Maldives: fly fishing in tropical saltwater at GT, Blue Fin, Rainbow Runner, Snapper, Trigger Fish.
Intro
The trip to the Maldives, fishing in tropical saltwater, a dream come true.
About 10 years have passed since a friend come back from Los Roques told me: “Matteo, go fishing in tropical saltwater as late as possible in your life or else you'll get ruined! After you fish there, you never want to fish anywhere else!”
Today that I am writing to you is March 2023. I had wanted to organize the trip to the Maldives since 2018, but then Covid, one thing and another... 5 years have passed. But we did it! In August 2021, returning from Sweden, Kim and I said to each other: “What an experience! Now that we've fish the pike, we can think about the tropical saltwater! I have a tip for the Maldives… what do you think?” And from there a whole night stopover in Frankfurt to watch GT fishing videos, Bonefish and in general in tropical saltwater. Then the next phase, the invitation to Sao, our friend who is passionate about streamer fishing and predators, the right man for this trip. Then we need the photo and video part, so call to Ale. Then to conclude, I had already told Fabio that if I had organized for the Maldives, I could not have not invited him!
Well, now that the men are here, do you want to go to the Maldives without your respective girlfriends and wives?! But don't even think about it! And we go, between guys, girls and children.. in a moment we find in 12 leaving for the Maldives! The group is there!
Having decided on the date of February 25, 2023, we have a year and a half ahead of us to prepare. From there we all started tying flies and saving all the necessary equipment! A world apart for those who, like us, come from fly fishing for trout, grayling and pike! I will talk specifically about flies and equipment in the two dedicated sections that follow.
Equipment
As I said above, fishing equipment in tropical saltwater is a world apart.
Unlike many, if not all, who have a very specific target with this type of travel, we want to go to have fun and be ready for anything, both big and powerful fish and smaller fish. Of course, we also have our main goal, the GT (Giant Trevally), but we know it won't be easy at all, so we try not to have any illusions or too high expectations for these.
With that said, I'll list below the equipment we brought along for this trip. Starting from the rods, the sizes chosen were 9' #8 and 9' #9 for "light game" and 9' #10 and 9' #12 for GT, boat and reef fishing. The respective lines all WF, floating and transparent of the measures indicated above then from #8 to #12 all measures (and a 2x in order to have everything as a spare) and then the respective reels obviously treated for salt water and with clutches suitable for this type of fishing. Personally, as reels I brought a 5+ to use with #8, a 9+ to keep empty as an all-around jolly, and a 10+ for #12 or possibly #10. As backing, you need excellent grip and being able to load many meters in a small space, so we chose the 80lb gel spun. A note on the lines, focus on transparency for the smaller sizes, while for #12 focus on a very resistant core to face the big GT.
After talking about rods, reels and lines, let's move on to the outfit (without going too much into the specifics of everything I carry in my suitcase on all trips, so if you want, I'll give you the now endless fishing list privately haha).
On the feet, saltwater boots with the respective socks, to have an excellent grip and be protected from the corals.
For the legs, baggies and capilene to put under the baggies to cover the whole leg when fishing on the reef (on the flat you can stay calmly even in just a baggies, but for the sun I preferred to use them in almost all conditions).
For the body, quick-drying and UV-protective shirts or capilene with hood, always light, quick-drying and UV-resistant, always long-sleeved.
Sun mask, bandanas, hats and especially polarized glasses! Even better to have 2 pairs in case one breaks!
Hands protected from the sun with gloves, stripping guard and tape to prevent any cuts from the line on the fingers. For more other heavier gloves to be used eventually on fish with thorns.
Waterproof backpacks and hip pack, stripping baskets, specific pliers for unhooking and crushing barbs, nippers, hook hones and various tools.
Nylon and fluorocarbon leaders from 0.30-0.35-0.38-0.50 up to 0.80-0.90! This too, like the lines, must not be of any color but completely transparent in order to avoid shadows!
Sunscreen 50+ for both body and lips, the usual various medicines valid for all trips, passports and everything you need for a saltwater holiday.
And the suitcase is there too!
Flies
As I said in the intro, we had a year and a half to tie.
We prepared for everything, both for fishing on the flat and for fishing from the reef or from the boat, hunting or feeding, we didn't miss anything!
For light game, flat fishing for Trigger Fish, Grouper and minor fish we have tied: Crazy Charlie, Surf Candy, Clouser Minnow, imitations of small baitfish, crabs, shrimps, small cuttlefish, squirmy worms, both with chain both with lead eyes in order to change the weight of the artificial as well as the size and color.
For fishing from the reef or from the boat for GT or various species of tuna we have prepared poppers, gummy minnows, imitations of garfish, anchovies, coral trout, fancy flies and the inevitable tan and black & purple streamers!
