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Farquhar - Atoll

Dates: TBA
$10275 / Angler - Double Occupancy 7 Nights / 6 Days Guided Fishing
About The Lodge
Your Trip: Guided fishing, Food, Lodging
Excludes: Flights, Tips
Location: Farquhar, Atoll
Target Fish: GT, Bonefish, Triggerfish

Christmas Island. Farquhar’s reasonable size, varied flats, coral-strewn lagoon and prolific blue-water fishery makes it one of the world’s best multi-species destinations. Anglers enjoy a small, simple lodge that makes it the perfect island fish camp. Long known to only the inner circle of adventuresome saltwater anglers, Farquhar was one of the earliest outer islands to be discovered. Its reasonable size, varied flats, coral-strewn lagoon and prolific blue water fishery make it one of the world’s best multispecies destinations. In the past it was only accessed by mothership but today anglers enjoy a small, simple lodge that makes it the perfect island fish camp and one of the best values in the Seychelles. About the Location: Farquhar Atoll is the most southerly atoll in the Seychelles chain of islands lying just over 450 miles southwest of Mahe.

Fishing Program: This remote atoll has a total area of approximately 10 x 6 miles. The main group of islands form a long curve on the eastern side of the atoll. Largest of these are Isle du Nord and Ile du Sud, with the smaller Manaha gaps islands between them. Further south is Goelette and to the open western side of the atoll lies the small group known as Trois Îles. The large ear-shaped lagoon provides easy access to a wide range of flats, channels and surf zones. This diversity of terrain creates perfect habitat for bonefish, various trevally species including trophy sized giant trevally, Indo-Pacific permit, triggerfish, barracuda bumphead parrotfish and milkfish. In addition to the flats Farquhar is also blessed with a very accessible blue water fishery. Most often guests head for the blue water when high tides make the flats difficult to wade. Here you can encounter giant trevally, barracuda, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, dogtooth tuna, grouper, bohar snapper and sailfish. Anglers fish two per boat and guide. The majority of fishing is done while wading but depending on the tides, anglers can spend from 2-3 hours per day fishing from the boat. Boat fishing is typically in the blue water or drifting over vast fields of coral heads in the lagoon in what the guides call "bommie bashing". This is drifting over coral heads with both anglers blind casting 12wts with bait fish patterns is search of GT's, bluefin's, snapper, barracuda and a variety of other species. Each Fly Castaway guide is a qualified skipper, has first aid experience and is extremely experienced with regards to all facets of fly fishing the remote saltwater destinations of the Indian Ocean. Their passion and dedication is infectious and they routinely go the extra mile working to guide anglers into a fish of a lifetime. Accommodations and Meals: Farquhar’s lodge is a basic but comfortable guesthouse that can accommodate 10 anglers per week. The main lodge is fully air-conditioned and has five twin bedrooms and a central lounge. The lodge is equipped with 24-hour 220-volt electricity, air-conditioning and has a constant supply of hot water. There is full housekeeping as well as a daily laundry service available. Meals are served in a covered dining area overlooking the water with a magnificent view. All meals are served at the outside dining area with the chef preparing a mix of Creole and international food. The lodge has plenty of local beer for sale. Guests may also bring their own hard alcohol and or wine. Itinerary: Day 1: Depart Home Day 3: Arrive Mahe: Overnight at your elected accommodations Day 4: Charter flight from Mahe to Farquhar. If time permits you will be able to fish some of the nearby flats. Days 5-10: Six days of guided fishing on the flats of the Farquhar. Day 11: Charter flight from Farquhar to Mahe. Depart for home. Day 12: Arrive Home

St. Brandons - Atoll

Dates : TBA
$TBA / Angler - Double Occupancy
7 Nights / 6 Days Guided Fishing


About The Lodge
Your Trip: Guided fishing, Food, Lodging
Excludes: Flights, Tips
Location: St. Brandons, Atoll
Target Fish: GT, Bonefish, Triggerfish

St Brandon's is located deep within the Indian Ocean, 300 miles northeast of the island of Mauritius. It is seldom visited atoll and may be the greatest bonefishing destination in the world.

