The Explorer’s Seychelles

By the time you touchdown on Mahe, the capitol island of the Seychelles archipelago, you have endured many hours in the air, weathered more than your share of traveling hassles and ingested all the airline food you can take. But intrepid anglers take it all in stride knowing how close they are to reaching their goal of fishing some of the most prolific and remote atolls in the world. If your final destination is the Alphonse Island Resort, you are almost there. You have only one more flight of a little over an hour before you reach the lush comforts of the lodge. . . and by this time tomorrow, you’ll be fishing the incredible flats of St. Francois Island.



But there is another choice for those anglers willing to forgo the relative proximity and plush comforts of the lovely Alphonse Island Resort. If you choose this option, your traveling is not over for you are venturing to one of the most remote corners of our planet. To reach this angling paradise, you must have not only the time and the money, but also the heart of an adventurer!

The Aldabra Group lies over 800 miles from Mahe, some two and one half hours by plane. On Assumption Island, a narrow concrete landing strip marks your entry point and the beginning of your adventure. It will take you another 8-10 hours by boat to reach the first fishable atoll. And while it will all be worth it, this is definitely not a trip for the faint of heart. But if you are willing to brave all the travel, possible seasickness and the rustic realities of mothership living, you’ll experience an angler’s nirvana and perhaps the best combination of bonefish and trevally fishing in the world.

The Aldabra Group contains the largest raised coral atolls found anywhere in the world. These atolls are so pure and pristine, so secluded and untouched that it takes days for the thoughtful angler to absorb the wildness and remoteness of his surroundings. The Aldabra Group consists of four major atolls: Assumption (the only atoll with a landing strip), Cosmoledo, Astove and the group’s namesake, Aldabra.

Aldabra Island now holds the status of a World Heritage Site, but its more recent history makes its current protected status seem all the more precious for what was almost lost. It reads like a novel: a secret plot to annex the atoll for military purposes is discovered by concerned citizens who initiate an international campaign to save the island . . . a last minute reprieve seems doomed until finally, a grand gesture by the Seychelles government insures Aldabra’s permanent protection.

As a World Heritage Site, Aldabra’s unique wildlife, including land tortoises of Galapagosian proportions, numerous rare bird species and prolific sealife, are free to live out their lives undisturbed by the sometimes heavy hand of man. A rare treasure was saved and in the process, the Seychelles government learned the wisdom of conserving the other unique atolls in the group, namely Cosmoledo and Astove.

As a World Heritage Site, Aldabra is off-limits to anglers, but Cosmoledo and Astove are open to sports fishermen. At this point, only a handful of intrepid anglers have made this journey. Their glowing reports will certainly bring more anglers, which will put continued pressure on the government to protect the islands and their resources from the ruinous hands of poachers and commercial fishermen. Anglers equal tourist dollars and for the government, it is simply bad business to use up a resource that generates so much foreign currency. In this scenario, everyone wins - especially Mother Nature!

Gorsuch Outfitters’ base of operation for exploring the Aldabra Group is the Indian Ocean Explorer. At 114 feet, this German-built boat offers a roomy, seaworthy and comfortable way to explore these remarkable atolls. But make no mistake; this is not a luxury yacht. The Explorer was built in 1956 to do ocean research and as such, it is perfect for some anglers and not at all for others. The IOE can easily (and most economically) handle groups of 10 anglers in 8 twin cabins with en suite bathrooms. The main deck has a combination salon/dining room where delicious and plentiful meals emphasizing local seafood are taken. This salon also provides an area where anglers can meet in the evening to tie flies, build leaders or read while listening to their favorite CDs. Both the cabins and the salon are air-conditioned, but this should be considered more of a base level cooling than a full bore temperature control system. The spacious aft dive deck provides a roomy staging area for the day’s activities. In addition, the night fishing off this dive deck can be spectacular, with snapper, grouper, trevally and even dog-toothed tuna taken by handline or on fly and spinning gear. A locker/cubbyhole is provided to each angler eliminating any need to lug wet gear or cumbersome equipment below deck for overnight storage. The IOE has a complete reverse osmosis system that churns out ample pure water for drinking, cleaning equipment and laundry. Fresh water is also available for showers on deck or in the angler’s cabin.

