BOHA SNAPPER, A MASSIVE HUMPHEAD SNAPPER & COUNTLESS GROUPER SPECIES & MORE!

With fewer guests on Alphonse Island, the fishing around St. Francois and Alphonse Island has been absolutely fantastic. After being widely discussed between the guides, it has been decided that when there are fewer rods and boats on the water, we are seeing bigger fish that behave in a less spooky manner and due to less pressure on the fishery over the past few weeks some excellent catches have been reported.

The weather has been up and down. A strong westerly wind has been blowing quite hard over the week, with a few rainy gaps in between sunny days. Anglers were able to fish the full strength of the spring tide over the new moon phase, which is generally the highest variation of tidal difference in any given month.

All anglers landed a significant number of bonefish. Between a small handful of rods, over 74 bonefish were landed, with many around the 60 cm length mark and weighing around 6 lbs. Murray Collins started his week off on a good note landing a beautiful 64 cm GT and, the very next day, landing two very well-sized moustache triggerfish and a 59 cm GT on a spring tide surf walk.
John the Pilot had a really brilliant day on Wednesday. John managed to land his personal best GT. John’s GT measured a whopping 100 cm putting this fish into the trophy category. Wednesday was also a brilliant day for Nick Howarth. Nick went on a full day for a surf walk and came home with a nicely sized 72 cm GT. The male anglers did well this week, but as always, it is always the girls that report the best catches.

Kate Howarth has spent several weeks on the island improving her angling skills. Kate started off casting using a seven-weight rod to target bonefish and has now upgraded to a nine and ten weight and is now after a much bigger quarry. Kate had the goal of landing her very first bluefin trevally. After spending a few hours on the hunt, Kate finally achieved her goal. She landed to giant bluefin trevally, followed by five other species of fish, such as the boha snapper, a massive hump-head snapper, and countless grouper species—a massive congratulations to Kate Howarth for putting in all the effort and improving so much. A GT and permit are next on the cards for Kate.

Lilly Collins, joined by her twin sister Mia, experienced her best day on the flats ever. Lilly and Mia spent some time casting on the famous milky-way channel. Lilly managed to hook into and land a massive 97 cm GT. Lilly is only 14 years old and managed to land the fish all on her own. Congratulations, Lilly and Mia.

Another fantastic week was spent at Alphonse Island fishing the St. Francois Atoll. Memories were made, and bonds were formed that will last a lifetime. Stay tuned for next week’s report, as we are sure you won’t want to miss it.

Tight lines,
From Alphonse Fishing Co.