I have been advising clients on their choice of fishing destination for nearly 30 years. If flats fishing and/or diving is your passion, I question if the new Beach or Super-villas on Alphonse Island, along with the world class flats and blue water fishing and the diving and snorkelling, is the strongest combination of accommodation and sport I have ever …
Alphonse comes of age…
I have a long history with Alphonse Island. I wish I had known what we have all learned over the past 20+ years about fishing the extraordinary atoll when we were bobbing about living on the catamaran Tam Tam before any hotel had been built. When I was there recently, a small part of their presentation was about how much …
Considering Cosmoledo…
Let’s address what might be the elephant in the room right from the start. There has been much talk in the press about tourism in remote places. We have to travel further and further, and deeper and deeper into the wilderness to experience proper wildness. Cosmoledo might be a case in point for such a debate. A very remote atoll …
The Queens of Dubai…February 2018
“It’s all about the birds” Nick said. We were in Dubai and for a brief moment I was wondering what the association was between people lying on the beaches and catching queenfish. Of course he was talking about the sea birds and he was right, it is indeed all about the birds. There is now a British Airways direct flight …
Farquhar Atoll Adventure…Seychelles April 2018
What do a couple of Lincolnshire farmers, a retired Colonel, a retired banker, a tailor, a diamond dealer, a film critic, a retirement home owner and, finally, a tackle shop owner, have in common? The clue is in the last occupation – a love of fly fishing. And so, it was with great ease that my team settled down to …
Astove Atoll, Seychelles February 2018
How many fly-fishing spots do you know that have become mythical or legendary in the past decade? Rivers like the Ponoi in Russia have risen to greatness in the modern era but over the past 20+ years. Lake Thingvallavatn in Iceland has had a meteoric rise to fame for its extraordinary trout but there are not many… however Astove is …
Los Roques, Venezuela – why it is so good year-round
We are so often asked about fishing the saltwater in January or February and we always try and explain to clients why Los Roques is so reliable at this time of year. The first section of this piece explains why this is the case compared to destinations further north. I will then explain what takes place at Los Roques in …
Los Roques, Venezuela with Sight Cast
Los Roques, Venezuela, has always been one of my favourite places. I love the pancakes flats and the way one has a boatman to drop you one end and pick you up the other thus wasting no time; the variety of fishing for bones with baitfish patterns which slam the fly rather that the shrimp pick-up take; the ever-present, characterful …