Deep within the Indian Ocean, due east of Madagascar and 300 miles northeast of the island of Mauritius, lies an obscure and seldom visited atoll that may be the greatest bonefishing destination in the world. Scouted and eventually made accessible to fly anglers by the veteran South African saltwater outfitters at Fly Castaway, St. Brandon’s atoll is a wade fisherman’s paradise blessed with enormous hard sand flats and staggering numbers of huge bonefish. In addition to the incomparable bonefish resource, anglers will also encounter good numbers of Indo-Pacific permit, bluefin, golden, yellow dot, green spot and giant trevally. If you have a lust for real adventure travel to experience the best bonefish the globe has to offer, this might be the trip for you.

Fishing Program:
On arriving at St. Brandon's no time is wasted as the guides put their vast Indian Ocean experience and planning into practice as you venture out to spend your days exploring the multitude of pure white sand flats and broken coral islands, all of which are infested with large naive Bonefish. This is some of the most spectacular bonefishing we have encountered. On most tides anglers can expect to see shoals of these shallow water speedsters as well as enormous singles and doubles. Over the past few seasons they have landed Bonefish of up to 87 cm fork length and weighing 15 lbs.

St. Brandon's is also a productive Indo-Pacific Permit fishery. When specifically targeting these gloriously finicky fish, guests are afforded multiple shots per day. Over the past seasons their guides have refined their tactics for the Permit of St. Brandon's and enjoy nothing more than watching their clients lean into sizable specimens. The GT fishing can be quite varied. Some days you can see a fair number and at other times none at all. St. Brandon's isn't a place where you are going to get shots at GTs every day, but it is certainly the place to break the 100 cm (40 in) mark. The fish are all large and you catch more over a meter than under. We have in fact seen and hooked fish well over the 150 cm (59 in). Large bluefin and trevally are also around, and we have caught some truly world class specimens. Other notable fish species one can encounter on the flats include Golden, Yellow Dot and Green Spot Trevally.

St. Brandon's flats are primarily made up of white compacted sand which makes for easy wading, thus separating it from other destinations in the world. As most of the fishing will be done via wading, good protective footwear is essential. Although the sand flats are easy on the feet, there are certain areas we fish which are made up of broken coral or littered with coral bommies, so having standard diver’s neoprene booties with a reinforced rubber sole are not appropriate. We recommend wearing proper flats wading boots. There are a number of purposes made boots on the market which are excellent. See suggested brands in tackle and gear list. Guests will not be taken onto the flats without proper footwear!

All Fly Castaway trips to St. Brandon's are led by a team of world class professional fly-fishing guides. During your stay on the vessel there will be four guides including one head guide onboard. Each guide is a qualified skipper, has first aid experience and is extremely experienced with regards all facets of fly fishing the remote saltwater destinations of the Indian Ocean. Their passion and dedication is infectious and rest assured they will definitely go the extra mile in search of your fish of a lifetime. All Fly Castaway guides are fluent in English.

Accommodations:
Guests will be accommodated in a simple but comfortable guesthouse on Raphael Island situated in the fish rich northern part of the atoll. Although the guesthouse is by no means luxurious, it is clean, comfortable and considering it’s remote location, is all a traveling angler needs to enjoy the finest trophy Bonefish, Indo–Pacific Permit and trophy GT fishing available in the Indian Ocean. To top it off, there is a highly productive and easy wading flat just meters away from the front porch of the guesthouse. Currently there are 4 bedrooms in the house, each containing two comfortable single beds and some basic amenities. The guesthouse currently has two fully renovated bathrooms for the guests, each containing a shower, basin and toilet.

