Rather little to report this time: as usually we saw very few tourists here until Christmas and it was actually wise of them to stay away as the weather was really awful most of the time. The 3rd was still just fishable and the ride to the northern Drop Off with Mervin on GameChanger and Maldives angler Abdalla was actually not too bad in the morning. But that is all the good to tell about that day actually, as the wind started to come up strong and on top a hefty current ran at a bad angle. Thus the usual depths once could hardly fish and as they did not produce we worked the shallower areas. Not too good there also and the poor chap on top lost most of his fish either to dropped hooks or the lousy Sharks. Still he was happy with the day and plans to come back. Which I hope he does to get a taste of what the jigging here should be.

That day also Greg & Andre fished a bit, for a few hours around Praslin doing this and that with some success.

By the next day the weather really turned sour due to the season`s first cyclone in the south,  which as usually brought us lots of rain and northerly winds above 20knots with much stronger gusts. The mess prevailed for a full two weeks apart from a pleasant and inexplicable day on the 10th when they again had fun trolling.

And a bit of jigging produced this massive Golden Trevally.

Only a few days before Christmas the weather got somewhat better but still far from nice to fish. Lesser rain and also wind at times but any rain front brought it up strong again. Totally unpredictable conditions thus, even just for a few hours, so hardly anybody was tempted to give it a try. Only exception was again a guest with Greg & Andre who got this GT on the 21st.

The predicted calmer period just after Christmas did not really materialize so the boats doing there usual trolling trips endured proper rock´n´roll. Brandon even ventured to the Drop off on Faith but finding nothing there at all, they trolled back and got Dorados, Wahoos and a Sail. Most welcome that the trolling fish are inside so even half days produce nicely with such mixed bags of fish, the usual Bonitos of course and the odd Yellowfin in between. So pretty solid on that end and worthwhile going - if one is really seaworthy. So much from here for this year, thank you for following and a happy & healthy 2025 to you all!

On the 1st I met Christian to hand him my boat keys so he could move it during my one week absence and learned that the previous day he had caught this splendid Yellowfin Tuna of 83kg trolling on 50lb gear. What a fish to start this edition with.

That absence was due to an Amirantes catamaran trip with German angler Volker, who had fished here on Praslin with Mervin for a few days nearly two years ago, his father Dieter and their friends Olaf, Paule and Ralf. On the afternoon of the 2nd we headed east to fish the first day on Owen Bank at the souheastern edge of the Mahe plateau. During the nightly crossing a real storm raged for 3hrs but by morning it had calmed with just a drizzle of rain clearing up along the day. We found the shallows and raised a few fish to the poppers but nothing really noteworthy with any GTs absent or uninterested. Jigging was sort of solid with a few Amberjacks and one or two smaller Doggies among the usual suspects. But all fish were rather unspectacular and thus not pictured as we expected much better jigging catches along the week. If only we had known … Mid afternoon we then set course to African Banks arriving before midnight for a much appreciated calm night. Short one though as by 6am we already were on top of a seamountain a few miles north. Five anglers did their first casts and 4 GTs were on. Couple more came on top but half hour later the activity was gone. Still not a bad start and no problem as there were Tuna in the 15-25kg range all around to cast at. Not sure how many were caught along the next couple of hours but probably around 20. Or so it felt as I was running around to release them. Also we found jigging fish on one side but sadly the Sharks also had found these so we did not get a single fish up from all the bites. Early afternoon we headed back to the bank for the night, popping along the reef and getting a couple more Geets. So a pretty nice day all in all. To arrive next morning on the seamount a half hour earlier was a good thing as this produced 10 GTs until the activity once more stalled at 6:30 sharp. Very strange. The Tuna fun and the jigging trouble also repeated until afternoon when we headed south to Remire. Moving along we jigged here and there but activity was pretty slow. A small GT, a better Barracuda plus few Bohars and Jobfish were caught while popping along a stretch of the Remire Reef early afternoon at low tide, and only a few more lackluster GTs were raised before dusk. Still no reason for disappointment by the end of that third day I think.

Next morning we found the GTs as passive as the previous evening with just a few more raises. Then the group had to decide if to head back north for the solid fishing, admittedly still without a trophy fish, or take the gamble of heading south. They opted for the latter so course was set towards d´Arroz & St. Joseph. A couple of trolled small lures provided entertainment along the way as the jigging again was a headache: few bites and the Sharks took nearly all the few fish hooked. Popping for a few hours again into dusk along our destination`s reefs also just raised a few rather bored GTs and by nightfall we were wondering what was wrong as the so far rather too calm and hot conditions had turned picture perfect with a slight breeze and some clouds at last. Next morning another popping spell went as quiet as before with the exception of the one and largest GT of the trip but else again just a few raises. Also the jigging remained the same rather dull and Shark hampered affair, but finding Tuna again was of course nice. Everyone got a fair share on poppers and on top Volker caught that massive Rainbow Runner which is probably the biggest I have ever seen.  So again we worked further south towards Poivre. Jigging remained the same trouble with the odd catch but trolling in between was entertaining with a released Sailfish and two Marlin encounters. Popping along Poivre then did not raise a single GT but instead produced a few other nice fish like that Grouper and the really fat Barracuda. Again a decision had to be made and it fell to cross back towards the south Mahe plateau along the night for hopefully some good jigging along the last day. But this gamble again went rather bad as the bite there was even slower than in the Amirantes. Only rather late on one spot we found active and big Jobfish and two GTs among them. The larger of the two was good size again marking a reasonable final catch of this trip. So while catches did not fully meet expectations, the boat, crew, food and except for that very hot calm also the weather were all fantastic. Or as Volker resumed on spot: everything that can be planned was perfect but the quality of the bite is beyond any planning. 

