Alphonse Island is open all year round for both fishing and leisure guests. We’ll keep this page of 2024/25 Alphonse Island fishing news updated with all the latest action from this truly superb spot.
Alphonse Island Fishing News – 19th to 26th October
Week four of the high season gave us a glimpse of the changing weather ahead. Some days brought calm, glassy waters with no wind—a beautiful sight. Early in the week, we experienced spring tides, gradually slowing into a clear neap tide.
Angler John stopped over on Alphonse for a few days before making the island hop to Farquhar. He hoped to get his eye in and his arms warmed up on a few of St Francois’ inhabitants. On his first day he went in search of our pickiest fish to target, the Indo-Pacific permit. His guide spotted a solo fish to which he made a precise and delicate cast. The fish reacted exactly how John and his guide hoped, turning sharply and inhaling the fly. John fought it superbly and landed the 44cm golden nugget. John then set off in search of a triggerfish with his guide at his side. A big yellowmargin with dark colours was spotted feeding happily some distance up ahead. With another skilful cast and a few slow strips the giant looked up and rushed furiously towards the fly. When John felt the tension he strip set hard and the fish sailed straight over the drop off and into the deep water. With the assistance of his guide, John was able to keep the fish away from surrounding corals and landed the fish after a hard fight. It was a beautiful fish with some amazing colours, measuring in at 51cm. Later in the day John caught a few bones to complete an awesome flats slam.
A couple of days later and after a few attempts which didn’t materialise, John was still searching for his first GT. His guide poled them along one of the finger flats where he spotted a juvenile GT. John made this chance count and netted the 65cm fish with relative ease. With some confidence now, the GT hunt continued but a bigger fish was the target. Along the same finger his guide spotted a pack of GTs. John followed his guide’s instructions and cast way ahead of the pack, allowing his fly to sink slowly as the fish approached. When the fish were within a few metres of his fly John began to strip, and fortunately the bigger fish grabbed the fly. The beast instantly cleared the excess fly line and then hit the reel, still ripping line with no sign of remorse. John cranked up the drag and pumped the fish which eventually broke its massive run. The fish then used its girth to continue the fight around the boat for some minutes. The fish was landed after a massive tug of war and John was as stoked and exhausted. The banger geet measured an incredible 100cm, an unbelievable fish.
Anglers Kevin and Laura continued fishing with us for a second week, eager to experience as much of our flats fishing as possible and curious about the newly targeted batfish they had heard about. They spent an afternoon casting blue-bottle flies at some bats on the pushing tide. Watching these fish rise to the surface with their eyes and backs out of the water is an amazing sight. Laura was able to catch one and Kevin was able to catch three in total, the biggest of which was a real ‘dustbin-lid’ which measured 50cm. Kevin was able to catch himself another GT and a moustache trigger. Laura had loved her time on the flats, but on her last day she was in for a special treat. She kicked her day off with some bonefish on the dropping tide as she had done for most of the week. With her eye in her guide took her to try for a triggerfish. She fished really well and caught herself a beautiful specimen of a moustache triggerfish, her first. Once the trigger was in the bag it was then time to go and try complete the slam – by catching a GT on the pushing tide. Laura’s guide was polling her on the grassline adjacent to the surf when he spotted a geet on the back of a stingray. She made a great cast and instantly the geet lit up and belted the fly. Laura fought the fish expertly and landed it to complete the flats slam – she was over the moon with excitement. Congratulations Kevin and Laura and your awesome fishing and we look forward to having you back on our island again soon.
A number of other great fish were caught during the week, and so a big congratulations also go out to Steven who caught two more geets in his second week of fishing, the biggest of which was a beauty of 82cm. Well done to angler Ted caught his first ever GT on fly, a gorgeous 70cm specimen. Angler Francesco also caught a really nice GT of 82cm and his first ever yellowmargin trigger, congratulations! Andrea worked hard for his fish and caught himself a moustache trigger and a batfish. Steve was able to catch himself a GT whilst fishing around Alphonse which made his trip, well done Steve.
The bluewater fishing, and particularly the wahoo, have made a very timely appearance right as the ocean has calmed down. Congrats to Robin who ticked a wahoo off the list and to Philip who caught a wahoo and a sailfish on the same day. Ed had the privilege of catching one of these bluewater speedsters on fly, a very unique achievement. The Walsh party however really got stuck into the wahoo, a big well done to Michaela who bagged one and to brothers Steven, Anthony and Paul who were all able to catch a number of wahoo both conventionally and on fly.