All tied on specific saltwater hooks, more or less big, so starting from the mini shrimp on the #8 up to the big feather or synthetic poppers or streamers on the #6/0!
Personally, I organized myself with two medium/small boxes to always keep during fishing, in the waterproof hip pack or backpack, one with shrimps, crabs and all the smaller flies and one with all the imitation fish, poppers and big flies.
In addition to these two boxes, a larger case to be used only for the spare flies to be kept in the room or at the most on the beach at the base camp, from which to draw when the flies in the boxes used for fishing run out.
Spot and Fish
The islands of the atolls in the Indian Ocean generally have a conformation with two "opposite" sides, one with the "flat", therefore shallow water and sand that continue for several tens of metres, and one where the water sinks immediately, the "reef ”.
In these two different types of spots you can find both the same fish at different times, and completely different fish that are on one side or the other based on their favorite habitat.
The most famous target is precisely the GT (Giant Trevally) closely followed by all the rest, namely: Blue Fin, Trigger Fish (with all the various types), Snapper, Grouper, Rainbow Runner, Bonito, Island Trevally and Golden Trevally.
The Maldives are certainly not the main destination for those looking for Bonefish, but they too show up when they are passing through in some times of the year.
Then there are the various species of tuna and small tuna, mahi-mahi, barracuda, garfish and sharks.
Fishing can be done directly on foot on the beaches of the island, between the sand and corals, fishing both in hunting and on rapid and explosive feeding.
In addition to fishing from the shore directly on the base island, you can do open sea fishing from the boat on the feeding, or always fishing on the reef or on the flat from the boat. With the boat you can also reach the sand banks, very interesting deep jumps and small completely uninhabited islands.
Story
After all this technical part, let's move on to the story!
Departure from Milan Malpensa on Saturday at 2.30pm, arrival at Male airport on Sunday at 10.45am! Passing through Istanbul.
We are all at the airport and let the adventure begin! Our final destination will be the Hideaway Village on the island of Fulhadhoo in the Baa atoll, a true paradise for the fly angler and very comfortable for the rest of the family!
After 24 hours and more, we finally land in Male and while waiting for the transfer to the atoll, the guys go out to have a look in the harbor to try and see some fish. Kim and Sao come back after 5 minutes and make us crazy! They saw a huge garfish, a big Titan Trigger Fish and a long fish that could be a barracuda or a Rainbow Runner. The boat arrives and it's off to Fulhadoo!
The first day starts very well and we all catch! With Lorenzo we find a low tide condition on the reef side and we start fishing it with streamers, I use a small imitation of garfish and the choice turns out to be spot on! I start with a beautiful grouper, small, but with wonderful colors! And after that another 3-4 between holds and unhooks. Lorenzo and Fabio follow me closely with other groupers of various colors and some Snapper. After that, mid-morning moving to the flat side we see a huge group of forage fish surrounded by some predators, garfish, rays and even a beautiful shark! After several casts, changing flies, with a small surf candy I catch the first trevally, a leerfish! This too is a small fish but with very nice lines, certain that with the clutch closed almost to the maximum to be ready for something bigger, it didn't have a great fight. But here we are! The escape was definitive for Lavezzinifly! I can be satisfied! In the afternoon Kim concludes the picture with a beautiful unicorn fish, taken with the imitation of a small crab.
The GTs and the Blue fins were still waiting, giving two shots to the streamers of Sao and Fabio at dusk but without being hooked. Beautiful day, we are destroyed! Tomorrow we go out with the boat to fish on the reefs of the atoll in search of GT!
On the second day we had the goal we had been preparing for more than a year: the GT has arrived!
GT fishing from the reef is an extreme fishing, very hard, difficult and truly devastating. You have to be mentally ready, we were, but it wasn't enough. We split into two pairs and started searching. Fishing for big GT is a combination of waiting and watching. Casting the #12 at the mercy of the waves and wind all day is really tough. In the middle of the day we meet again and Fabio tells us that he had two strikes but was unable to hook them, huge fish that measure almost one metre! The rest of us, did nothing, we tried to cast on a pair of blue fins but to no avail! The most beautiful thing we saw this morning, besides the starfish and all the fish on the corals, were the dolphins that paraded in front of us just a few meters away, a unique emotion! The afternoon starts much better. I immediately lose a big Blue Fin and see some following, after a while Sao strike the GT! The delirium begins and we finally manage to bring it to shore! A unique satisfaction! The hardest fishing to catch a GT, but we did it!
Now back to the village for an excellent grilled fresh fish. Great day, very productive and full of experience!
The days alternate on the base island and the outer reef of the atoll. We go out on the beach in search of lick, garfish and blue fin hunts, one morning a feeding literally exploded between my feet! A creepy thing! While at low tide, a lighter fishing is done by fishing between the rocks before the reef, hunting for grouper and snapper.
