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In the Loop Fly Fishing Magazine - Issue 32
Sudan:
Fly Fishing the Red Sea
There aren’t many places left on this planet that haven’t been fished intensively. The Red Sea is one of those places, and especially the Sudanese parts of it can provide extremely good flats fishing for triggerfish, bonefish, and giant trevally – just to name a few of the target species there.
By: ROBERT PLJUSCEC
Photos by: ROBERT PLJUSCEC, NICOLA VITALI and TIM LEPPAN
The Red Sea is one of the last blue lungs of the earth, practically untouched by the onslaught of human industrialization. Local populations live like they did a century ago and industrial fishing, fortunately, remains undeveloped.
It’s not that the Red Sea hasn’t seen any media exposure. Famous French marine explorer, Jacques Cousteau, was in love with the Red Sea for a good reason, and he passed this love on to his sons who have been involved in many research projects in the Sudanese parts of the Red Sea.
Somehow, the forces of globalization and tourism have completely overlooked, especially, the Sudanese parts of the Red Sea, and – as a result – it remains one of the wildest and least fished places on the planet.
600 km of shoreline
Many fly fishermen probably aren’t aware that Sudan even has a coastline. Nor that the coastline is 600 kilometres long. Additionally, there are several hundred kilometres of wonderful offshore coral barriers, coral coastal areas, and lagoons with mangroves and gigantic flats, that will take years to explore.
I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to flyfish Sudan, and during my exploratory trips I’ve been both encouraged and thoroughly excited. The flats areas are just gigantic; some appear endless, and the features are extremely varied ranging from soft, muddy bottoms to hard coral.
Perhaps not surprisingly, not all the areas are good. However, it can be difficult to tell what makes certain areas prolific fish magnets and others rather barren. It makes exploring these parts even more exciting. You simply never know what you’re going to find. And things can change over time. For example, after a few years of fishing and exploring, I had the chance to revisit and fish a flat that I explored in the early days - without any results. This time around (maybe because of better knowledge, or better eyes), I found plenty of big triggers and a healthy population of huge bonefish.
The learning curve is steep when exploring the Sudanese coastline, and discovering new, exciting, and untouched fisheries along the way has kept me as excited as a kid in a candy store the whole time.
I think anyone can understand why I’m totally hooked on exploring the Sudanese coastlines. My team and I love the challenge. We don’t simply fish a few places, or a few atolls in the middle of the ocean. We fish the entire country and that is why we have developed two itineraries: One north and another in the deep south. Both are very diverse and offer very different fisheries compared to each other.
The northern one offers landbased flats fishing, while the southern one is based on fishing small islands and coral reefs in an area that offers challenging fishing in a unique environment.
The trigger mecca
In some areas, we found incredible amounts of triggerfish: both titanand yellow-margin triggerfish, on average about 2-3 kilos. During a fully focused and dedicated day of trigger fishing, a fly fisherman can have more than twenty good shots at tailing fish, sometimes in super skinny water.
Triggerfish are some of the most underrated sportfish out there. In my opinion, there is no fish on the planet with the same character and personality as Mr. Trigger. If I had to find one word to describe this species, I would choose the word ‘rainbow’. The triggerfish is such a colourful species, and they can be as aggressive as they are unpredictable.
You can cast three meters from a fish and spook it, or you can get cut off by a fish, tie another fly on, and hook the same fish again. Or you can cast twenty times to the same fish and, suddenly, the fish spooks like crazy because light got deflected in the tippet. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There is no limit to a triggerfish’ funny reactions. They can be selective, fussy, spooky, aggressive, shy, or different combinations of these moods and attitudes. To me, that’s what makes fly fishing for triggerfish one of the most fun, rewarding, and addictive things you can do on a flat.
Bonefish
Bonefish are one of the most interesting fish on the Nubian Flats. The bonefish population isn’t exactly abundant, but we have recently discovered different flats areas where bonefish are resident - and always present.
