SPRING TIDES: A 0.3 M LOW TIDE CHANGING TO A 1,9 M HIGH

A great week of fishing started off on a spring tide with a 0.3 m low tide in the morning, pushing to a 1.9 m high in the afternoon. The high tide continued to get higher throughout the week, peaking at a 2.3 m high. The arrival of the neap tide slowed down the tidal movement towards the end of the week. The weather was consistently sunny with isolated gusts of wind. This, combined with incredible tides, presented excellent conditions with an array of opportunities for our anglers.

The week’s highlights started with Chantal Chone, who was celebrating her birthday. She was enjoying her second-week fishing with us. She managed to catch a 74 cm GT while fishing with Yousuf Shaikh. This had been previously caught and tagged in and around the exact location in April 2019 as part of our Giant Trevally Monitoring project. The tag allows us to see and analyze the movements of this fish, and 74 others, using our network of infrastructure. To celebrate her birthday, she caught not one but two permit on the following day with our very own Alex Quatre. What a way to enjoy your day in the place you like the most, catching the fish you love the most!

Dan Christensen was having a great week. On one of his days on the flats with Serge Samson, he caught three GT during their surf walk. That hat trick came close to our Atoll record of five fish in one walk. His biggest fish of three was a fin perfect 81cm GT.

Refusing to be beaten, Garrett Ruigrok, while on the water with James Christmas, had himself an encounter with a tank. James was poling himself and Garrett on the east of Bijoutier, heading towards Bus Stop at the beginning of the push in skinny water. They saw the fish swimming in the shallow water on the flats with a fair amount of its’ back out of the water. Garrett lined up a great shot; from there, it was a textbook catch. The fish charged and ate the fly leading to some tense moments on the boats as James did his best to dissuade Garrett from reverting to his built-in freshwater habit of lifting the rod while fighting the fish. The fish proceeded to tow them on the boat for a few minutes until they eventually landed their quarry. The best part of it was that the more significant part of the fight happened in less than 50 cm of water. Garrett left that encounter with a 104 cm GT caught and safely released to his name.

However, Ty Pollock had to have the last say, and his persistence rewarded him with a stunning fish. Serge’s remarkable run continued as he made the call to see what was happening on the outside of the atoll near Helmuts Knoll. Ty threw the popper, a task that has left many anglers in a puddle of sweat, and a 109 cm GT came up and engulfed it in its’ jaws. Fortunately, they chose a great place to fight the fish and proceeded to land it without too much drama. After a few photos and a pit tag, this fish was safely released. This effort and his earlier catch of two GTs on the same day led to him being crowned Anger and GT Champion of the week. Well done, Ty!

Congratulations to our anglers who fished hard and were rewarded with excellent catches over the week, setting up a good platform for the next group of guests coming.

From Alphonse Fishing Co.