MALDIVES 2008 - NORTHERN ATOLLS
One of my fly-fishing dreams has always been to fish a tropical
paradise , to stalk GT’s and Bones on pristine white flats and to sip a
rum and coke on the deck of a yacht while bearing witness to another
idyllic sunset, nursing sore muscles from doing battle with some tough
adversaries during the day. As I suffer from the AIDS syndrome as Mark
Yelland calls it (annual income deficiency syndrome) and a trip to the
Seychelles was beyond my current financial reach I believed it would
not be a goal which would be realized sometime soon.
When the phone rang in November 2007 and my friend Paul Weingartz asked
me if I would like to partake in an exploratory trip to the Northern
Atolls of the Maldives in January 2008 at a price which was within my
reach, I did not hesitate in grabbing at the opportunity. The trip was
organized by Ben Pretorius of the UFUDU Fly-fishing experience as he
wanted to explore the fly fishing potential of the Maldives as an
alternative to the Seychelles.
From there onwards things became hysterically hectic. I don’t think I
spent a single evening not tying flies. I also tried to find as much
information as possible about the Maldives and fly-fishing there in
particular. I managed to find only one article which was interestingly
enough written by a fellow South African, Richard Schumann in the Fly
fishing magazine in 2000 .Richard and a few fellow South Africans did a
few exploratory trips to the Southern Atolls and it was evident that
they had found large numbers of species and also a few GT’s and very
few Bonefish. They did find lot’s of big Triggers which I was very
pleased about.
We also discovered a blog spot by a fly-fisherman called Mel who hails
from Singapore who had made a few trips with some friends to the
Northern Atolls. They had experienced similar results as Richard’s
group but they were light tackle fly fishermen with a 9 weight being
regarded as heavy fly fishing tackle by them. Our lightest outfit would
be a 9 weight and we were predominantly going to focus on 12 weight GT
fishing. The blog did however stir the interest and raised our
expectations to a record high.
It became evident that we could truly be considered pioneers even in
this day and age as it seemed that a group with our levels of expertise
and in some cases years of experience fishing similar areas had
probably never set foot on some of the Islands and Atolls we would
visit. Most fishing in the area takes place from boats for various game
fish and some popping for GT’s was also evident. This was an exciting
but also daunting prospect as it could well have turned out to be an
expensive blunder.
But before I rush to the saucy bits, some more information about the Maldives.
Geography
The Maldives is an island country situated South of India and
approximately 700 km south west of Sri Lanka .The Maldives consist of
26 Atolls which in turn consist of approximately 1192 islands although
this figure does change. A piece of land is only designated as an
island if there is evidence of permanent vegetation. The highest point
in the Maldives is only 2,5 meters above sea level, making it the
flattest country in the world. If global warming predictions are
correct it is in danger of totally disappearing beneath the ocean.
The main island on which the capital Male is situated is an amazing
spectacle. The island is very small and you could probably walk from
one side to the other in half an hour, but every single inch of land
has been developed and it seems to be sinking under the weight of all
the buildings. Almost everyone owns a motorcycle and there are a lot of
motor vehicles which creates congestion and chaos in the narrow streets.
Although Male harbors the vast majority of Maldivian citizens (90 000)
most of the outer Atolls have smaller fishing villages. Approximately
200 islands are inhabited excluding the islands with tourist resorts.
Resorts are built very unobtrusively and buildings may not be taller
than the tallest palm tree, only one resort is allowed per island.
Flats’ fishing is also not allowed at many tourist resorts.
Commercial fishing makes up a very important part of the Maldivian
economy but no netting is allowed in the Atolls except for small
baitfish and commercial fishing is concentrated on Tuna in the open
ocean.
A recent International survey on various aspects affecting Countries
rating as a tourism destination rated the Maldives the second most
beautiful country in the world after New Zealand. Renowned
internationally as a honeymoon/vacation venue , the Maldives has not
received much attention from a fly-fishing perspective.
Below is an excerpt from a recent article on a Maldives blog:
The Maldives' newly-elected president said in an interview Monday that
his government will begin saving to buy a new homeland in case global
warming causes the country to disappear into the sea.