The crew of the Indian Ocean Explorer is magnificent. Boat owner and chief operations officer, David Rowat, has assembled a crackerjack crew of 10, including chefs, stewards, mechanics, dive masters and two captains. A more affable, helpful and considerate crew could not be imagined. Two center console, inflatable Zodiac tenders with 85hp Yamaha motors ferry anglers to various fishing spots or are used to troll the atoll’s edge for bluewater species such as giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, wahoo and even sailfish that come within meters of the atoll’s shallow water fringe.

What follows is a trip report from our Nov. 27 to Dec. 4, 2001 trip to Cosmoledo and Astove Atolls. We hope this gives you a feel for the opportunities available by the Indian Ocean Explorer. Our trip offered one possible itinerary and schedule, but there are others including the option to visit Aldabra Island either to explore or scuba dive, but not to fish. As discussed, given its status as a World Heritage Site, sport fishing on Aldabra is forbidden and is therefore not an option. It is also possible to eliminate Astove Atoll entiely and spend your entire week on Cosmoledo Island. Here then, is our 2001 trip report from the southern Seychelles:

Our week’s itinerary began at Assumption Island, where we were ferried by a small tractor from the concrete runway to the water’s edge. Here, the two tenders met us for the quick trip to the Explorer. After stowing gear and a brief orientation, most of us chose to wolf down a quick lunch, assemble rods and venture to shore to wet a line along the beautiful white sand beach that borders the atoll. We found no bonefish on Assumption and the fishing was not great. and this was the last time on this trip such thoughts entered our minds. After dinner, anchors were raised, Dramamine was swallowed and the 10-hour crossing to Astove Island began. At dawn, we emerged from our bunks a bit queasy, but our anchorage, in the lee of a picture perfect atoll, quickly washed away any latent seasickness. Waves rolled in from the deep blue ending their journey against the white sand beaches fringed with stately coconut palms. On this first morning, we could choose to fish on the outside edge for bigger bones, jobfish and blue fin trevally or we could make the short walk to the inner lagoon for some absolutely incredible fishing for 3-5lb bonefish that tailed elegantly over a white sand bottom. It is conceivable that one could walk all the way to the south end of the lagoon, some three miles, and never be out of sight of bonefish, many of which tail only inches from shore. The closer we got to the channel at the south end of the atoll, the bigger the bones got and the more mid-size trevally we saw. For a beginning bonefisherman, this lagoon could provide years of bonefishing experience in one afternoon. a short track to the top!

On day two, we caught scores of fish, including bonefish, blue fin trevally and snapper on our leisurely, all-day walk to the south end of the atoll. Where the lagoon finally empties into the surf, coral gendarmes stand watch over tidal flats. Here, 6-10lb bonefish lay hidden in pale blue potholes where they inspect the tidal rush for their next meal. Numerous sharks and trevally prowled the deeper turquoise channel that services the tidal needs of the inner lagoon while red-footed boobies and frigate birds impassively observed our angling success. The long, hot walk home was made easier by the knowledge that we had just experienced something truly incredible.

After our two days at Astove, we made the easy three-hour crossing to Cosmoledo. This huge, magnificent atoll consists of a ring of coral about 10 miles across with four major islands occupying the cardinal points of the compass. Wizard and Menai Islands occupy the east and west points and were named for the two ships that explored the atoll on the Moresby Expedition in 1822. The South Island sits near the opening to the inner lagoon, while the North Island is interspersed with numerous islets and banks making it perfect habitat for marauding trevally.

