Doctrine · not a honey-hole list

Seasonal fundamentals

When a coast, a type of water, and a fish actually line up. If you elected Texas on the list, this page opens on Texas — Seychelles stays off the board until you ask for it. Filter by region, method or habitat, and species. The year bar is peak versus present. Limits cite TPWD and FWC — verify before you keep one.

Seychelles

Seychelles — GT country

Indian Ocean atolls. Modeled tide. Lodge water on the outer rims.

Alphonse and St François are the photograph — giant trevally on the edge, bones and Indo-Pacific permit on the sand. Farquhar is the southern atoll, same fish, farther. Mahé is the public door: reef, park water, blue water, not the St François flat. There is no NOAA gauge. Tide is a labeled model. SFA license. Roosterfish does not live here. Atlantic jack crevalle does not either. You came for a GT.

April. Last of the classic atoll window before the SE trades build. GT still the headline.

Type

Fly

Fly when the day allows it. That is the whole doctrine. Eight-weight for tails and bones, nine for permit, ten-plus when a tarpon is the job. Wind is the tax — above about 16 mph the presentation gets ugly and the honest move is the spinning rod. Lead the fish, put the fly where he is going, and do not trout-set a trout. Keys fish have seen every Gotcha in the catalog. Bahamas will forgive a sloppy landing Texas and Biscayne will not.

Alphonse Farquhar Mahé

April · peak

What is actually on

Bonefish

Permit

Giant trevally

Peak Present Off

Closures

No coast-wide harvest closure on the board. Still verify before you keep a fish.

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

Peak AprilSeychelles

Thermal window

—

68–88°F · best 72–84°F

Absent in Texas. Keys: big, few, educated. Bahamas: the capital — winter singles, summer schools of 3–5 lb fish. Puerto Rico: east islands more than San Juan. Seychelles: Alphonse and Farquhar sand, not Mahé town water.

Fly. 8 wt. Gotcha, Crazy Charlie, shrimp. Long fluoro, soft landing. Bahamas will forgive more than Biscayne.

Spin. Possible with a tiny jig. The honest tool here is the fly.

Leads the brief on Alphonse, Farquhar.

Seychelles. Seychelles: treat as C&R. Lodge and SFA rules on the outer atolls.

Official source

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

Peak AprilSeychelles

Thermal window

—

70–88°F · best 74–84°F

None in Texas. Keys mecca — flats, banks, wrecks. Bahamas west sides May–Oct. Puerto Rico: east-island banks, not Condado. Seychelles 'permit' is often the Indo-Pacific fish (Trachinotus blochii) — same job, different ocean.

Fly. 9 wt, 10 in wind. Merkin / Del Brown / Raghead. Lead the tailer, let the crab sink, one slow twitch.

Spin. Often deadlier. Live crab, DOA crab, 20–30 fluoro. No apology.

Leads the brief on Alphonse.

Seychelles. Seychelles: Indo-Pacific permit / snubnose. Treat as C&R. Lodge and SFA rules. Not a Keys merkin fish with a different latin name pretending to be the same.

Official source

Giant trevally

Caranx ignobilis

Peak AprilSeychelles

Thermal window

—

72–90°F · best 76–86°F

Indo-Pacific. Alphonse, St François, Farquhar — the reason the atoll week exists. Absent from the Atlantic and the Gulf. Do not print a GT on Galveston or Condado.

Fly. 12 wt. A big baitfish on the atoll edge. He will eat a popper. This is not a Texas jack.

Spin. Stickbait or a live bait on the pass. The eat is violent. Do not bring an 8-weight to a GT.

Leads the brief on Alphonse, Farquhar, Mahé.

Seychelles. Seychelles: verify SFA. Lodge programs are typically catch-and-release. Not an Atlantic jack.

Official source

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