Getting to St. Brandon:
Two 50 ft sport fishers will transfer guests to and from the atoll (4 guest, 1 guide and 3 crew per sport fisher), the crossing time from Mauritius to the atoll is approximately 26 hours. The two boats will do the crossing alongside each other. Both boats are registered and licensed in Mauritius for offshore sailing, each boat fully equipped with latest marine navigation equipment. Each boat will be skippered by a 200T master. Each boat has three cabins, two of which are for the 4 guests (2 guest per cabin) the other for the guide and crew. Each boat has a bathroom, a kitchen, lounge area as well as a comfortable back deck. The sport fishers will depart Port Louis at approximately 10:00 am on the start day of the trip and will arrive at Ilse De Sud (South Island) around 10:00 am the following morning. A further two hours flat water cruising in the lee of atoll will see the boats arrive at Raphael Island. Guests and their luggage will then be transported by tender boat onto the island, following which they will have lunch, settle into their rooms, receive a briefing from the head guide and set up tackle. Should there be enough light left guests are welcome to fish unguided on foot around Raphael Island. Guests will then spend the following 7 full days out on the flats fully guided.

At the end of the fishing trip guests will depart Raphael Island mid-morning. The sports fishers should arrive back in Port Louis around midday on the final day of the trip. Although every effort is made to stick to this schedule, weather and other factors associated with remote locations of this nature can affect timing. We ask all guests to go into this trip with an open mind towards the logistics, appreciating how remote a venue St Brandon’s really is and what a privilege it is we are allowed to fish it! Based on this schedule guests are asked to fly into Mauritius the day before the start date of the trip (to ensure there is a time buffer built in for missed flight connections, flight delays/lost luggage etc.). Return international flight can be booked which depart after 2:00 pm on the end date of the trip. Should you however wish to book a flight that departs Mauritius earlier, guests are kindly requested to contact us before doing this so that we can advise.

Itinerary
Day 1: Depart Home
Day 3: Arrive Mauritius, Overnight
Day 4: Depart for St. Brandon
Day 5: Arrive St Brandon's early in the morning and start fishing
Day 6-12: 7 full days of guided fishing
Day 13: Depart St. Brandon for Mauritius.
Day 14: Arrive Maurituis mid-day. Depart Maurituis late evening.
Day 15: Arrive Home.



Providence Live Aboard - Atoll

About The Lodge
Your Trip: Guided fishing, Food, Lodging
Excludes: Flights, Tips
Location: Providence, Atoll
Target Fish: GT, Bonefish, Triggerfish


Providence Atoll
ranks among the largest and least discovered fishery in the Seychelles. It has vast open sand flats, large areas of turtle grass and intricate coral heads scattered throughout deeper waters.

Providence Atoll is just short of being the most southerly atoll in the Seychelles and contains two major land masses, namely Providence North and Cerf Island. This remarkable atoll has remained largely untouched, with fewer than a thousand people having visited this tropical wilderness in the last century. After guiding on Providence from 2004 – 2009 the Fly Castaway guides are now convinced that Providence is the most exciting and diverse fly-fishing destination they have ever encountered. The sheer size and amount of fish holding area makes both the flats and offshore angling potential almost limitless. It is a true fly-fishing wilderness! Providence offers fly fishermen the opportunity to wade and sight fish a possible 46 kilometers of pristine sand and Turtle grass flats, an enormous lagoon system as well the numerous channels which link these structures with the Indian Ocean. Anglers can expect to target record size Giant Trevally, Bonefish, Triggerfish, Indo Pacific Permit, Milkfish as well as Bumphead Parrotfish. Due to its size and diversity fly castaway will be placing five of their extremely talented and experienced guides on this remarkable atoll, together with five tender boats to be used exclusively on Providence. These tenders will surely improve both flats accessibility and help maximize the fantastic offshore fishery Providence is blessed to have! Guests are expected to arrive in Mahe the day before the charter flight to Farquhar. The group will meet an hour before the scheduled departure time at the domestic terminal (next to the international terminal). The flight from Mahe to Farquhar is one hour forty-five minutes onboard a private chartered Beechcraft 1900. Guests are then transferred in true island style via tractor and trailer on a short fifteen-minute ride to the slipway from where they are transferred to the mothership, which carry them across to Providence (6-8 hours) and will be their home and base for the week’s fishing.