Beloved by tourists for their white sandy beaches, palm trees and clear
waters, the 1,192 coral islands that make up the Indian Ocean country
risk devastation by rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed, who won the Maldives' first democratic
presidential election last month, told The Guardian his government will
start putting aside part of its billion-dollar annual tourism income in
case the worst happens.
"We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to
buy land elsewhere. It's an insurance policy for the worst possible
outcome," he told the newspaper.
He added: "We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades."
Nasheed said he had already broached the subject with a number of
countries and found them to be "receptive". India and Sri Lanka are
targets because they had similar cultures and climates, while vast
Australia was also an option.
He told the newspaper he intended to create a "sovereign wealth fund"
from the money generated by tourism, much like Arab states had with oil
revenues. "Kuwait might invest in companies -- we will invest in land,"
he said.
Outgoing president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving leader,
launched a book in April to highlight the threat to the Maldives posed
by global warming.
He said at the time that they could only adapt to the problem by
relocating citizens to safer islands. The alternative, building
protective walls on the 193 inhabited islands, was too expensive
And we thought we had problems!
NORTHERN ATOLLS-FLIGHT AND ARRIVAL
After flying via Dubai the first early morning view from our Emirates
Boeing sent my heart racing in anticipation. We witnessed some of the
beautiful islands and sub surface reefs of the Southern Atolls as we
descended and landed on the runway which consists of two islands joined
together. We hastily boarded our Safari Dhoni’s smaller support Dhoni
and after a brief introduction to Claudio our Skipper and the crew we
headed for our final destination. On the way we were enthralled by the
beautiful islands and the scenery in general.
In the afternoon our Skipper Claudio decided to stop and overnight at a
small unnamed spot without any vegetation on the way North and we got
our first opportunity to set foot on Maldivian soil with fly-rods in
hand.
It was immediately evident that global warming has already made a big
impact on the coral reefs as we were walking on dead coral marl which
resembles a moon landscape. Apparently the El Nino phenomena had heated
the oceans up to such a degree that coral died off on a massive scale
all over the tropical regions of the world. Claudio assured us that
subsurface the coral life was still beautiful and improving as time
passed. I decided to fish a small size 2 tan over white Clouser minnow
on my 9 weight and I soon latched onto a small white Snapper. My first
Maldivian fish and I was ecstatic .The action soon heated up as a nice
rip was forming off the point of the reef we were fishing and Ben and
Paul each got small GT;s and Bluefin Kingfish while I nailed an
assortment of fish which included a yellow Goatfish, Rainbow Wrasse and
eight smallish Bluefin Kings. I was pleased as this hectic action was
beyond expectation and I could only imagine what piscatorial treasures
our final destinations would hold.
Day two and we are still steaming along at what seemed like a snails
pace, we decided to stop just off the resort island of Kuredu .As
Derrick and I disembarked from the small dinghy which is used to ferry
us to and from the islands we saw a huge bonefish cruising along
without a care in the world but by the time we were on solid ground it
had disappeared.
Paul later latched onto the mother of all Bones which promptly ran
straight over a reef with unstoppable power and severed the 25 pound
tippet on the sharp coral. We all managed to land an assortment of
species with the most unusual being an amazing Unicorn fish by Paul. A
red Snapper I was hauling in was followed up to my feet by a big
Southern Pompano which had my heart racing.
Next day and we finally reach the outer Atoll and we disembarked on one
of the islands that was identified as a possible hot spot. On arrival I
am amazed at the grey eels that are everywhere in very shallow water as
well as the skates and rays feeding in the shallows.
A big school of Blue Parrotfish had me frantically throwing every fly
in my box at them but to no avail. This was old hat to some of our
group but I found it exciting as it epitomized this kind of fishing.
Sight fishing at its best. I decided to walk along a beach and to scout
for cruising GT’s and soon saw a decent one approaching rapidly .I
managed to get the 6/0 Olive Semper a meter ahead of it and commenced a
fast two handed retrieve. The GT attacked the fly furiously, turned and
flew away in the opposite direction. I held on for dear life but
unfortunately the hook pulled after about 30 meters.
I was busy lining another small GT up when I turned around and my eyes
almost popped out as coming towards me at a rapid pace and barely 15
meters away were two huge sharks closely shadowed by two massive GT’s ,
“Bokkoors” does not aptly describe the sensation flooding my whole body
at that stage but I managed to get the fly in the water and the biggest
one actually came up to look at it before it saw me and swerved away.
