Starting a Challenge
Sailfish in Aphonse Island, Seychelles
It might seem odd to have such a beautiful fish and target as the initial posting to my 50 on a Fly Challenge but it’s probably the time when I realized that I wanted to do it. It was a family trip vacation, and I was able to fish wish my son, wife and one of my daughters.
A group of older guys were on the trip with us and somewhere between the fishing days, I realized how much time they had spent on the water and which fish they had caught. Which were the hardest to find, hardest to hook, hardest to land. I thought for awhile and wondered if I could catch 100 different species on a fly rod and if I did, how would I go about it in terms of not only fishing but also cataloging the process/journey. Rather than making what could be an unrealistic dream of 100, I decided to “start with 50” and see where it goes.
So, since this is where the idea came from, I figured it was a good place to start.
This trip was one where I caught literally 50+ bone’s, a nice triggerfish, nabbed this sail and just missed on Milkfish.
Location: The Seychelles sit in the middle of the Indian Ocean – in the middle of nowhere some might say but it’s worth the trip. It’s a beautiful area. Alphonse Island, is one of the two atolls of the Alphonse Group of islands off the coast of Mahe. It’s a very small island – about 1 mile by 1 mile.
Landing Strip Down the Middle of the Island
Rod/Reel: I caught it on an 8 weight on a clear blue-sky day with flat water conditions.
Fish: This is an Indo-Pacific sailfish (l. platypterus) caught about a quarter of a mile off the coast. Sailfish are one of the fastest fish in the ocean. It’s an epipelagic and oceanic species that are somewhat reliant on coral reefs and drop off structures for feeding and breeding. It has a unique way of attacking its prey with its bill and it is just marvelous to see cruising the ocean. It is a fast-running fish when hooked and its sail is a sight to see when it is on a run. Catching this one was a hoot on an 8 weight.