As usually in January the weather shifted all the time between not so bad and simply awful. Those shifts were unpredictable and came in quick succession, often enough within an hour, so fishing here was rather for the tough. On New Years Day the weather was still good but a couple of trolling trips turned out not too successful. Next day and until the 6th it was really very windy and wet. Still Greg & Andre did two popping trips on TopWater, losing a big GT and getting a couple of juveniles. Brandon meanwhile and a very seaworthy guest even went to the Drop Off catching Dorado and Wahoo on the troll, but also jigged successfully for Groupers and Ruby Snappers with jigs of 400-500g in 2-3kn of current. Nice job but sadly he never got the fotos from the guest. On the 7th conditions were okay for a half day GT popping as a warmup for my Swiss friend Simon and his cool buddy Fabio, so with Mervin we went. Simon got this reasonable GT early while Fabio unfortunately got reefed by an obviously bigger one. About half a dozen more were raised but these just followed without attacking and dropped down. Still not a bad start of their stint.

Two days later we all ventured to the Drop Off. Jigging was cool with half a dozen Doggies and Amberjacks each plus loads of other stuff like Yellowspotted Trevallies, Bludger Kingfish, Jobfish, Groupers and more. Not to forget that big Rainbow Runner by Mervin. Three Yellowfin Tuna also caught on jigs, and for a short while they were up and responsive to topwater lures. Think we got 6 or 7 more that way. All small though so we did not bother to take pics of those. Sharks were the usual nuisance at times but thankfully not throughout. The NW wind picked up along the hours with some rain so the return crossing was a very wet affair, but all in all we had a pretty perfect day.

Next few days again were not tempting to go out to say the least, so only on the 13th we went again, and that day on the Drop Off went sort of weird. Arriving at a perfect high tide a Yellowspotted Trevally, a Black Jack and a Doggie came up no time. We didn`t bother to take pics expecting more and better fish to come but it all crumpled via just Jobfish and tiny Bonitos to a plain dead bite from about 9:30am onwards. By 11 we headed onto the deep to find Tuna to cast at during low tide but to no findings. Back at the Drop for more jigging with the rising tide, again instantly 0.75 Doggies (a half and a head were what the Sharks left us) plus another Black Jack and YST were caught about instantly. And then it went plain dead again. No matter where Mervin checked, the sonar revealed all the countless spots were full of fish but they would just not eat. What can you do?

As the next afternoon my friends were leaving for Mahe it was just a half day trolling that morning. The sea was flat, the wind gone, and the sea as dead as the bite for a good two hours except for a bunch of Dolphins. I already feared for a total blank unless we would change area but Mervin insisted to comb that area as those Dolphins should mean food somewhere. And of course he was right: a little away, there were schools of Mackerel everywhere and the strikes came one after the other: lots of Bonitos which became sort of annoying and else around a dozen Wahoos. A few hundred meters off that area nothing at all would happen and the only fish caught outside of that hotspot very late was that Dorado. Tiny but Fabio`s target fish so he was happy. The Sail for Simon gave a brief take but then was off. Guess one just can not have everything. The days with my friends were great and a big Thank You to Mervin and his crew Winsely for maximum effort (as usual actually) along our four trips.

The following morning Mervin went trolling with another guest. The Marlin`s state was beyond release but the Sailfish swam away happily after the quick pic. My Swiss friends felt they should have stayed and fished with Mervin another, or rather this particular day.

Next day I tagged along with him and a new group from Latvia for Drop Off jigging. Very nice chaps but rather unexperienced and somewhat underequipped for that sort of game, and the tough conditions of a very strong current in around 15kn of wind did not help. Neither that the wind started to pick up further into the plus 20kn range. Still they caught some fish on the shallows and a few more trolling back as cruising home in those conditions was simply impossible.

For their second trip they had to wait 5 days due to the again unfriendly conditions but it was well worth it as you can see. Even a rare NE Drop Off GT was in the mix. Shame I couldn`t come that time.

The morning of the 26th offered all pleasant weather, and Drop Off jigging for Mervin and guests went nicely. But the return trip was really bad as they had to steer into that storm front passing over Praslin around noon and heading straight to where they were. If Mervin complains about the conditions it must have really been just short of hell.

Wise decision to fish inside the next day as the same pattern occurred, though not as bad. Very nice GT. 

And on the 29th in reasonable weather it was all Drop Off with good stuff again.

It was not only Mervin fishing but he was the most active. Sandro spent a week at Bird Island but no infos surfaced yet. Probably a group that wants to keep the results under the blanket for their own brand or product marketing again. And currently he is fishing up there again. Brandon had a number of trips with decent catches trolling and jigging but sadly I never got any pics to show you. Greg & Andre of course did their usual inshore trips. Bits of trolling produced the usual and this Barracuda in the mix. 

Fly fishing from their boat was of course also on a few times and such a Bluefin Trevally caught that way is nice and pretty.

Last but not least the conditions this morning triggered me to check the flat on the other side of the island with the fly rod. Was actually murkier and windier than expected, and only about half an hour of sunshine during the two hours spent there were neither ideal. But was lucky with two small Permit.

And this Silver Silago came on top. As close to a Bonefish as I got for a while.

Would have happily swapped these three fish for that Permit in the 50cm range that passed by, but it wasn`t interested in my little crab pattern. So while the start into the new year`s fishing was not exactly overwhelming and somewhat limited by the usual January weather, I find it still pretty solid all in all.

For the preceeding reports check the archive.