Unfortunately this meant that the sea conditions deteriorated and were deemed as unsafe for the crossing to St François.

The first 3 days were therefore spent fishing the magnificent flats that surround Alphonse.  These are literally on the hotels doorstep and allowed guests the luxury of seeking shelter when need be. Even though the weather was a dampener, the team of anglers took to the fantastic bonefishing that Alphonse has to offer and really good catches started to tally up.  Low light, strong winds and tailing Bonefish in skinny water make for a challenging but extremely awarding experience. John Dale, a seasoned angler from the USA mentioned that the day he experienced with guide, Scott Keller was one of his best bonefishing days ever. “Big single tailing Bones in skinny water is what its all its about”

Rods also had a good number of shots at the other species which call Alphonse their home. Permit, GT’s and Triggerfish are often very unforgiving, making them almost impossible to target with the extreme wind.  However, an impressive number of large Bluefin Trevally were caught while feeding in groups both on the flats, along the island shores and in the deeper channels. The Russian guests Alexy D and Egor Ccaught some really interesting trophies during their week which included a lovely Honey Comb Grouper, that chased the fly for 8 meters before engulf the “Squiddy” and disappearing into the reef.  Known for their dirty tactics Alex held tight while guide, Wayne managed to get him out of its coral infested domain for a quick photo before letting him go.  

The weather system moved to the South of Madagascar in the middle of the week and the weather gradually improved allowing the team 3 days at St François. As always St François and her wonderful angling opportunities rose to the occasion to make up for the bad weather. A great New Years party was had by all, which brought in the “New Fishing Year”.