I’m going to spend the next couple days talking about the Seychelles and what is and isn’t happening there. I’ve had some good emails from some of the outfitters and booking agencies and I want to make sure y’all get the goods.
Um... not really this kind of pirate, unless she also has an RPG.
Argh! There be pirates on them seas!
Sadly, there actually ARE pirates out pestering the traffic on the High Seas off the coast of the Seychelles, but they aren’t all busty and blond… just relatively poor Somali’s with RPG’s and they are screwing up the fishing something fierce. The Seychelles are an epic destination… big and plentiful bones, GT’s and all sorts of other stuff… yeah, I want to go. The outer atolls, fished with mother ships, are now off limits due to the Jolly-Roger-less Somali Pirates. The government pulled permissions for mother ship operations, at least until Fall 2011.
However, you can still go to the Seychelles to fish, as there are land-based operations continuing to fish for and catch all those sweet silver Seychelles species (that’s called alliteration… see what I did there?). There are also other options that might… just might… be BETTER than the outer atolls, but I’ll talk about that more tomorrow. Today… the Seychelles.
While mother ship operations have been brought to a hull-screeching halt, there are land-based options that can get you your Seychelles fix. Bill Marts, of The Fly Shop, sent me information on Farquhar Atoll and… yeah… it sounds kind of sweet.
There is no disputing that Farquhar offers some of the finest flats fishing in the Seychelles, the diversity of species, quality of the ecosystem and spectacular beauty making it any angler’s dream destination. Situated 700km southwest of the main island of Mahe, Farquhar Atoll is the most southerly atoll in the Seychelles chain. This world class fishery consists of countless flats, channels and surf zones. The flats consist of hard white sand, turtle grass and broken coral which make for comfortable wading for a vast array of flats species.
Yeah… that sounds like a bit of alright.
That GT would crush most of your bonefishing gear... just say'n.
So… don’t completely write off the Seychelles just yet. You can book a trip to Farquhar through The Fly Shop, among others. The trip is through Fly Castaway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTIZknLxtb8?fs=1&hl=en_US
I had to have a cigarette after watching this youtube clip and I don’t even smoke.
- If you liked the story above, check out these stories below
- Interview with Bill Marts from The Fly Shop (0.535)
- Gangsters (0.411)
Tags: Bill Marts, bonefish, bonefishing, Farquhar Atoll, Fly Castaway, flyfishing, pirates, seychelles, The Fly Shop
WOW!!!
Indian Ocean here we come. I wonder where else….????
Laccadives, Mauritius, Maldives, Madagascar? Zanzibar, Andamans
Hi Bjorn, I was on a live aboard catamaran in the Amirantes in December 2009 and we were probably the last guys to fish it from a mothership since it was closed down. We were there at the same time the British couple who were recently freed got jacked there. We were actually headed for African Banks as our first stop which is the area they got hit but decided against it due to it being the closest area to the Somali mainland. After an epic weeks fishing we got the radio call to form up and evacuate with 2 other boats in the area and were awaiting a navy warship escort back to Mahe. The escort never came and we had to go it alone, an 18 hour sail in good conditions. Half way back we spotted a dodgy as fishing boat on the horizon and it was pretty damn jumpy for a few hours as we headed toward it but when we were reasonably close to it a Seychelles navy plane came in and mock strafed us and then the boat. Nothing happened and they may have been just fishing but it was a huge relief to see that plane! You can still fish the bits of the Amirantes we fished but would have to base yourself on Desroches and run out on a fast boat so that puts it out of the reach of people with budgets like myself for now. To put things in perspective it cost around the same as a cheap week in Mexico when we did it. Speaking of Indian Ocean I actually booked an air ticket today to another Indian Ocean island for an upcoming bonefish trip. I would love to do the out islands in Sey one day too. If you have any sort of fishing imagination google earth Aldabra, which is off limits to fishing as it a nature reserve. And if you have an active imagination you may want a pack of 20 Marlboro reds to hand.
What an experience Rich… seems like a fantastic and wonderful destination and it sounds like there are still some really good options out that way. Wonder when things will calm down that way… if it is when there is a stable government in Somalia it will be a long, long time before things get back to normal. Should improve the fishing though, I’d think… a good, long rest for those fish, although they seem pretty rested anyway.
That is a place high on my list! Thanks for the video link.
Its was such a shame loosing access to that fishery. I have been there quite a few times ( outer islands ) and it is one of the places in the world that I could see myself becoming stranded on an island and happy about it!. When I heard the ship we used to charter was hijacked by Somalian Pirates, it hurt my soul. The crew was returned back safely, but I guess the ship never returned. It is one of the most remote places I have ever been, and some of the best fishing I ever had! maybe to hiatus is a good thing, the fish will be a dumb as ever!
( trying to look at the bright side!)
Seems like the fish were dumb to begin with. It is a shame that those places are off limits now, but it looks like St. Brandons is a good option and the land based operations in Seychelles seem like they pretty much still rock pretty hard. C’est la vie, I suppose.
Bjorne,
Just stumbled onto your site. Have you fished Zanzibar for bones? I’ll be there this July to visit my youngest and I’d like to chase bones if at all possible.
Wish I had, but alas… have not been there yet. It is on my bucket list.