The Fishing
The Average Day: Typically, anglers will be up early and after a quick breakfast head out to the flats to fish the first tide. After the session they’ll be collected and returned to the boat for lunch before heading out later the afternoon for the second fishing session. During the midday break anglers can snorkel, or just laze around and rehydrate in an air-conditioned environment. There is however an option to stay out on the flats with a packed lunch if the prime tidal movement coincides with the lunch break. The following day’s activities and schedule will be planned the night before between the guides and the captain. If you have any preferences, please feel free to mention it to the guides. Current tidal movement and the species anglers wish to target will be taken into consideration.

Flats: Providence has two major land masses namely Cerf Island in the extreme south and North Island at the most northern part of the atoll. The seemingly endless flats not only surround both these islands but run uninterrupted the entire 40 odd kilometers in between. They are primarily made up of Turtle grass, with the larger white sand flats being found around the islands. Most of the flats are hard, making them ideal for wading. Fishing on these flats for species such as Bonefish, Permit, Milkfish, Giant Trevally, Triggerfish, Great Barracuda and Bumphead Parrotfish must rank as the best in the world at present. The guides will lead you onto the flats and help you identify the desired target species, the areas which they frequent and the explain the correct techniques with which to catch them.

Bluewater: Deep water begins very close to shore at most of the anchorages and it is possible to fish these waters from the tenders. Here the most common species encountered are Dogtooth Tuna, Giant Trevally, Barracuda, Wahoo, Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish and the occasional Striped Marlin. Standard tackle is a 14 – 15 weight, usually rigged with a 700 grain or heavier line and/or an intermediate billfish taper. Surface fishing in blue water with the aid of teasers is also possible with large bait fish imitations from sizes 6/0 and upward being recommended. All Fly Castaway guides are experts in rigging, teasing and the handling of blue water fish.

The Mayas Dugong:
The Mayas Dugong is an ex-research vessel which has been upgraded and modified into a mother ship catering for long-range fly-fishing expeditions. She is rustic and can accommodate up to 12 fly fishermen, four guides, as well as 8 crew and 4 security who cater for your every need. A large, spacious and extremely stable vessel, she is the perfect base with which to explore the remote outer atolls of the Seychelles and other Indian Ocean waters. As a fly fisherman it would be difficult to find a better boat from which to operate out of, with its ability to store and transport four tender boats on its spacious aft deck. Because of its large size and high fuel storage capacity, The Mayas Dugong can cover long distances at good speed and comfort in almost any sea conditions, opening up new possibilities for exploring the Seychelles and surrounding areas.

The Dugong is four level vessel which offers 7 spacious guest cabins situated either on the middle, main or lower deck. Each has an en suite shower and flushing toilet. The vessel also offers a comfortable salon and dining area. All cabins and indoor dining or entertainment areas are fully air conditioned, allowing guests a chance to relax in a comfortable environment after a long day fishing out on the flats or offshore. On the mid deck she is spacious and boasts a large elevated area with a magnificent view of its surroundings. This area is perfect for dining, sundowners and general relaxing. The lower deck’s primary function is to store the tender boats and fishing tackle. The stern of the vessel has a set of stairs leading down to a large swimming platform, perfect for fishing from. This feature also allows for a safe and comfortable transfer from the tender boats to the main vessel. The chef prepares a mix of Creole and international food. Fresh fish can be served everyday if requested.

Seasons and weather
The season at Providence are from late October after the southeast monsoon to the end of April, before the southeast monsoon starts again. The wind speed and direction are less constant at this time of year and the temperature is higher. It is a very arid atoll and experiences seasonal droughts during this time. The temperatures and humidity can range from 77 F at 80% to 90 F at 95%.