The whole entourage then swam off in a surprisingly leisurely and
nonchalant fashion and left me shivering and almost at the point of
hyperventilation. This was awesome fishing! We all managed to close the
day off with a few good Bluefin Kings and an assortment of species
including a few Bonefish for one lucky angler. Next morning we were off
to another island and one that looked most promising from our Google
Earth images. From a distance we could see nice waves breaking
alluringly on the point and as we set foot in knee-deep water I learnt
a very valuable lesson! Always have your fly line in your basket the
right way round and fly in hand ready to make a cast the moment you set
foot in these areas. As we landed Ben, who was slightly ahead of me,
made a short cast and was into a 90cm GT before you could wink an eye.
The fish had a partner which was also eyeing the fight from a distance
but it was wary and didn’t want anything to do with us.
We all caught big Bluefins and then I decided to look for Bonefish. I
was following three other anglers and the glare and heat was taking its
toll on me. The sand on the flats is almost pearly white as it consists
of pulverized dead coral. Everything looked like a Bonefish because I
had never seen one on the flats and I was casting a Pink Puff at
anything that moved. Out of desperation I even managed to entice a
small black tip reef Shark to take the fly and he bit me off after a
few nice runs.
I saw Keith Viennes who was with the group about 50 meters ahead of me
hook up on at least two good fish of unknown origin and after they had
moved on I decided to scout the area they had just vacated as I was
sure that he had located some Bonefish.
All of a sudden I saw a group of fish appear like ghosts about 40
meters away and I knew instinctively that this was the moment of truth.
This is where my experience with sight fishing to big Largemouth
Yellows and Smallmouth Yellows and Trout came in extremely handy .I
kept my cool and made a good cast which landed just ahead and slightly
to the side of the school. I saw one fish break away and dip downwards
as I commenced with a jerky retrieve, next moment I felt the fish on
the other end and I strip striked gently.
The Bony hesitated for a split second, realized it was in trouble and
took off towards India at a blistering pace (they can probably reach
India from here!). I eventually turned it and it made a few more
impressive runs before I managed to bring it to hand. It wasn’t a
particularly big fish but it sure did the species’ reputation proud. I
was disappointed that I was alone so I would not have a decent picture
of my first Bonefish but I attempted to take a few snaps before I
released it. I knew instantly that I would never be the same again!
Barely a minute later I saw a huge individual approaching. I was now
able to more clearly identify these Bones as they had a distinctive
blue/green back .I made a good cast again and this fish tore even more
line from my reel and when eventually coming to hand it probably would
have tipped the scales at around 8 pounds. I managed to take another
two Bones and was snapped off by another big specimen before the end of
the day. Another of my long time fly-fishing dreams came true in
memorable fashion.
There followed a host of other small species before we headed South
again. On the way we would fish a small island called Faadhoo which had
deep channels linking the sea and the Atoll on it’s Southern and
Northern side. As we approached the island it was one of the most
beautiful sights I have ever been blessed to witness and I captured it
on film for posterity.
Whilst we were some distance off I noticed a big commotion on the
Northern lagoon side of the island with baitfish fleeing in all
directions and I decided to head in that direction first .Derek joined
me and the rest went South. There was nothing to be seen where the
chase had taken place but when we neared the end of the island I
noticed two dark shapes crossing a white sand spit and I at first
thought they were Sharks but soon realized they were big GT’s. I was
trembling as I placed the fly ( dark olive grizzly saddle tail with a
peacock SF on top and grey belly on a 7/0 circle) two meters in front
of the leading fish. The fish charged the fly ferociously and missed
it, I picked it up and placed it down in front of him again and he
latched on flew off in the opposite direction. I was a total wreck and
hyperventilating at this stage but I managed to gain control and keep
the fish away from the coral bommies in the lagoon and reef on the
seaward side and landed it after a tiring battle. I forgot my tape
measure on the boat and we measured it on my rod, it later proved to be
99cm long which was fantastic, my trip was made. We later saw a few big
GT’s but they were very weary, Derek landed a big Bohar Snapper.
The last days were largely uneventful but we did visit a nice island
where I caught a huge variety of species including a 72 cm GT on my
nine weight after an epic fight!
