Our first Amani outer island adventure was with our father and son team, Jeff and Ryan Monsein. Jeff and Ryan were our first group of guests to return to our Amirante Islands, which is a remote part of the world, so there was a feeling we were in for a treat. We set out to St. Joe’s, tackling up and making flies as we went.
The first morning we encountered multiple groups of a permit allowing the guys to get the cobwebs out of their casts slowly. Ryan started our week off with his first Indo-Pacific permit of 55 cm, a perfect specimen. There was a massive rivalry between father and son, so now the competition was on.
When the water ran away and permit were nowhere to be found, a few of the very healthy St.Joes bonefish came out to play. We had one last day at St. Joe’s where, while Jeff was watching in the background, Ryan made a spectacular shot that got him the permit of the week which measured 69 cm.
With Ryan firmly in the lead, we headed to Poivre Island. We arrived at the flats in anticipation of seeing many tailing permit, and as the tide receded, the tails started to emerge. Over the next two days, Ryan caught two beautiful golden nuggets, one of 68 cm and another in the mangroves of 60 cm.
It was a great introduction to flats fishing before they headed to Cosmoledo.
Our next group of guests included Vladimir, Vadim, Gregory, and Sergey. We started our trip with a double strike on black marlin. Vadim fought one of the marlin for around 45 min, but unfortunately, the hook pulled at the boat. We arrived at St. Joes, tackled up, and were ready to go. Unfortunately, the overcast conditions made it challenging to locate the permit.
Gregory started the team off with a 50 cm permit, which he was ecstatic about. It gave him hope for the days to come. The afternoon pushing tide pushed in an enormous bait ball, and an estimated group of 20 GTs was terrorizing them. Vladimir, with much persuasion, made a cast and was rewarded with a one-metre fish. Unfortunately, it was the smallest fish in the group that ate his fly.
St. Joes’ holds many schools of permit, which sometimes congregate around coral heads, and when you can find the school, it is an incredible experience. Vadim and Sergey managed five permit off this school, getting some lovely double-ups. So six permit up, and we were headed to Poivre.
The tailing permit was driving the guys crazy, having up to 30 shots in a day. Sadly, we had bad luck with some excellent fish coming unbuttoned and hooks opening. Until next time!
Permit 10
Giant trevally 1
Bonefish 21
Wahoo 5
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