This year`s April saw a lot of fishing along the first half of the month in gradually deteriorating weather. The latter is most unusual for April which tends to be calm and sunny. Theory is that the still lasting El Nino and the subsequent too warm water causes a lot more evaporation. So heavy cloud cells build all the time and while some rain off without a breath of wind others bring heavy storms. Usually not lasting too long, sometimes only for an hour, but often also for several. Right after Easter the weather was still relatively stable though. Mervin`s Drop Off trip on the 2nd  produced solid jigging with a handful of decent Amberjacks and sightings of not yet cooperative Yellowfin Tuna. The next day they had six of those on jigs and nice enough also poppers, the usual jigging catches and a long fight with this Marlin on jig that eventually broke off a few meters from the boat.

While the jigging was not as great as it had been during most of March it was still not giving reasons to complain as you can figure from these pics provided by Brandon that same evening.

The following day which was the 4th was really special for me as I at last got back at sea after the frustrating foot wound had finally closed. So to the Drop Off we headed with Mervin, German angler and friend Thomas and his son Nick. After picking up that Wahoo along an hour`s trolling to check some spots, the jigging started brilliantly. Showed Nick how it`s done to be on a good fish after seconds and so was Thomas only moments later. Just his fish got sharked completely and of Nick`s proper Amberjack we at least were left the head for identification. From then on all went downhill though: several good fish sharked along the next hour but during the following one the bites got ever lesser and the fish smaller. By 11am the jigging bite was and remained plain dead apart from a few knocks. Seeing and chasing Yellowfin on the surface provided a bit of adrenaline. We managed to get a single one on along 2hrs but it got away at the boat. Strange and tough day in extreme heat and windless conditions.

That evening I learned from Brandon that at another area of the Drop they did not experience the bite dying completely as we did. The smaller fish like especially Groupers kept coming so the guests´slow pitch jigging had kept them catching.

On the 5th day 2 for Thomas & Nick with Mervin again was a struggle. Jigging was once more slow especially when compared to last month`s mayhem. The small handful of bigger fish (with an obvious monster among them) either got sharked or away some other way. Frequency was irregular and slow. Yellowfin showed on the surface once in the morning for seconds but the couple of casts did not produce. After noon they came up a few times briefly so Mervin got one on for a moment on popper. We suspect the fish are all focussed on that incredible amount of supertiny baitfish (1-2 inches)  and the fish cleaned were either full of those - or all empty. Trolled 2 big lures around the Tuna area, within minutes getting one out of double strike while the much bigger one came away, and another moments later plus the Wahoo before all was gone again. This again now didn`t fit the small bait theory. All very strange again.

Meantime Brandon with his slow jig addicts fished an area of the Drop Praslin boats rarely head to. They got some fish in the morning but from 10:30am onwards it was plain dead. So same experience we had the previous day in a totally different and quite far away area.

Much happier were Andre & Greg with their guest as they managed another Sailfish on fly. Great feat as such. But even more so when considering that along the previous days trolling on the plateau had barely produced a fish or knock. We were all scratching our heads.

Not for long though as the jigging bite was back on nicely the next day. This is just a small selection of catches Brandon made that day with his guests.

Mervin fishing with another group also experienced much better jigging frequency with the usual suspects pretty much all showing up except unusually enough any Amberjack. He told that they lost a massive Doggie and he missed a Marlin popping for the countless but still uninterested Yellowfin Tuna.

On the 7th only Mervin was out. Was supposed to tag along for Thomas & Nicks´ last day but couldn`t make it. Shame actually as the good trend continued and the day became really great: a Marlin on trolling early, solid jigging with a handful of Amberjacks and the usual suspects. The Wahoos also came on jigs. Big Doggie lost again and one more taken by a huge Shark right at the boat. Toothy buggers were an issue all day and about the only donwside. Tuna came up in the afternoon again. Still not too cooperative but a couple caught popping. So all types of fishing produced. Perfect example what makes fishing here so versatile, entertaining and often spectacular. I was especially happy for Thomas who was on his fourth visit here and so far never lucky to experience how good our fishing can be. 

It was a brief indulge and we were reminded instantly that on every high follows a low. The next two days all trips had to be cancelled due to bad weather. On the 10th I went with Austrian angler Gunnar and  Mervin to the Drop Off again. That became one of the worst fishing days I ever experienced here: 6hrs of hardcore jigging by three anglers produced a frustratingly low 15 or so hookups. Bad enough but all those fish except for 2 Bonitos and a tiny Yellowfin Tuna hooked at the bottom in 200m (wtf?) were sharked. One of the Sharks got hooked and was released. Trolling for an hour before noon at least provided that decent Yellowfin Tuna. From the few jigging hookups in the afternoon we got exactly no fish at all. So tax rate 100%. Shocking. To top it all for poor angler Gunnar he hooked a GT at a spot on the way home where Mervin stopped for a few minutes and his main line broke at the strike. Really unfortunate.

