Astove Atoll Fly Fishing Season Wrap | 26 JAN – 23 FEB 2026

The Astove season this year was a short compact one with a select few anglers joining us over four weeks. The season truly highlighted the incredible fishery Astove is with every angler leaving absolutely delighted. From the renowned cliff top GT eats, permit cruising the lagoon and surf zones, explosive bone fishing in skinny water, flats slams, and rods bending throughout. We had familiar faces and new faces alike, with multiple first-time species ticked off, some lifelong goals achieved and many anglers excited for what next season has to offer. Our team highlighted some of the noteworthy fish landed, with a brief synopsis of yet another incredible season on this remote atoll.

The Giant Trevally stole the show this season as they so often do with almost 150 fish landed in just 4 weeks. The season kicked off in spectacular fashion on the iconic Paulie’s cliffs, where Greg hooked and landed his very first GT at 75 cm before his guide could even finish calling the shot. Jamie followed suit shortly after, landing his first GT in true action packed Astove fashion. Kurt opened his account in a flash and quickly piled several more onto last year’s tally. Rob, Matt, and Laurent all joined the charge, with one outrageous session producing 11 GTs between Rob and Matt, plus two stunning bluefin trevally at 70 cm and 78 cm, respectively. Matt arrived hunting size and absolutely delivered, landing a powerful 104 cm GT that had been harassing tailing bonefish, a very special fish to land on foot. Days later he raised the bar again, muscling in a second metre class fish at a stunning 107 cm.

Jacques was on fire too, landing multiple GTs including a brutally strong 94 cm fish along a shallow sand flat. Offshore, Dale earned a personal best moment when Steve spotted a GT cruising a floating log, put her on the bow, and watched her fly go tight for one of the standout fish of her trip. George opened his Astove account early and stacked several more on the way to sealing a flats slam. Volkmar punished the offshore drop off with explosive popping sessions, including one outing that produced 8 GTs in a single morning. Aldo and Gio put on an absolute clinic on the outer reef, landing 8 GTs between themin a single session, while Dawie, Alkuin, and Louis all had there fair share of fish landed, Alkuin landing an impressive 82 cm fish along the way and the two finishing the season in style with a pair of 70 cm GTs landed on the final morning.

Permit fishing continued its hot run from last season, with 20 of these notoriously tricky fish landed across the four weeks. Bill finally cracked his long standing quest for an Indo Pacific permit, sealing the deal in the closing moments of his trip before flying out to Cosmoledo. His partner Kat got straight in on the action and landed her very first permit too. Matt and Kurt both nailed flats slams headlined by permit, GT, and bonefish. Laurent, after years of fishing the Seychelles without ever cracking the permit code, smashed the streak with his first and then doubled up with a second later the same day.

The opening weeks’ showstopper came in Kurt’s final session. After scrambling down jagged cliffs to chase moving fish, he made the cast count and pulled the biggest permit of the period clear of the rocks and surf, a stunning 68 cm trophy.Volkmar equally had a bone to pick with some permit and stalked his first like a pro, plucking a beautiful 44 cm fish from shallow water before sealing a flats slam shortly after. Later in the trip he added another permit as part of a rare super slam featuring a GT, bonefish, and moustache triggerfish. George and Matt both landed permit during an entertaining session along the beach before adding GT and bonefish to seal their own slams. Jacques also connected with a permit while prowling the lagoon and flats. Aldo bagged his first ever permit on a long walk around the island, while Dawie followed up shortly after with another beauty taken from a group of permit tailing on a stingrays, completing his own flats slam to cap off a brilliant week.

The bonefish of Astove need no introduction and kept our anglers entertained in-between all the other action and species. Bill and Kat kicked off their week with over 30 bonefish in a single morning, and the surf and lagoon served up trophies all over, including multiple 60 cm specimens for Laurent and Kurt near Paulie’s and along the lagoon edges. Jacques and Dale put on a clinic of their own with 38 bonefish in one morning on the endless white sand flats of the lagoon, while George dropped a stunner of his own with 27 bonefish on the way to sealing his flats slam. Dawie landed a trophy bonefish from the surf including a great quality fish of 60 cm feeding along a sand spit, and Alkuin landed his first ever bonefish in the surf, the ultimate Astove bonefish experience that lives long in the memory.