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Fly Fishing Mauritius, specimen GT, Giant Travalle

Fly Fishing Mauritius

I was fly fishing Mauritius in autumn 2006. That is usually the time when the GT move in at the east coast. Mauritius is difficult to fish with the fly if you have no boat. The island is surrounded by a completely closed reef. Only in the south it is open at a spot but there the waves are that strong that it would be absolutely deadly to swim there. You would be smashed on the rocks within seconds.

Fishing outside the reef
Inside the reef the fishing is quite poor because the locals(and there are lots of them) fish a lot with nets and bait. You can of course catch garfish or coral fish but the really good fishing takes place outside the reef. There are two good spots to fish Mauritius but to get to these places you definitely need to hire a boat. One of these spots is in the east and one is in the south west. Outside the reef on the east coast there are tremendous GTs with more than 120 lbs. . When I was fishing out there we had strong west winds so it was impossible to get onto the other side of the reef. The waves were just to high. I could spot large schools of good GTs when fishing from a little island close to the reef but in their first run(during which you cannot stop them) they would have gone directly over the reef which would have lead to a destroyed fly line.  So It was better not to try.

 

Mauritius fly fishing Guenter Feuerstein
Nice fish caught by sight fishing with a popper!
Bonefish on Mauritius?
There is only one spot where you will find bonefish on the main island of Mauritius but this little lagoon belongs to a hotel and the fish cannot move out into open water because iron bars make an escape of them impossible. Fishing there is only possible for guests and requires a special permission. All around the main island of Mauritius the bonefish disappeared due to overfishing. You will find them at little outer islands but you need a boat to get there.
 
St. Brandon's
Of course by far the best is St. Brandon's which belongs to Mauritius but is located about 340 km north-east of the main island. Get a group of 6-8 fly fishers together and I will accompany you there. It is quite expensive, but you will love it! There is hardly any better spot to fly fish in the world.

Guided fly fishing
There is one guide on Mauritius which I can recommend. I was fishing with Dominique Thévenau. He really knows the waters very well. He will pick you up at the hotel and will bring you back there in the evening. Lunch and drinks are included in the service, too. His boat is perfect for fly fishing and although Dominique usually prefers the spinning reel he also knows how to handle the fly. He is after the really big GTs, and if they exceed 120 lbs. in weight they are indeed much more difficult to land on a fly rod.
Copyright © Günter Feuerstein