I have been lucky enough to spend a big part of my guiding career in the Seychelles. The more time I spend at other places in the world, the more I realize how amazing this place is, truly a fly fisherman's heaven. Most of my time spent out there, I was guiding, but this time I was fortunate to go on a Yeti Ambassadors trip, with Alphonse Fishing Company to Cosmoledo. Cosmoledo is known as the GT capital of the world. The weather was not on our side, making sight fishing conditions very hard. We did, however, catch some amazing fish…GT’s, Permit, Triggerfish, Grouper, Snapper and the list goes on.
Probably one of the most memorable fish of this trip was a Giant Barracuda that I managed to catch on a popper. We were doing some wind drifts on the skiff, looking for GT’s. We had landed a couple of smaller fish, but still looking for a giant. All of a sudden, I heard Cameron Musgrave (Cosmo Head Guide) shout, “Massive Geet, 11 O’Clock”. I was lucky enough to place the cast a few feet in the path of the fish, one pop and BAM. The fish smoked the popper and to our amazement immediately jumped 6 feet out of the water. We immediately knew that it was a massive Barracuda. It continued to jump several times. We knew that I was on borrowed time, only having a straight Fluorocarbon leader and the Barracuda will bite through the line with its razor-sharp teeth. But it stayed on.
When the fish came closer, we noticed that it was not along and there as a huge GT trying to rip the fly away from the Barracuda. It even bit it around the body. My good friend David Mangum was ready and made the cast. The GT was too smart and after one attempt at eating the fly, it knew it was not what he was looking for. A few minutes later we managed to land a personal best Barracuda for me. After a quick photo we sent the beast back home to grow even bigger and harass little baitfish for a few more years.
-Jako Lucas
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