The best bonefishing is on Menai and Wizard Islands where huge populations dance with the rhythms of the tides falling to the lagoon side on the ebb and spreading out into the far reaches of the flats on the flood. This can be simply incredible bonefishing! On Wizard Island, large 5-10lb fish congregated in huge schools very close to shore at high tide. Here, these bones nervously waited out the predator’s hour when their preferred two-dimensional world became a more dangerous three-dimensional world. These bones streamed past us by the thousands and the action was almost nonstop. We were truly dazzled by the sight! As the tide dropped, we moved forward to keep pace with the emptying flats. The bonefish then broke up into smaller groups to forage, some tailing aggressively... a few almost vertical in their rooting. This was bonefishing at its very best and Dr. Steve Macciocchi of Atlanta said, summing up his day,

"At no time during the morning did I not either have a fish on, or was casting to a fish. and these were not dinks. my biggest bone was 9lbs!"

As a nice contrast to Wizard Island, Menai Island presented our more experienced anglers with classic bonefishing opportunities to hunt for large tailing singles and doubles that slipped secretively onto and off the more shallow white sandbars.

In the four days we had to explore Cosmoledo, we barely scratched the surface of the bonefishing potential. This was partially because no matter how good the bonefishing opportunities were on Cosmoledo, the trevally fishing was even better. The fishing on Cosmoledo for Aldabra, blue fin and giant trevally was the best we’ve found so far in the Seychelles, making it therefore the best in the world! We found exceptional angling for trevally in the surf and among the cuts and channels of the North and Northeast Islands, off the north and south ends of Menai and off the north and south ends of Wizard Island. There are probably many other areas that are equally productive, but we didn’t have time to explore them. Again, we barely sampled all the available habitat. For us, Cosmoledo’s blue fin trevally ran 5-12lbs, Aldabra trevally ran 10-20lbs and giant trevally ran 10-50lbs. One lucky angler caught over 50 giant trevally from 12lbs to 35lbs in his four days on Cosmoledo!

So if you want a GT go to Cosmoledo! Incredibly, we could stand in a small pale turquoise bay or on a rocky point and watch these savage predators surf in on a wave sometimes as duos and sometimes in packs of 10-25 fish. This was a magnificent sight! You could easily pick out the dark, almost black, males and the pale lavender females as they accelerated shoreward, their murderous intentions revealed by the lens of a rolling wave.

Perhaps the incredible opportunities offered by the Indian Ocean Explorer are best summed up by this single day’s journal entry:

"The perfect day! We fished Menai for bones on a falling tide and had incredible classic fishing for a couple hours until the water got too low. We then walked out to the edge of the reef where we threw streamers for trevally while we waited for our scheduled pick-up by the tenders at noon. Wonderful! I caught 2 GTs and 1 Aldabra trevally up to 15lbs with 2/0 green/white deceivers on my 8 wt! After lunch, we dove to 100’ drifting along the wall and saw dogtooth tuna, giant clams, sea turtles and incredible numbers of colorful reef fish. After our dive, we trolled until dusk and caught numerous GTs to 25lbs, a large 'cuda and raised a sailfish that struck violently at our flies with his long bill. We hooked up with him (I think), but we were cut off after a sizzling long run. Back to the boat at sunset to eat one of our smaller trevally and a grilled grouper. I almost fell asleep at dinner!" SSH / December 2, 2001

As must seem obvious, this was an exceptional, even extraordinary, experience. And while the angling was superb, it was much more than just fishing. This was a grand adventure involving intricate logistics, a wonderful cast of characters, a few hardships and successes too numerous to count, all played out in one of the most remote and stunning locales found anywhere on this planet!

For the adventuresome angler, Cosmoledo and Astove Islands hold hidden treasure. Beneath the swaths of smooth sapphire and the bows of bright turquoise lie some of the most undisturbed populations of game fish found anywhere in the world! If you choose to make the commitment of time, energy and money and if you are willing to endure the hassles of international travel, the disorientation of jet lag and forgo the comforts of resort living, you will experience one of the truly spectacular angling spots on our planet.

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