The first half of the month is dealt with by a couple of lines: very few tourists as usually along that time and on top really ugly weather with changing winds but above all tons of rain. And when it didn`t rain it was pouring with even catastrophic consequences and some fatalties on Mahe. Add the huge explosion over there and it becomes clear it has not been the best of times. Along that spell just a single day was sunny and fishable so Greg and Andre made good use of that on Amberjack. Especially Greg as while the guest was casting his flies he tried to raise bigger fish on a popper and it worked. Big GT well above average. Wonder what it would have done to the guest`s little fly rod.

By mid of the month the weather got friendlier but there were still about no charters due to the lack of guests. Only by the 19th Mervin had a Drop Off trip on GameChanger that produces first class jigging with numerous good size Amberjacks among the usual suspects. 

Add three Marlin hooked briefly early morning and you have all the ingredients for an action packed day. Luckier with Marlin that seem to be quite plentiful out there was Sandro on Frenzy as you can see. He started to fish on the 20th and below is a small selection of the many catches achieved along this and the following two days.

That 23rd Mervin also fished and released two Marlin trolling a couple of lures just between jigging spots. The jigging was visibly good, too.

Sunday the 24th saw the first of four scheduled trips with Mervin for returner Armin and his just watching girlfriend Rachel so to the Drop Off we went on GameChanger. Getting there was a proper mess already due to a heavy rain front with a good bit of wind. At last in place findings were adverse once more: strong current heading straight into the wind so heaviest jigs required as all the jigging activity was deeper than 90m. Poor Armin got cut off by the many Wahoos several times and all that rerigging did him no good in thankfully slowly improving weather. But it was still noon until we felt at least sort of dry which was a blessing. Some fish came as you can see along those maybe 4hrs spent working jigs of up to 700g but by noon trolling two lures back to the islands was a welcome option. A Sailfish came window shopping, one out of two Dorados was boated. But the Bonitos were simply a pain attacking everthing and all the time so better fish had about no chance. Hard work along a really tough and gloomy day this was. Subsequently the pics remain terribly dark even after trying to lighten them up. 

The Christmas days passed quietly in much more reasonable weather which kindly persisted since. So along the second Drop Off jigging trip for Armin with Mervin and joined by German angler Christoph, conditions couldn`t have been nicer in light wind from southeast running with the current, but still we did not come away without new headaches: everywhere it was infested by Bonitos simply not giving better fish a chance. Eventually we had to resort to big depths from 150m to over 200m to be a little safe of those. Apart from some small stuff like a handful Groupers and Jobfish they got about 10 quality fish on. Half of these dropped the hook and two (a Tuna and one Amberjack) got sharked but at least we got the heads to see what it was. So only two quality Amberjacks and one Tuna caught from these. Plus of course so many Bonitos that we could have sunk the boat with them.

On Friday it was just Armin and his girlfriend fishing with Mervin once more. I could not tag along due to other duties but learned in the evening that jigging the Drop again provided the described adversities in shape of massive Shark trouble. But popping inside early morning and late afternoon was well worth it with a decent Bluefin Trevally and a GT. So once again a rather tough stint of fishing for Armin but not without some well and hard earned highlights. 

On Friday it was just Armin and his girlfriend fishing with Mervin once more. I could not tag along due to other duties but learned in the evening that jigging the Drop again provided the described adversities in shape of massive Shark trouble. But popping inside early morning and late afternoon was well worth it with a decent Bluefin Trevally and a GT. So once again a rather tough stint of fishing for Armin but not without some well and hard earned highlights. 

Meantime Sandro had also been fishing along these days. A mix of trolling, jigging and popping produced along half and full days and everything worked but success did not come steady and easy. So good work on that end once more also and I just love that aquarium size Marlin.

With this another year of fishing in and reporting from Seychelles comes to an end. Not the greatest of fishing years I personally think looking at the impact El Nino made on weather and catches, but also at the increasing woes of our world that have of course impacted my skipper friends negatively. So for the new year I hope for a bit more reason in the world, more and better fishing, and good health above all. Of course not just for myself but for all of us. Thank you for supporting this format, stay tuned and transfer smoothly into the happiest possible 2024!

For the preceeding reports check the archive.