Think the pictures that only show a small part of the catches give an impression that it really was not all that bad. As Dieter told me it had still been a lot better than most of their previous half dozen trips to the Maldives. That the three most ambitious and thus also for a while most disappointed anglers are currently looking into a weeks fishing out of Praslin next year and the whole group into another such cat trip the year after might also speak for itself. As we anglers are, the dull spells´ memories usually fade and the good moments stand out. Definitely we had several of these also, considering the pretty good first two days and also the Marlin encounters. The first had grabbed a tiny Ilander lure on 80lb leader and 30lb gear but dropped the hook right after the grab. The second was much more spectacular. I think it was Ralf reeling in a small Bonito on the same rig and asked if we should not let it swim to see what happens. I explained that it will die within minutes and then only skid, so one would have to bring it in short as to flap around the surface. Positioned it to show him and while explaining how it would need to be rigged as the small hook it took would probably not grab any larger predator eating it, the water exploded. Incredibly the line kept peeling off and a not so small Black Marlin I estimated around 90kg leaped about. Tried to calm the euphoria a bit pointing to the small chance the tiny leader would hold the bill`s rubbing, but they had fun for two hours with the fish jumping every thirty minutes or so until the inevitable happened. Still the whole thing was pretty cool.

Naturally we had been wondering what the fishing and especially the jigging might have been like along the northern and eastern Drop Off. That was answered instantly as soon as we reached the network by a message from Brandon who had been fishing the previous two days and sent these pics.

So that looked solid. Later back on Praslin I learned from Mervin that actually things had been a bit erratic. Not just concerning the jigging, but also the cooperation by the Tuna that were all around. While chasing the poppers as we like it at times, at others they just ignored any offer no matter what size or shape or colour. Also the jigging bite shut off or came back suddenly after some hours. Still lots of decent fish caught of course.

Else Sandro had another Marlin and complained about a day with 9 or 10 GTs raised but none caught due to coral cut offs, straigthened hooks and broken lines and the Sharks ripping hooked fish. He also fished a lot with a group the requested strictly no fotos and info going out with a view to their own marketing purposes. Meanwhile Greg & Andre mixed their usual inshore light tackle and fly charters with some trolling trips. Sailfish turned up every so often and Wahoos came at wish. They fished with a group from Czechia for a week doing bits of jigging but mainly trolling and got 45 in 5 days fishing. Have a look at a bunch of those plus a selection of their other catches along the different disciplines of light spinning and fly fishing.

Then it was Mervin again, fishing with an annual regular guest. It was the usual mix of jigging and also popping with good results once more. That Marlin on popper sadly came dead to the boat.

On the 21st I went with him and Tyler from Alaska. The very nice chap had a most interesting vita to tell about, skippering whale watching over there but also doing kayak guiding in the Antarctic and lots of other things far off the usual tracks. Having worked on Tuna sportfishing boats in California and fished a lot elsewhere, somehow a Wahoo so far had always eluded him so getting one was his wish. That should be properly sorted now as he got 9 or 10 in just a half day. But as you`ve seen plenty of those already in this edition I rather present his very first Sailfish he got on top

Now his mind is circling around a taste of our jigging and popping and he is chewing a bit on the fact that he is not exactly living around the corner. But considering his frequent equator crossings I´d be surprised if he would not pop up here again some point. Also that day Andre & Greg managed this proper GT for their guest.

Right after that Mervin started to fish for a week with Czech repeaters Tomas and Zdenek from the FishMachine/Sportex team accompanied by three new faces Lukas, Michal and Radek tapping into their first tropical saltwater experience. They went through all the different styles you can fish here and had dreams fulfilled with big Doggies and that coincidental huge Shark Mervin estimated at around 200kg. Loads of other fish came on top, so despite a somewhat unsteady jigging bite and the Tuna having been mostly uncooperative as far as casted lures were concerned, they had a great time. As always it could have still been better but the guys were still totally happy with their week. Thus I think chances are pretty good we see them back here, which will be a pleasure as they are so much fun to have around. 

Last few days the weather was still nice as it had been all along the month but first bits of now much needed bit of rain came. Forecasts predict the so far shifty wind will settle in from west and gradually turn on along the coming days, which should mean more rain and not so reliable fishing weather any more, but we will see what really happens.

For the preceeding reports check the archive.