Seychelles

Seychelles Nov. 2021 – Cosmoledo

Cosmoledo Atoll

Seychelles, November 2021

After visiting Cosmoledo in the spring and returning home completely flashed, I took advantage of a cancellation at short notice to travel down there again in November. Not hesitating for a second, I set off in a euphoric state-of-mind in the first November week of the season with a new moon. I didn’t know any of the other members of the group which consisted of Conor Killeen (South Africa), Alex and Steven Shereman (USA), Tom Borman (South Africa), Anna and Maxim Levinson (Russia), Mark Priestley (Kenya), John and Gabriel Coulter (Ireland), Steven Priestley (England), Stephan Kreupl (Germany).

The administration work was just as bureaucratic as in the spring-time – but what won’t you do to get away from the pandemic? The journeys to and from the Seychelles fortunately went without a hitch. We had planned to spend six days fly-fishing on Cosmoledo and a further day on Alphonse Island on our way back. I spent the following nine days on Praslin Island where our charter boat is berthed.

For many years now, Cosmoledo has been the absolute hot spot for any fly fisherman targeting GTs and in the past, you could always rely on the location to get good results. However, the weather conditions were unfortunately ill-fated for us fly- fishermen – high winds of up to 21 knots and frequent heavy showers in between…

After meeting for a hearty breakfast on the first morning, it was at last time for us to set off full of confidence. We found our first GTs on the flats within 2 hours, yet the fish were somehow different from the ones we knew. I had a few good shots and the fish came racing towards the lure at full speed but then kept turning away at short notice. I was able to hook 2 smaller one on the flats but had at least another 8 veer off at the very last second. In the early afternoon my guide Brett anchored the skiff near a promising spot where we waited for the tide to come in. During new moon periods the tide rises by some 2.7 metres which attracts the fish to come in close. Stingrays were the first to put in an appearance and then a fish of about one metre in length surfaced. It saw the streamer, approached it in slow motion and then gulped it down almost under the rod tip. Full contact! The main line shot through my fingers, down to the backing. We followed the fish in the skiff until it found a coral head, wrapped itself round it and snapped the tippet – talk about bad luck. By the end of the day, we had sighted around 25 GTs.

That evening we discussed the day’s events over a few cold drinks and discussed how we could do things better the next day. Everyone told the same story of a few fish tracking the lures, a couple hooked and lots of GTs simply ignoring the flies.

The second day was similar. I caught 2 small GTs from the flats, hooked but lost two more and saw many tracking the lures right up to the rod tips before turning away. In the course of the day my guide Alex and I sighted roughly 30 fish.

On day 3 we only saw 4 fish but they were not within casting distance.

Day 4 turned out to be a slightly better one for us and we were able to catch a GT early in the morning. After that, however, we didn’t manage to find any more. In the flats, we discovered some beautiful bonefish in the 60 cm category of which we caught 3. After that we decided to go for broke and try for a trigger fish to complete the legendary Flat Slam – unfortunately without success.

On day 5 we only saw 3 fish, all of which refused to take the flies. Day six saw me out with Alex again. The first and only fish of the day surfaced right under our noses at 4 p.m. and swiftly disappeared.

By the end of the week, I recorded 5 GTs in my catch book, dropped another 5 (thrown hooks) and lost one fine specimen which snapped my line. The rest of the group didn’t fare much better. 25 GTs were caught, the largest was 91 cm in length.

The fishing was extremely tough. There were hardly any fish around after day 2 and those in the atoll were very wary. There was almost no fodder fish to be seen. The water temperature of 27°C was very warm. I cannot say for sure whether or not this is a sign of climate change. I do think that what the atoll really needs in the near future is a major storm which would create a new current and flush the warm water out of the lagoon. The guides really tried everything but what can you do when there are no fish around?

Our group consisted of some awesome guys and, in spite of the unfavourable conditions, we had a great time together making new friends which is of great value, particularly at times like this.

On the following day, we began our return journey to Astove Island by boat and then on to Alphonse Island by plane. I spent an extra day on Alphonse Island and tried my luck with some permit fishing. We saw 7 fish in the flats and I was able to cast towards 4 of them. Two of them saw us and made swift departures while another 2 permits followed the flies. In both cases the bonefish were quicker and inhaled the flies: that’s permit fishing. It was an absolutely awesome day with incredible experiences. Permit fishing is simply addictive.

I spent the following week on Praslin Island where our boat “Frenzy” is berthed. The trip report will follow shortly. For more information on the boat please visit www.boundlesscharters.sc or our website.