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. TRAVEL

'ilir " rvoke drearning of permit. When I'dr,,r asked about permit and trevally, I was

told quite firmly by Keith, my guide,''Tomorrorv is a bonefish trip...wernight see other fish, but it's a bonefish

trip." On the list of Good Guide Ruies,'Con-trol client expectation' falls somewhere be-nveen 'Don't let them dror,vn' and 'Don't for-get lunch', so I really didn't mind having myinterest and excitement controlled.

Talking of dreaming and more to the point,lvhat on earth was I doing on Desroches Is-Iand, the stunning island honeymoon resortin the outer islands of the Seycheiles wherePrince William and Kate Middleton had es-caped to r.i'hen they got back together as a cou-ple.z The reason was that apart from all therer-note lurun-. Desroches offers flats and blues'ater tishing along rr,ith diving, kayaking,surling and ri.indsurfing. And the best foodand accommodation I've experienced on a

fishing trip. To add to the comfort factor, theSeycheiles are about as far from the UnitedKingdom as the Bahamas, but the time dif-ference is only trvo hours - no jetlag! The firsttime I've ever experienced this with tropicalsalrwater fishing.

Needless to say, I'd like to catch a permit,actually I'd just like to have a shot at a per-mit, to cast a fly at one with a realisticchance of a take. Nlany of the bonefish flatsI've fished in the Bahamas and Florida are vis-ited by permit, just not r'r.hen I'm there, or notr,vhen I'm facing the right way! And anl'rvay,I like fishing for bonefish.

"Normally, the crossing takes just over anhour," ald "Normally,lve have flats skiffs overthere." I rvas told. The trip over tookwell overfi,r'o hours and there rvould be no skiffs, so wervould carry all we needed. "NormallS it's notas choppy..." didn't stop me turing a mildshade of green during the crossing ... in bothdirections.

The small inflatable ferried us to the flatsthen scurried off to do whatever busy little in-flatable boats do. To the east a few hundredyards to deep watel and the channel betweenSt Joseph and D'Arros, a mile or so south asmall beach and a felv trees, in the distancenorth and rvest I could see lou'l)'rng land orat least beaches on the horizon. StJoseph isan atoil, patcl.res ofcoral sand secured by a fe-"r'

bushes and trees rnore or less surround a la-goon, a rather large lagoon. We had corne tofish the flats inside that lagoon. We waded fbrfor a ferv minutes, from rvaist-deep to knee-deep rvhen Keith slor,ved and lvithout him sa1-

ing a rvord r,r'e could both tell rve had movedfrom walking to fishing.

The flats lve fished have firm white sand.dotted rvith darker patches of weed or seagrass. Wading was exceptionally good. r'er1-

firm underfoot. We rvere fishing a rveek or so

before the official start to the seasor.r, so ri'er,vere told to erpect a littJe lvind. And that'siusir'vhat u'e got, a little wind, just enough :,:

maintain a ripple on the water, and nothin.:an S-rveigl-rt can't cast through. In tl-re Be-har.r.ras and Cuba I have prayed for winds iik-that.

Gleamir"rg rvhite sand and bright su:-r-

light made spotting fish relatively easy, butas usual it took me a little time to see fish. Iguess I get a little excited when I first get ona flat. It's as if I will that stick to be a shad-ow, if I strain hard enough that strand of weedwill be a fish... frozen in time doing nothinga feeding fish actually does! The best cureseems to be to have the guide put me on a cou-ple of fish, better still catch-and-release a cou-ple. Then I relax, I staft looking at rvhat's therein the water including fish and not seeingrvhat I wish for.

I started fishing with a thite fly from mybox, follorving the rule I'd picked up along theway of matching the fl1- to the colour of thesand. Keith, rightll'I think. noticed a fish re-ject my offering and pron.rptil'tied on one ofhis own flies, a small. tan. s-eighted crab. Ifished that flr'for the rest of the dal,.

i:--.::- : -:- ! ".: -:-i:li. it seemed like oner t r -i: -- :r' :: :.:i into a fish all the:--.-. - :-- -:.:pped"sobothrods.r- -: : -: .,- ...:re occupied at the

- . -.' - * .*'=:==*!.*iiiE#.lii"f,;i',;H'"I: -.OSE FISH SAW-{ 1-i--O\-{BLYWELL

?-SF\_TED FLY

same time. I guess I landed a dozen fish,maybe half that, I really don't care - this wassuperb bonefish fishing! My fish were in the2-5lb range. I saw no bigger bones butwould not be surprised if those flats hold larg-er bonefish. The fish I caught were about thesize I'd expect to encounter on Acklins orCrooked Island in the Bahamas.

As our session drew to a close, Keith ledus to a beach facing out to open water withD'Arros in the distance. We were to be col-lected from that beach, but in the meantime,"Permit and trevally cruise along this chan-nel waiting for the tide to rise so they can getinto the lagoon ..." said Keith.

