however in the butt of the rod not the tip. The butt is thicker and stronger and therefore I was able to succeed. I really tested my system when I doubled my fish size here. This is a blue phase African marbled grouper. This slab nearly buried me in the coral several times. Honestly, I got lucky.
I was on a roll. This is tough one to identify, but after an hour or so down the internet rabbit hole, I believe this is an adult yellowstripe emperor. I caught a juvenile of this species earlier in the trip. If anyone has another suggestion as to the species, I have open ears. I want to be sure to get these fish correct for my list.
I was on a tear for a while there and my outfit held up. That is until I hooked what a was hoping for. One of the most beautiful fish of the Indian Ocean reefs is an immature saddleback grouper. I say immature, but we’re still talking that 10-15 range. Well, I hooked up to a dandy. I yelled, “saddleback”! I got my message out just in time for Heath and Juan to see the gorgeous animal as well. But it didn’t last long. I could not stop this saddleback. With my rod pointed at the fish doing my best to hold the line and keep him from running, my fly line broke. There goes a perfectly excellent SA Grand Slam WF9F flats line. I actually put a new loop on and it still cast well so I didn’t lose too much.
On the water I did an emergency repair and was back in action within a few minutes. I was pushing it with my shoulder but bommie bashing is my drug. My next fish was this hard pulling bohar snapper. This is a small one compared to some of the monsters I’ve taken over the years in the Seychelles, French Polynesia and the Red Sea of Sudan, but a fun catch nonetheless.
We called it a day at 4:30. Juan, Heath and I enjoyed a nice slow ride back to the lodge with a frosty beer. What a fabulous two days in a row we’ve had with the mind-blowing bonefishing and then knocking off some quality reef fish this afternoon.
When we returned to the lodge we got the full report from the rest of the guys. Lo and behold, Morgan stuck his third permit of the week. Right by the lodge on a nearby flat. Congrats to Morgan for another well done catch!