Follow up trip – October/November 2008.
Of course a trip like this had to be followed up and I immediately began enquiries after my arrival back home.
The boat we had used was unavailable as Ben had reached an agreement
with the Agent not to allow any South Africans to make use of it. I
then consulted the Internet and started e-mailing and communicating
with various Safari boats. There were many options but most were
luxurious and prohibitively expensive. The whole thing turned into an
administrative nightmare at times as the Airline I wanted to use ceased
all direct flights, the other Airlines necessitated date changes and
this caused two clients to cancel. In the last month before departure
the rand/dollar exchange rate sky-rocketed etc. Needless to say I was a
wreck when the 5 of us eventually departed.
We originally planned to go south as this seemed the safest bet for
this time of year. The owner changed the plans shortly before our
departure for various reasons and although I was happy to visit
familiar territory again we were fearful of the weather conditions.
On arrival the wind was still evident and the sea was fairly rough but
it was the best day in 30 according to the ships Captain .Little did we
know it would only get better. Our first fishing day after a full days
travel North was mostly uneventful with lot’s of species and small
Bluefin Kingfish.The next day we would visit Faadhoo.
When approaching Faadhoo I noticed that the channel on the Norhern side
where I caught the big one has been replaced by a sand dune and I was
slightly disappointed and pessimistic. As we disembarked from the
dinghy I however reminded the guys to get their lines ready for
immediate action and as we reached the top of the dune and I looked
into the sea on the other side I was stunned to see GT’s everywhere in
the small surf hunting in packs close inshore.
My first cast was eagerly pounced on by a smallish GT and almost
everyone immediately jumped into action but when I landed my second
fish there had already been at least two break offs. Upon inquiry it
was evident that my fellow anglers were inadequately prepared, fishing
with 9 weights and 30 pound b/s leaders. Needless to say there were
many disappointed guys at the end of the day!
When the action subsided I decided to walk to the Southern tip of the
island and I saw two Rays feeding actively when I rounded the corner. I
immediately scanned the somewhat murky water for a GT who are almost
always in close attendance to feeding Rays and I could vaguely
distinguish a very nice fish loitering in the vicinity .When I
presented the fly there was no hesitation as he pounced and I landed a
75 cm fish shortly thereafter. Everyone experienced a great day with a
few GT’s two Bohar Snappers,a Kaakaap from shore and some tear jerker
stories thrown in.
This was an awesome start and everyone was exited, to make a long story
short we visited a few other islands and every single one produced a
large number of GT’s and other fish, the weather remained fantastic
albeit very hot and humid and we totaled more than 30 GT’s landed with
many lost and a large number of other species thrown in for good
measure.
The true potential of this Island paradise was revealed on this trip,
apart from the fishing which I cannot really compare objectively with
anything I have seen or experienced but which surpassed all
expectations , the breathtaking beauty of this area made it even more
worthwhile. To top it all we only fished one Atoll and about 5 islands,
we have not even scratched the surface!
After 8 full days of non-stop fly-fishing we were a very tired but
happy group of Fly –fishers who returned home. A lot of us had broken
rod’s and broken ego’s but we were unanimous that this was a special
trip and it would be very difficult relaying into words what we had
been blessed to be a part of.
Maldives trip 08 November 2009 to 17 November 2009
I am hosting another trip to the Northern Atolls from 08 November 2009
till 17 November 2009.This is my third trip and after a very successful
previous trip in Nov 2008 I am optimistic about the prospects. I have
two slots still open.
I have explored many new islands and learnt a lot about the area
although we are only scratching the surface of what this magnificent
venue has to offer.
Although a trip to this tropical paradise is more than just
fly-fishing the fishing is excellent, main species that will be
targeted will be Giant Trevally, Bluefin Trevally, Bonefish,
Triggerfish and Snapper in addition to an assortment of other tropical
species.
We will be staying aboard a Maldivian Safari Dhoni which sleeps 12
people in relative safety but we will be 7 anglers at most ensuring
that each has his own room with on suite bathroom facilities and a fan
with double bunk of which one can be used to store his equipment .
Please contact me on my cell – 084 710 9140 or via e-mail at
mrousseau@anglogoldashanti.com or marius.rousseau@yahoo.com for more
details.
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