Alphonse Island Fishing News – 12th to 19th October
Another fantastic week of weather and fishing was enjoyed by the guests who joined us for the third week of the high season. We enjoyed some massive spring tides with more or less two meters of tidal movement on and off the flats every day, this coupled with the calmer breeze allowed for surf walks and easier fishing in the deeper areas. Overall we had fantastic flats fishing conditions.
Angler Wylie has visited our island previously and has had his fair share of success in the past. His week began with a bang catching the biggest yellowmargin of the week, measuring 54cm. On day two, after a slow morning, Wylie’s guide suggested popping offshore. On the last cast of the day, a black missile charged from the depths and smashed Wylie’s popper, he quickly put pressure on the fish to keep the hook pinned. He landed the geet, his first of the week, a beauty of 95cm. The following day he got another yellow margin trigger which kept his fish tally on the rise. The day after however it all came together with some bonefish action alongside his father Bob in the morning. On the low tide towards the middle of the day his guide suggested targeting triggerfish. After barely starting the walk a solid trigger was spotted on the edge of the finger flat. Wylie made a perfect shot and once the fly had sank, Wiley began stripping to get the trigger’s attention. With fury in its eyes, it charged the fly down and began crunching, Wiley hit back and the fight was on, with his guide charging after the fish to land it before it reached any coral. Wylie landed the fish, a beautiful moustache trigger of 48cm.
Satisfied with another solid trigger, Wylie hit the deep water in search of another GT. He was casting a ‘beast’ fly around coral bombies in an area known as the Badlands, when his fly was t-boned by a nice geet which immediately turned and began heading for a coral. Wylie has a serious reputation for pulling back with incredible force, and this GT felt his wrath. In just a few minutes he landed the 87cm beauty, and completed an excellent flats slam.
In his final days Wiley closed out his already great week in style with another monster moustache trigger of 51cm and another 90cm GT.
Angler Marthinus Van Staden made his debut at Alphonse and was chomping at the bit to get his hands on as many species as he possibly could. He began his week with a number of bonefish, the speed and power of which blew his mind and he absolutely loved it. The next day however his attention turned to the notorious giant trevally, a fish which any fly angler dreams of catching. The day proved fairly difficult with a number of chances not coming to fruition. The tide was now very high and Marthinus’ guide took them to the final spot of the day for the last bit of the afternoon. His guide, Matt, was up on the platform when he saw a sight every guide loves to see on the flats – a nurse shark cruising along the bottom. Knowing that there was a high chance of a good geet with it, Matt polled closer to inspect. He saw what he’d hoped to see, a massive geet swimming tightly against the shark, which was now moving into the glare of the sun making seeing it difficult for Marthinus. Matt expertly described to Marthinus where he needed him to cast, with the fish now almost invisible due to conditions. Marthinus in turn made a great cast and began stripping slowly with both hands and the rod under his arm – making the fly move slowly and consistently. As a lot of big fish do, it approached the fly lazily, and then sped up slightly as it inhaled the fly with its massive bucket-mouth. The beast turned and put up a great fight, ripping line off a locked up reel with ease. Marthinus survived its powerful surges and put pressure of his own on the fish, and bought it to the net wielded by Matt. It measured an incredible 110cm, an absolute monster, being our biggest GT of the week.
Marthinus built on this success and also caught himself a beautiful 46cm moustache trigger the next day and the day after went on to catch himself two gorgeous permit.
Angler Kevin had a great first week of his ten-day fishing expedition. He caught the joint biggest yellow margin of the week, with a tanker measuring 54cm. On the same day he ticked off the GT and some bonefish for a brilliant flats slam. The highlight of his week however came on his third day, when his guide took him permit fishing. It was quite late in the day and the sun hovered just over the horizon, casting glare over the water making spotting fish challenging. Some permit were spotted hanging around the drop-off between the flats and the lagoon, but the glare made spotting their exact movements difficult. On the instruction of his guide Kevin made a cast over the edge to where his guide believed the fish were moving to. In GT-like fashion, one of the bigger fish made a charge and smashed the fly off the surface much to the surprise and excitement of both guide and angler. A tense thirty-minute fight ensued, where Kevin fought gently to not break the thin leader. The permit eventually hit the net which set off an eruption of cheering from Kevin and his guide Branden. The beautiful fish measured a very impressive 62cm, a giant of a permit.
