Today was our last full day of fishing. It was a little windier but the good news was that the now traditional final day lobster lunch had been booked at the really charming beach restaurant on Augustina Island. This is a great way to end the week - everybody fishes in the morning then we rendezvous at the island. We take a few bottles of wine in the cool boxes, eat a huge amount of seafood and generally have a fabulous time. It gives everybody a chance to reflect on the week and overall it has been a great success.The guys have all got on really well and I am sure some enduring friendships have been forged. I would like to thank Roxtons and Sightcast for arranging such a superb week for everyone and I am already looking forward to next year’s trip to this fantastic place.
I set off this morning with our two Zimbabwean anglers, the irrepressible John and David. We were guided by the wise man of the flats Acadio. Initially we tried for Horse Eye Jacks, but although we had a few follows and a full on fight with a big one we gave it our best and then headed for the flats.
Today was less windy and we were blessed with more of the sunshine needed to transform this incredible place into paradise. I had a great day - I went out with Phil and guide Raphael on a permit hunt. These magnificent fish are hard to find and even tougher to catch. Raphael came up trumps and found three large permit to cast to, but we let him down by never really making the most of the opportunities presented. In spite of this we still had a fantastic time with a good horse eye jack, some exciting barracuda and a few nice bones.
Fishing was slower overall today - by Los Roques’ high standards anyway. We still had bonefish for most of the party with a few barracuda, jacks, a blue runner and some other bits and pieces thrown in for good measure. The main problem, certainly from a bonefish perspective, was the lack of sunshine. Walking a flat when it’s overcast means you really have to rely on the bonefish breaking or disturbing the surface in some way to reveal their whereabouts. When the sun does peak through it’s as if the lights have suddenly been switched on and the fish are much easier to spot. The sun also has a big effect on the temperature of the shallow water on the flats, it warms quickly and the bones respond positively to this.
Yesterday was the beginning of a great saltwater flyfishing adventure for most of the team. Today the plan came together and everybody enjoyed a fantastic day’s sport. Together we landed around sixty bonefish - not bad for a team that generally had never tied a bonefish fly on before yesterday. There were three star performers today. John with a cracking 10lbs bone stalked on a flat, Phil, who not content with eleven bones caught during the day went out with me for and a couple of hours on the beach in front of the posada and added another five bones between 4 & 6lbs, all on the deadly gummy minnow.
Seeing the many islands of Los Roques from the air is always a great thrill. This will be my third visit and by now I feel totally at home as soon as the plane touches down. This year we have a great bunch of rods in the team, five of whom are yet to cast their first flies in saltwater. Three have some saltwater experience under their belts, two at Los Roques.