Same was true though in a very different way for Sandro who had started with a new group: they lost 4 really fat Doggies and one more was ripped by Sharks. Add a few broken rods and spooled reels plus a Sailfish that got away, along with hardly any catch made, as ingredients for maximum frustration. Next morning all Drop Off trips were cancelled again due to bad weather. It just did not seem prudent to head out there with a massive front predicted to move in along the day. Early hours still looked okay though for German angler Marcus´ half day GT popping with Greg & Andre. But the target fish remained a no-show, and after a bit of Shark action and developing unwellness on the angler`s side they just made it home before the weather really struck. The following morning was fine again and provided Sandro`s group with a day of solid jigging.

Same was true for Brandon that day.

The 13th should have seen regular Michäas and his brother Cornelius fishing their third day with Sandro but due to the weather and the cancellations it was only their first. Early jigging was good with that proper Doggie and other decent fish but the Sharks became a headache once more and also the bite slowed towards low tide. Some Tuna chasing produced 4 hookups out of maybe a dozen strikes and two fish eventually boated. Add a Sailfish missing a popper and a Wahoo doing the same right at the boat and nearly jumping inside for a quite entertaing day out at the Drop Off.

As Sandro could not cater for the two any more due to other bookings I set them up with Mervin for two more days. So next morning they went GT popping but especially Michäas was really unlucky with three good size ones just dropping the hook without any mistakes or reason as Mervin reported. But Cornelius, while completely new to the sport of jigging and popping, managed his first GT. Someone else visibly was also interested in it. 

The group had fished in relentless rain and at times strong wind that both only settled after noon. In that same nasty weather I meantime had headed out to the Drop with Brandon and German newbies Marcus and Heiko for trolling and jigging. Right upon arrival at the Drop it started pouring, the bite was terribly slow, the previous day`s depths produced not even a knock, the shalllows just a few Groupers and undetermined touches. After two hours we trolled for two more hoping for better activity and to escape the relentless downpour but neither nor. Jigging again just led to a released Shark, a single Bonito and a few more Groupers despite Brandon, Wada and myself stepping in in turns. At least that rain stopped eventually and when shifting to trolling I silently prayed for the daily Wahoo. Indeed it came after 5mins but then all dead again. Add Marcus getting unwell when the wind picked up and you have all ingredients for a day to forget asap but the two really cool and relaxed lads happily said it was still a good experience not to regret.

Still I was worried the chaps might get a heart attack when seeing how drastically all turned around within a single day. Brandon and guests the next day had a much better time in every way.

Adding a small selection from Mervin of that 15th of April.

And Sandro`s pics from that day should also not go missing.

Again a day after, so on the 16th all three boats went and had a prefect time when not considering very long and bumpy upwind rides home. Again with Mervin it was Michäas & Cornelius´ last day of fishing. Ideal that the latter got his big Doggie among a vast of other catches and we had so much fun and laughs beyond.

Brandon also enjoyed a steady bite of quality fish on the last day with the Israeli Fishing Narko group.

Same was true for Sandro with the other half of that group. It was really quality fishing.

And another huge Doggie well worth to stand alone they also got that day. Really a monster deserving several perspectives I say.

So this first half of the month had produced some ups and downs in weather and bite but all in all I think it was pretty good. Meanwhile regular Wolfgang and family due to fish with Mervin had been on the island and nailbiting for him to go out with them. Sadly the weather turned increasingly erratic and bad along his remaining stay so it did not go as planned. Their first Drop Off trip had to be changed to just a half day GT popping with one caught. Their single trip to the Drop a few days later did not produce greatly as far as jigging is concerned but a 2.7m Shark eventuelly released on PE3 slow pitch gear provided a memorable experience. Same was true for that final trip which again was shifted from the planned Drop Off fishing to just another half day GT popping in the afternoon due to bad weather in the morning. I joined that trip on the 22nd and we ran right into a front with gusts over 30kn and horizontal rain like bullets. Luckily it cleared up after a while but the expected high level of activity due to a big afternoon spring tide did not materialize. But still Carina got her very first GT in the end.

For the rest of that week the weather remained very unstable and unpredictable. Not so much a problem as there were no charter guests any more. Only Mervin fished Friday and reported this decent GT but was unhappy with three more lost.

Since I have not received any news but admittedly was a bit off the radar due to friends from home visiting. With the weather still unpredictable and rather few tourists around though I shoould not have missed anything relevant if at all. In case I did it will be delivered in the next edition. This one is big enough now anyways I think.

To start this edition with, here is a selection of catches made by Brandon and guests on February 29th  which reached me in the afternoon when the last report was already up and out but should not go unseen.

That afternoon was eventful other ways, too. I was awaiting my buddy Marco from his week in Cosmoledo to spend a few days at my place as usually. But just a couple of hours before his arrival I sustained a deep cut in my foot that needed stiches and blew all plans made for the time ahead. So I was condemned to sit at home leg up and watching simultanously unfold a proper infection of the wound and some of the best fishing I have witnessed in my nearly one and a half decades here. Missing out on Marco`s and also present Stephan`s trip with Sandro on the 1st was not too bad as their plans did not work out. Sailfish to raise to teasers and catch on fly gear wouldn`t come and the jigging done in between was rather slow.