One of the flies that worked best was the Shrimp Tan Orange.
Ocean fishing is truly unpredictable. You can be there peacefully in total relax in a bathing suit and flip flops sunbathing, when a feeding of trevally and bluefish breaks out right on the shore. Or be on the hunt for GT with 20cm flies and attack 25cm groupers! But also, and this was one of the funniest scenes, being out fishing, seeing a shape arriving and Ale exclaiming: “An octopus! Wait, I'll take it!" and as if it were a heron, he throws his hand in and catches it on the fly! And have a lot of fun! Even the grilled fish is starting to take shape!
After having studied well the morning hunts and feedings in the first few days, my first Blue Fin finally arrives! Caught in top water with the Mini Popper Craft Fur! When I saw the blue reflections in the water it was an incredible emotion! Even if it was still a small specimen, it is still a beautiful fish. The same morning we saw the local fishermen doing traditional hand line fishing and seeing the children walking around on the beach holding these trevally makes you realize that this is truly an island of fishermen.
We also tried other approaches such as target fishing for Trigger Fish on the shallow water on the inner side of the reef and fishing from the boat both on Bonito fish, Rainbow Runner and Garfish, and on sight for Blue Fin and GT. Among the unexpected catches we can also mention a beautiful Trumpet Fish.
While snorkelling, you realize that here there is a whole other world under the surface of the water: lots of corals and fish with different colours, shapes and species.
Whole hours are spent looking underneath with the mask and with each bath they tell each other that they have seen some new fish, which makes you understand that you are inside one of the few ecosystems still left healthy in the world. It is fortunate to be here and to be able to admire all this.
One of the most combative and fun fish to fish among the corals from the flat is definitely the Snapper. The fly that has worked best for this fish is always the Shrimp Tan Orange. Very powerful fish that immediately slip into the den among the corals and therefore have to be forced quickly, but once out their colors are to be admired. There are several species both red/orange and light with black bars or even very light with a black dot. By doing this fishing you always come across groupers and occasionally some small coral fish with many colors that look like paintings! We also caught some Trigger Fish, not big but also with beautiful colors!
One day we had the opportunity to visit a desert island, experiencing local fishing. You snorkel in what is practically an aquarium with lots of fish of various colors, you fish for octopus, you go back to the boat and you bait it on the hook held with the line in your hand. Some beautiful Snapper were caught, including a huge one, Grouper and Blue Fin, all cooked over an open fire by local fishermen and eaten with coconut. Another unforgettable experience! During the same day there were also many fly catches of Snapper, Grouper and coral fish.
Another type of GT fishing is that from the boat, in the sand flats, looking for the stingray next to which Blue Fin and GT usually fin.
By doing this type of outings we were also able to capture some beautiful Rainbow Runners, Island Trevally, Blue Fin and Bonito. GT remain very difficult to catch even with this type of approach, in general a fish that is not at all easy to catch. All the other fish were very combative and very fun to fly fish with Clouser Minnow and baitfish imitations. During these outings we also met manta rays and sea turtles!
On the last day during the last fishing trip, we fished for Trigger Fish, Snapper, and Grouper on the flat between the sand bank and the reef, a crazy landscape where I was able to catch a beautiful Grouper that made me round off this trip! A very strong fish, red/brown in color with an enormous mouth and fins. Truly a beautiful catch. On the way to the Guest House, the dolphins under and around the boat seem to have wanted to say hello to us! Beautiful! I set out to film them and I was almost able to pet them, incredible!
On the day of return, while waiting in Male we had the opportunity to take a beautiful visit tour in the center of the capital. The fruit market, the fish market and the various squares and parks, the absurd scooter traffic, the modern shops that alternate with the typical ones, have made it a truly unforgettable tour and certainly recommended for those like us who find themselves having to spend a few hours waiting before connecting with the plane.
Conclusion
The Maldives are the ideal place to combine fly fishing in tropical saltwater and a totally relaxing family holiday.
A unique experience, really very instructive.
Although it is full of fish, fishing does not prove to be easy at all, in fact here too there are many influencing factors: the wind, the moon and the tides with their more or less acute and more or less long peaks, very little is needed to change everything and consequently to capture or not to capture. But even if fishing is difficult and not at all obvious, you find yourself casting in the midst of truly unique panoramas: flats with crystal clear water, reefs with long and very high waves, sandbanks, islands with very green palm trees and white sand. This blog and the photos certainly don't convey the idea of beauty, you have to get on the plane and go!
Below I leave you with some photos and the video of this experience!
To fish together and experience these emotions go to page contacts.
Thanks for reading and see you next time :)
Matteo Lavezzini