Angler Steven who was also here for two weeks, enjoyed some great success in his first week by catching two nice GTs and a massive 53cm moustache triggerfish. He was also keen to try out the dry-fly action for some batfish. He couldn’t believe the way these beautiful fish come to the surface to try and eat our blue-bottle imitations. He was fortunate enough to hook and land our only bat of the week.
A big congratulations to Laura who caught her first ever yellowmargin trigger of 31cm and to Joseph who caught a beautiful moustache trigger of 47cm and a sailfish on fly.
Alphonse Island Fishing News – 5th to 12th October
The second week of the high season was a very special week of fishing on St Francois. Our guests took advantage of our massive bonefish population, with a great number being caught. Much to the excitement of both guides and guests alike, the triggerfish bite turned on in a massive way – some real giants were caught and the triggers were very receptive to flies thrown their way. The GTs showed their angry faces and also seemed to be in a slightly hungrier mood this week.
Angler Francois was treated to a week of fishing which he will never forget and most likely never beat. On his first day of his week, he charged out there and caught himself a moustache triggerfish, and the only milk of the week – a 98cm beauty, and a bonefish, completing an effortless flats slam. A hot start to his week.
The very next day, Francois had no idea what was in store for him. His first move of the day saw him arrive at a spot known as East Knoll, searching for the big geets which frequent this sandy high spot. His guide, Sean, spotted a massive single fish that was corralling a school of bonefish. Francois made a cast a long way in advance of the fish and waited for it to approach. Once it was close enough Francois began stripping and immediately the giant charged, inhaling the fly in the shallows and powering off into the deep. Sean and Francois worked beautifully together to land the giant, which measured an incredible 110cm. What a fish and what a start to the day!
A few hours later once the tide had dropped, Francois and Sean set off in search of some triggerfish. Before long, Sean spotted a massive yellow margin trigger on an isolated grass patch, just on the edge of the sand flats. These fish are notoriously spooky, so Francois stalked it very patiently before making a delicate cast. The fish did not hesitate once it caught sight of the fly, engulfing it and running off with speed and power. Luckily there was not much coral around and Francois could enjoy the fight before Sean was able to land it. The fish was a monster, and made for excellent photos with its beautiful dark orange colours. The tanker measured an astounding 56cm, a size that will be tough to beat this season.
The triggerfish hunt continued, this time on one of the finger flats. Francois was pointed in the direction of a sizeable moustache triggerfish, tailing on the edge of the flat. This fish was equally as fired up and smashed the shrimp pattern Francois was throwing. After some serious pull the fish was netted, and measured in at 50cm – a well above average size trigger. Francois then went in search of our smallest trigger of the flats – the picasso trigger – to complete the triggerfish slam. As you would have guessed, he got the job done and landed one of these small beauties – completing only our second triggerfish slam of the season. Later in the day he also landed a bonefish to secure a second consecutive flats slam. Francois then went on to catch two more GTs and another giant of a trigger – a 55cm moustache.
Angler Matt, who had fished a few days of the previous week, had a great end to his stay on Alphonse. In his final days, he completed a flats slam, landing a GT, a yellow margin, a moustache trigger, and a bonefish. He then got another beauty of a GT, coming in at 87cm, as well as three more moustache triggers! An epic finish to a great week of fishing.
Angler Oliver also had a great end to his fishing trip where everything fell perfectly into place. He successfully caught his first ever triggerfish- a gorgeous moustache trigger. A couple of days later he got his first ever GT of 80cm, a very respectable first geet. On his final fishing day, he surpassed his previous GT catch with a solid 82cm giant trevally. That same day, he checked off another large triggerfish species with a stunning 42cm yellow-margin triggerfish, and finished off the day with a bonefish, completing an epic flats slam. Congratulations!
Angler Tim also had a great send off from his first ever saltwater fly-fishing trip. He ended his stay with two more moustache triggers and then his second flats slam of his trip which consisted of a 77cm GT, a yellow margin trigger and a bonefish. Congratulations on your epic week of fishing Tim, it’s very hard to believe this was your first time fishing fly in the salt!
A big congratulations must also be extended to Ray, who caught a stunning 48cm yellow margin trigger, a GT and a moustache trigger during the last few days of his stay. Angler Kevin caught his first ever GTs on fly – finishing with two for his week. Angler Mike caught his first ever moustache trigger and a GT during his week and his boat partner and close friend Brad Robson got two moustache triggers, one of which was a beauty coming in at 48cm
Alphonse Island Fishing News – 28th September to 5th October
An absolute belter of a fishing week kicked off our high season on Alphonse and St Francois Atolls. We had an incredible week where all of our ‘big 5’ species were spotted and caught, our anglers were treated to some great weather and serious action on the flats.