But from then on both foot and being sidelined really started to hurt. Marco spent the time fly fishing without me and while the weather was not ideal in the beginning but improving all along, he got to catch some decent fish and saw lots more. I checked around, but neither a good spare foot nor a full body condom available anywhere.

On the 5th I was due to tag along with German angler Marc-Andre for a half day GT popping on Mervin`s Gamechanger. Would have loved to be onboard especially as it went really well with 3 proper size GTs and a good Bluefin Trevally coming off near the boat.

That same evening Brandon skippering Faith that day provided the following pics that indicated the Drop Off jigging drought during the past weekend had picked up again.

This turned out only the start of a prefect week as far as the weather and also the jigging out there is concerned. Sandro with a group of hard fishing and heavily equipped Russians sent me some picks in the evening of the 8th.

Decent fish but several really big and eventually too big Doggies got away. This one they got, though, and I think it deserves to stand alone here. What a barrel!

Next evening he reported again. No such monster caught this time, but again some hooked and a bunch of quaity fish of all sorts caught. This is only a small selection.

Brandon was also jiiging there again that day but with a not quite so sophisticated and lighter equipped group. They also ran into the big Doggies but had their issues and did manage `only´ fish that were still decent I think.

Not just far out there the fishing was lively, though. Greg and Andre on Amberjack did some of their inshore trips mainly for casting and a bit of light jigging in between. No lack of action to complain about here, too.

This was all much nicer to observe than the cauliflower happily growing in my foot wound despite a first round of antibiotics. Luckily the chaps kept feeding catches and pics for my distraction. Next day it was Mervin providing me with some remedy. As the Israelis came back to fish he had good old Yoni along, and despite the guys as usually fishing light and thus losing lots of fish, they also managed one of the massive Doggies.

Those big beasts seemed to be queueing up those days as Sandro proved that evening. Such a massive Grouper in between is also very nice of course.

After this in every aspect tremendous first third of the month the weather turned somewhat erratic again. Seemingly perfect days were suddenly spoiled by heavy fronts bringing mostly short lived but heavy rains and crazy gusts. Regular wind speed outside those messes had also risen to the 10-15kn range The subsequent fast drift made it harder for the guys to keep an upper hand on the big Doggies as it was much more difficult to stay vertically above the fish. Couple days were an absolute mess also that allowed for no trips but all in all the fish of all sorts kept coming. These pics were from Brandon again.

Especially nice to see the Yellowfin already. These were not coming to the surface yet for casting and most were rather small but Brandon`s anglers struggled for 1:45hrs on a monster. They saw it 15m under the boat and Brandon estimated high (kg) double digits but then the beast took off on a 400m run spooling the PE4 gear while several of the chaps were desperately holding on to. Such also a guest of Greg`s & Andre`s had to do for a good long time but he managed to get his fish. Such Yellowspotted Trevally weighed at over 17kg is already a cool catch but to catch it on a #8 fly rod is simply fantastic.

Meanwhile Brandon kept taking his group to the Drop and they kept catching. Or re-rigging every so often when the opponents were too strong. Still those monster Doggies of course.

Just to break up that avalanche of Drop off jigging catches a little, here are some from plateau fishing. I was due to be part of Ilse`s three trips on Zero with Elcid. Had been looking forward to that as I have not yet been out with that skipper nor boat. But even more so as Ilse from Austria is a real lady and I find it impressive that at her senior age and despite some health issues coming along with that, she fishes with so much enthusiasm as I had learned already a year go. And she was well rewarded with a variety of nice trolling and bottom fishing catches.

Along those days the jigging with the hardcore groups usually trying to avoid the Easter holiday high season slowly started to dry up. Brandon sent this nice mix of fish on the 24th complaining about more huge Doggies lost.

Those days also Sandro got a well deserved break after having fished several more days. But after the monsters he did not really bother any more to take pics of the average size fish. Kind of decadent knowing that plenty anglers would give an arm and a leg to catch one of those Doggies even if they don`t surpass the 50kg mark. Along last week the type of anglers and trips then changed as expected to indiviual trips, often half days, of rather occasionl anglers as far as our kind of fishing is concerned. Or so to say the typical high season holiday guests. The mostly performed trolling went better on some days and slower on others but there was still one more highlight. Set once more by Andre and Greg with two Sailfish same morning caught on fly. Cool stuff again, guest was of course over the moon.

To have missed out on all that plus a trip booked a year ago to Farquhar for fly fishing really sucked. But a couple of rounds of antibiotics, IV at times, helped eventually and right after finishing this report I will slowly start to approach water. In the shape of a shower without a bloody plastic bag around the foot for a humble start.

For the preceeding reports check the archive.