The past fortnight on Alphonse brought together anglers old and new, from a father and son pair sharing the flats, to a first time visitor who arrived with two days booked and ended up extending his stay. Conditions were kind for the most part, with the persistent south-easterly winds easing off just enough to give everyone comfortable fishing days. It turned into a fortnight of firsts and personal bests, a first bonefish, first triggerfish, and for one guest, a first giant trevally, alongside some serious GT fishing out in the surf.
Dan, a familiar face here at Alphonse, put in the standout GT performance of the fortnight. Fishing the Cosmic Lagoon on an approaching spring tide, he opened his account with an 80cm silver GT spotted patrolling the mangroves. Later in the week he moved into the surf on the western side of St François, where he battled a brute of a fish through the coral heads and crashing waves to land a 96cm GT, his best of the week, before returning to the same stretch on his final day to add two more respectable fish at 76cm and 78cm.
The following week brought a different kind of GT story. Duke arrived at Alphonse with just two fishing days booked and one goal, to catch his very first giant trevally. He didn’t have to wait long, landing a stunning 86cm silver GT on the white sandy flats of St François on his very first day out, before backing it up with another solid GT on the flats of Alphonse Island the next day. Two GTs and two personal bests later, Duke made the right decision to extend his stay on the island.
The bone fishing was in fine form during the first week, headlined by Arnold, who landed a staggering 27 bonefish in a single session, including one taken on a bluebottle imitation while he was actually fishing for batfish. It was also a week of firsts on the flats with young Blaze joining his father Ralph out on the water and landing his very first bonefish. Across the week, the team put 73 bonefish on the board, the best measuring 65cm. The second week was slightly quieter on the bonefish front, but still 19 fish were landed.
Dan kept busy between GT sessions, landing a 42cm moustache triggerfish on Alphonse. Ralph opened the fortnight’s account with a striking batfish, a notoriously difficult fish to hook, taken on a bluebottle imitation.
That wraps up another memorable fortnight on Alphonse. Thank you to Ralph, Blaze, Dan, Jerry and Duke for the great company out on the flats, we loved watching the personal bests roll in. We look forward to welcoming you back to the island again soon.