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Destination: St Joseph’s
Atoll - Seychelles
Season: Nov - April
Duration: 8 nights –
6 full days fishing
Accommodation: Luxury 46ft
Catamaran
Numbers: 6 plus 1
The Seychelles
The Seychelles archipelago lies between 4 and
10 degrees south of the equator. Just over one
hundred islands make up this archipelago and
they can be assigned to one of two distinct
groups, these groups being the inner and outer
Islands.
The Inner Islands comprise of roughly 40 granite
Islands. Mahe is the principle island in the
group. The remaining seventy plus islands belong
to the Outer Islands which extent in a SW direction
towards the east coast of Africa
St Josephs
St Josephs forms part of the Amirantes Island
group which are situated approximately 260km
SW of Mahe. The atoll is approximately 7km by
4km and consists of a string of small islands
linked by large sand flats and turtle grass
patches. The Atoll’s lagoon is home to
good populations of sting rays and turtles.
There is a large colony of frigate birds on
the islands as well as populations of herons,
crested turns and plovers.
Fishing at St Josephs
Flats
From November to April each year Tourette Fishing
CC guides exclusive groups of adventurous fly
fishermen to this unique flats fishing destination
- St Jo’s ranks as one of the finest flats
fishing destinations in the world, with bone
fish and Indo Pacific Pompano (permit) being
the main target. Most bones run between 4 and
6 pounds, with trophy fish on these flats considered
fish above 7 lb’s. It is possible to land
upwards of 20 fish per day, with experienced
anglers reaching 30+ bones per day. The Indo
Pacific Permit (or African Pompano) is considered
the holy grail of fly fishing, and trips to
St Josephs to target these fish are planned
with this in mind. Pompano are arguably the
finest fighting fish pound for pound, considering
their finicky nature and the pristine environments
one sight fishes for them in, they are a world
class target in this world class fishery.
Fly fishermen have the opportunity to target
bluefin kingfish and, at times giant trevally,
on the flats as well as barracuda and both black
tip and lemon sharks.
Blue Water:
The blue water fishing around St Josephs is
world class, with species such as Wahoo, Tuna,
GT’s, Dog Tooth Tuna and Sailfish amongst
a host of other pelagic and reef species making
a showing.
TF guides are familiar with all productive
reefs and drop off’s in close proximity
to the flats. All guides are experts at handling
teasing tackle and targeting blue water species
on fly.
The Average Day
Each evening your guides will decide on where
and when to fish the following day, taking into
account angler competence, species you wish
to target, weather and tides.
Breakfast is served at around 06h30 each morning.
Those fishing the flats will take a packed lunch
with them onto the flats; those who choose to
fish blue water will be served a cooked lunch
on the mother ship. After breakfast you will
be shuttled on the tender boat to a predetermined
area of the atoll.
A typical fishing day involves wading the productive
flats in search of bone fish. At low tide we
will move to the edge and wait for the cold
pushing water and the feeding permit these waters
bring. At high tide we will often move to specific
areas to look for patrolling trevally and barracuda.
Lunch is enjoyed in the shade on near by islands
or on the mother ship. We plan to return to
the mother ship at sunset each evening. All
times are flexible and will be adapted to suit
your group. Half day flats and half day blue
water fishing is also a great option.
The Mother Ship
Tourette Fishing uses 8 berth liveaboard catamarans
for all St Josephs trips. These well appointed
liveaboards sleep 8 anglers in 4 rooms. All
meals are prepared on the mother ship. Trips
are limited to 6 or 7 anglers with 2 (guided)
or 1 (hosted) professional TF guides per group
respectively. All liveaboards are serviced by
two inflatable zodiacs which are used to shuttle
anglers to and from the flats each day, and
for blue water fishing.
Tenders
We will have 2 tenders for each liveaboard Catamaran
for our St. Josephs Trips.
For more information on this trip please contact
us. For a customised quote and itinerary for
this or any other African location, please email
keith@tourettefishing.com
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