Returning angler Tristan has fished our flats once before but returned on this occasion to really show off his skills. His week got off to a flying start landing a cracking 87cm milkfish, followed by a moustache triggerfish and a number of bones to secure a flats slam. Day two he started with some triggerfish action, getting a lot of interest in his flies and landing a good moustache trigger of 46cm. As the tide began to push he set off with his guide in search of a permit. It wasn’t long before a good fish was spotted and cast to, Tristan went tight and delicately fought the fish to net – landing his first ever Indo-Pacific permit of
50cm. A bonefish in the afternoon secured a second flats slam in two days. Later in the week Tristan caught himself two beautiful GTs of 76cm and 78cm and another moustache trigger. He also ventured into the deep blue and caught a wahoo on the fly.
Angler Chris also had an extremely memorable week with some phenomenal catches. On his second day whilst poling a spot known as Betsy’s flat his guide spotted two massive GTs on a shark. Chris made a cast and one of the fish had a massive go at the fly but missed and the pair started making their way over the drop off. On his guide’s instruction Chris cast again as they approached the deeper water and began stripping. Once again, one of the fish exploded onto the fly, this time however the hook found its place in the corner of the GTs mouth. A great scrap ensued with Chris piling on the pressure, eventually bringing the fish to net and measuring in at an incredible 100cm – our biggest GT of the week. Later in the day Chris caught a 47cm moustache trigger (also the biggest of the week) and a bonefish for a world class flats slam. Chris continued to succeed the whole week, landing two more moustache triggerfish and two more GTs – one of which was also another beast measuring in at 97cm.
Rasmus and Martin from In The Loop Magazine joined us for a week of fishing to document the beauty of our fishery and its inhabitants. They too were treated to some proper flats fishing action. Both of them had caught wind of the new batfish craze and were keen on throwing some blue bottle flies at these gorgeous fish and seeing the way they went about eating. Both Rasmus and Martin got on the batfish scoreboard and had a blast fishing ‘dry fly’ style on the flats. Martin made a big splash when he caught our biggest permit of the week – measuring in at a very impressive 62cm – an absolutely beautiful fish. Martin would also go on to catch himself a GT during his week. Rasmus has a knack for catching triggerfish, and when it goes well why would you slow down. On one of his days Rasmus caught himself a beautiful 84cm GT, and thereafter went on the hunt for triggers. He came right with two moustache triggers, a yellow margin and a picasso triggerfish for a super-rare triggerfish slam – a truly phenomenal achievement. A few days later Rasmus ticked the permit off the list for the week by landing a stunning
47cm permit which was then followed by another yellow margin trigger and a bonefish to complete a flats slam. Rasmus also notched up one more yellow margin on his final day which turned out to be our biggest margin of the week measuring 45cm.
We had new guests join us during the middle of the week, one of which was angler Tim who had never fished the saltwater with a fly rod. He couldn’t have asked for a better start to his saltwater fly fishing career and his week after he landed a 42cm moustache trigger, a 65cm milkfish and a bonefish for an epic flats slam!
Almost everyone who gave the flats a go this week tasted some success and so we must also congratulate Johannes who caught a tanker of a milkfish which reached the one meter mark, Johannes also caught himself a 67cm GT for good measure. Well done to Anthea who caught a heap of bones during her week and also caught a beautiful yellow margin triggerfish. Pieter caught a number of bonefish as well as a couple of wahoo on the fly in the deep sea. Young angler Hugo fished with us for nearly a whole month and capped off his stay with his first ever GT of 70cm! Well done to Michael who caught a cracker of a GT measuring 85cm.
Richard had never fly fished in the salt before and caught a number of bonefish and his first ever GT. Ray started off his week in style with a fantastic 87cm GT. Matt, who is no stranger to our flats, finally got his first ever permit – a beaut of a fish measuring 49cm. Oliver also got into the trigger action with his first ever moustache trigger!
If you’ve enjoyed reading this Alphonse Island fishing news and would like more information and availability on Alphonse Island, please contact Charlotte Chilcott or Peter McLeod or call us on +44 1980 847389. Alternatively click HERE if you would like us to contact you.