,& rmed with the same small crab

E fly. stationed thigh-deep I began" -_*

to feel a flutter of nerves again.' - T" began to strain to see fish. will-

.r . 9fa ing that rock to be a permit. Thelight was still good enough for spotting fish,t]le sun was a little lower than when we weredropped on the flats but still bright, a few moreciouds crossed the sun, but give it a few sec-

onds and the lights were back on and we couldsee deep into the water. Keith and I chattedabout the day: his flies, tackle, the rod I wastry4ng ...

"Permit!"I had no idea where he was looking, I could

see nothing and was considering panic."Get ready to cast!"I stopped fretting and focussed on getting

line off my reel, ciearing the leader throughthe rod tip with enough of the head for a cast,the fly ready in my hand. On the list of GoodFishing Client Rules, 'Trust your guide' fallsbetween'Don't tease the sharks/bears/wolvesor armed locals'and'Learn to cast before thetrip.'

"Look to rn1' left about 40ft out."Then I sari' tlie fish, in perfect profile just

yards fi'om n'here rr-e rvere standing. Itseemed to gloii'. The light u'as right and thefish was senled. na1'be feeding, cruising

1 *fi@i' 'i':.,11

The author attached to a hard-running Desroches bonefish,

We soon fell into a rhrthm. slorvly work-ing across the flat. regularll-spotting andcatching. Fish came Io us a-q in ones and twos,and I sari'no qrouFs oi nore than a handfulof bonefish iri]n! f1.. These u'ere happy, se-

cure fish ri'el- s::;:; r-rlef our fishing rangeand their iee;.:: :: - u:ds. if those fish saw

:n t .l I rns'.flr.tishing-and-fi1t}-ing.co.uk

-:Y \-{ILED IT,

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parallel to the beach, maybe just waiting forthe tide to bring it into the lagoon and to theflats we had fished.

I looked down at my fly and line, and backto the fish. A subtle change of light and theglow had changed. My lasting memory of thatinstant was of the outline of a fish, a dark edgewith nothing in the middle, my fish was be-coming invisible. I assume it was a trick of thelight and the mirrored flanks of that fish butit could as easily be me wishing for a shot atthat fish.

"Castl Lead it by a few yardsl"A simple straight cast, not far, even the

wind dropped. Looking into water that deepwe are looking at an angle,judging how farout the fish is, actually is not just what it looksIike ... thoughts like that were runningthrough my head until I let the fly reach thewater.

"Good cast!" said Keith. This pleased meimmensely! The fly san\ I could even see thatfly sinking, which is unusual for me.

"Strip. Slowly..."I stripped in line, determinedlyremaining

lnfsrr$mtE*nt Keith Rose lnnes runs the highlyprofessional and exceptionally wellequipped fishing operation atDesroches. The fishing is world-class,and as far as a resort goes for cou-ples this is rated as one of the top tenremote hotels in the world. lt has aspa and swimming pool and offersmassages and a gym. Fly rods andreels can be hired; the rack heldLoomis rods fitted with Shilton reelswhen I was there. Desroches has asmall tackle shop with a good selec-tion of flies and the consumables weneed on a fishing trip. I travelled tothe Seychelles with Emirates.

Keith's erabSkill level:&l's*SSHook: Stainless single, standard shank, size4-6.Thread: Tan.Tail: Orange grizzly barred rubber legs. Tanmarabou.Body: Tan and white rug yarn.Weight Leadless shot.The yarn is tied across the shank, brushedout and cut to shape. For the weight, a loop otmonofilament is tied in at the eye extendingback over the hook and a /eadless shot lscrimped to the mono and painted white.

After a bonefish rejection Keith suggested tyingon one of his tan Crabs.

calm. A wave slightly deeper than the restrolled towards us, bending the light and hid-ing our fish for a few seconds ... and it wasgone. The fish vanished. I don't think wespooked it, we both thought it rvas headingto my fly and expected to see it again after thatwave. I have no idea s'here it t'eni or ..i'hr'. :iwas simplv gone.

So, I suppose I can no\..'s:ja permit. The ibiioning ::-'=::-: -dreaming of pernlii. or ai .trai: --r: .:

outline of a permir-shapej noi:.€ Hardened permir anglers ma1-

-:e -..--;:horr'an Adandc fish turned up in -= -:-anOcean. \\ e g-ere after Indo-Paci:: :ermir(Trachinonu blochi\ from the sar..: :.:ri\ asthe Atlantic permit (Trachirnra-r'lah.-:' r :. nithvery similar habits and the same a'cirin- tofrustrate.

Magnw Angus hos fshed aII over the h.orld buihis f.rst forays were on the Don and Feugh inthe 1960s with his grandnd, where he fishedwith a cane rod. Hewas nominatedfor thepratigious PPA award for Bat Witer (2004).

Desroches lsland is offering a seven-night luxurious stay in the Seychellesfrom t4,350 per angler and t3,950 pernon-angling companion (not includingflights). Price includes seven nights in aBeach Suite on all inclusive basis andone day's flats fishing on either StJosephs or Poivre, with a guide andskiff. Price is based on two people shar-ing, excludes tackle. Trips can be tai-lored to suit your needs and additionalf lats or bluewater f ly f ishing excursionscan be added. Prime fishing time is Oc-tober to May.tl Additional information: contactKeith@desroches-island.com

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