Cocos Islands with Members from the Brisbane Fly Fishing Club

For this May trip, I had the pleasure of hosting six members from the Brisbane Fly fishing Club, including current club president, Marcus Walker.

Such fun and nice people. Thanks to Tim Kempton for introducing everyone.

Also on the trip was Sabine, Alastair, Angus, Les and Paul (Fin Line & Fly) from Scotland.

Weather wasn’t exactly the prettiest most days during the week but everyone managed to make the most of it and still had a good time with some exciting actions.

The last trip to Cocos Islands we had to fish in howling winds eventually cutting short our 6-day fishing by two days due to an approaching cyclone.

Naturally, I was hoping for more ideal weather.

How wrong was I!

The winds were blowing 22-37 knots much of the first four days of fishing.

Conditions improved on the fifth day of fishing and was near perfect for our last and final day, of course!

But it’s good to have one day of glorious weather compared to none.

Our flight from Perth departed at 8:15 am this time unlike the 12:30 pm departure time the last time.

We arrived in Cocos at 12:35 pm after a stopover in Exmouth leaving us with plenty of time to settle in and even do some whopping in the local supermarket. Heck, we could even walk out to the flats and catch a few fish if we wanted to.

*Trying to catch 40-winks – got lucky with empty row in my flight*

Trip Highlights

Gloomy stormy weather the first four days
Conditions improved on the fifth day
Almost perfect conditions for our last and final day which produced probably the best fishing day for everyone
Everyone caught plenty of fish especially bonefish
Biggest bonefish landed was a 73cm fish by Tim
Marcus broke two rods
Paul is a convert now having said before the trip he had absolutely no interest in going after species such as triggerfish or bumphead parrotfish (bumpy)
Paul had shots on triggers and even a humphead maori wrasse plus eats from bumpies
Les had two big bones cut him off at the blue holes
Les also had a GT bust him off
Angus had titans breaking him off and straightening his hook
I personally lost and missed out on a couple of monster bones, had multiple shots at triggers, finally got an eat from a titan at the edge of a blue hole at the end of the last day and opened up the hook as it went straight into the hole
Fished lots of tailing fish in skinny waters
Sighted permits and GTs but no successful shots

Flies I Used This Time

Below are the flies that I personally used during this trip that I managed to keep for record.

I remember losing only one fly to an unstoppable bonefish that cut me off in the corals. That fly was a Pucci fly pattern by David.

Reels I Used Throughout The Week On The Flats

This time I chose to use the Lamson Centerfire for general flats work and the Speedster for the more bruiser species such as triggerfish, bumphead parrotfish and such if encountered.

I thoroughly enjoyed the week and appreciated the opportunity to spend time with you all; anglers and guides alike. It’s rare to find such a welcoming and inclusive bunch of people, and I really hope we can all fish together again! Tight lines, everyone! – Paul

The people the guides the meals the weather and the fish ..all made for a memorable trip with plenty of opportunities and challenges thanks one and all – Tim

Yeah gang, a great trip to Cocos Island. Tremendous companionship and banter. Thanks to Juan for being a good host and also to Tim for allowing me the opportunity to be part of the team. Cheers, Les.

Thank you, new and old friends. It was an amazing trip and a special experience in a new location.

Catching/stalking, tailing bones and triggers, guides, food, accommodation and friends to name a few. Thank you, Juan, for organising as well.

Cheers, Angus

Thanks to the wonderful Cocos Island hospitality (thanks Rizan), excellent and passionate guides and companionship. Thanks for organising the trip, Juan. Thanks for introducing us to this great experience, Tim. – Sabine

Juan, a great trip to a fantastic part of the world. Thanks for all your efforts. Special thanks to Rizan and his family for their hospitality- a great family effort. The other guides were all fantastic, very patient and passionate. We look forward to sharing our experiences with others in the fly fishing community. – Marcus

I can only concur with all the above comments but am very grateful for the fellowship of the group and guides and your patience for the old fella.

Juan and Rizan – thank you for the organisation and getting me onto some good bones particularly my PB of 66cm

Also thanks to Sabine, Angus and Tim for getting “forgetful Joe “ through the baggage exit at Perth International and helping me with my bags.

My Apple tag worked well as when I arrived at Brisbane airport it told me my bag was exactly 3614 km away at Perth Airport which was spot on.

Look forward to more adventures.

Many thanks to all.

Cheers
Alastair

MY PERSONAL DAY TO DAY RECOUNT

10 MAY.

Fished with Paul.

22-27 kt winds.

Paul and myself caught quite a number of bonefish. I lost two big ones.

Afternoon was tougher as it was very cloudy and difficult to sight fish. Good fishing overall.

The others had a harder time. Plausibly due to first day in a new environment.Wind was a challenge for some.

Tomorrow’s weather doesn’t look promising. Still windy with lots of rain forecasted.

11 MAY.

Fished with Marcus.

Super windy this morning. Also rained and cloudy most of the time. Couldn’t sight fish caught nothing.

Around 11 am we went to the blue hole. Marcus had a few shots at triggers but no eat. I had one shot at a peach face also no eat.

Went bonefishing after that and caught a couple of fish.

Mixed results for the others.

12 MAY

Fished with Angus today.

Bright and sunny most of the day except later in the afternoon when it poured heavy rain.

Caught some fish but nothing too exciting for me.

Les lost a big bone that ate near a blue hole and went across the other side and busted him off.

13 MAY

Fished with Alastair.

Nicer weather in the morning on the first flats but it soon turned to shit.

Late morning to when we stopped fishing it was dark skies and heavy rain.

I had an exciting day. Didn’t catch that many fish but missed out on 3 very big bones.

First fish I spooked it by putting the fly too close in the second cast.

Second fish was coming towards the fly as I stripped but a smaller fish ate the fly first!

Third fish near the blue hole I had no chance at all as it took off and stripped line like there was none on a tight drag setting, went straight for the blue hole and cut the 24 lb fluro off.

14 MAY

Fished with Tim.

Finally clear skies. Slightly slower wind. Rained short while around 3 pm.

Azrin fished with us till 4 pm.

I caught a few bones. Saw some big ones but they spooked.

Tim caught a treadfin.

We chased triggers quite a bit. Also went to West Island side but only saw one trigger.

Saw schools of GT but did not get any shots.

Had a few casts at a peach face but spooked.

Ended the day stalking one trigger near home island while Tim went looking for bones.

3 times my fly was taken by small rock cods when making shots at the titan, including one where trigger went after the rock cod. It may have wanted the fly.

15 MAY

Fished with Sabine and Hoozie.

Interesting day. First stop met Daniel and Kenny. Lots of tailing bones in muddy skinny waters South Island telok Semberang.

Small puuci fly worked better than Charlie or shrimp.

Rizan/Tim/Alastair Azrin/Paul/Angus was also here on the other sides.

Everyone encountered tailing bones although from what the others described they may have had it a bit better than where we were because it quickly quietened down for us whereas Tim said they stayed at that spot for 3 hours.

Went to an open area between south and West Island thereafter. Only found one school of tailing bones. I landed one and Sabine dropped two.

Had lunch and went to look for triggers. All the other boats had the same idea.

We saw a few triggers. Had many casts. I hooked one with David’s puuci fly. Amazing eat on edge of blue hole. Fish was strong headed straight back into the hole and hook opened up.

Saw some bumpy.

Spent extra hour fishing at home island. Saw another titan, Huz and I stalked it. It didn’t stay in one spot for long. Kept moving and never did see my fly. Eventually swam off.