What’s peculiar is the fact that, in almost all cases, if you cast to a bonefish, it will be a very good-sized fish and sometimes a real trophy. We have seen truly monstrous bonefish, that we have mistaken for being giant trevally.
As they were swimming in our direction, we cracked out our 12-weights, only to realize - too late - that these single fish were huge bonefish. We’ve also hooked bonefish that bent- and opened our hooks and broke the leaders on our 9-weights; fish that were pushing 15lbs - Easily!
The thing about the Nubian bonefish is that they’re not very spooky. They haven’t been fished before and they are fairly easy to catch as long as you see them soon enough. They are, however, usually single - or in small schools, and you will never see them happily tailing in the same area for a long time. They always cruise, fast or slow. But they cruise in a way that makes them possible to spot. Cast subtly and precisely and they will usually take the fly and then launch, explosively, into one of those maniacal runs that they’re so well-known for.
Besides being a fun and challenging fish to catch, the triggerfish is also very combative and rather photogenic in its beautiful ugliness. You can use 6 – 9-weight fly rods depending on the type of flat you are fishing.
Oftentimes, in sandy and shallow flats, you need to fish a lighter tackle for the most subtle presentation possible - for smaller flies with thin tippets. In these types of environments, there’s little risk of breaking the fish off on rocks and coral. However, in more craggy flats with coral structure you need heavier tackle to pull the fish out of the corals. The flipside is that the triggerfish in these environments are more aggressive, which then makes it possible to use thicker tippets and bigger flies.
The variety
In addition to the triggers, there are Indo-Pacific permit and milkfish to target on the flats. With the permit, we have sometimes been lucky, sometimes we have lost some big ones, and most of the time they have left us high and dry.
With regards to milkfish in shallow water, we are starting to crack the code. They seem to like shrimp patterns, unlike any other milkfish we’ve ever encountered elsewhere on this planet.
Bumphead parrotfish
Another interesting fish, which we have hooked a few times, but – sadly - never landed in Sudan, is the bumphead parrotfish; always in monstrous sizes. Unfortunately, they are difficult
to find tailing as most of the seabeds where we fish aren’t sufficiently flat and smooth. Usually, we find them feeding on the reef. And when they are present, we can see them from 200 meters away. Their jet-blue colours and huge, spade-like tails are dead-giveaways.
We have hooked fish well over 40 kilos. The problem, however, is to land them. Not only because they are huge fish, but also because they have a mouth consisting of a bone plate capable of truncating anything. The result is usually a bent or broken hook – or a leader cut off on corals.
Giant trevally
Giant trevally are regular guests on the Sudanese flats. We have seen many; some large, and by “large” we mean fish from 20 to 40 kilos. However, the average size runs from about eight to fifteen kilos, which still is an excellent average size for the flats.
When giant trevally appear, we simply drop our puny 8-weights, crack out our 12-weights and try to cast as well as we can, praying that everything goes according to plan; that the line lands in the right place, without making too much noise, and - above all – that we succeed in stripping fast and furiously enough to entice the take. The strike and everything that follows is something you will remember the rest of your life!
Some flats always provide shots at giant trevally. Some only seldomly. However, the main rule is to ALWAYS be ready.
Teasing
Another technique that provides great excitement is teasing. It consists of casting a heavy spinning lure, without hooks, to attract practically every predatory coral species from outside the drop-off. Having teased fish into shallow water you can then cast your fly at the fish (fish that would otherwise cut you immediately off on the coral reef drop-off).
Using this method, we have hooked and landed an abundance of snappers and bluefin trevally, but also groupers, coral trout, barracuda, dogtooth tuna, and obviously giant trevally.
It might seem morally objectionable to some – especially compared to sight-fishing. However, I have to admit that it’s hard to knock teasing once you’ve tried it. On top of that, it’s just the perfect way to finish the day when the light is getting lower on the flat and sight-fishing isn’t viable anymore. To many of our guests it’s the cherry on the cake after a long day of walking the flats.
Sometimes, when the guide casts his teaser, the water starts exploding and bucket-sized mouths snap violently at the teaser right in front of your feet.
Then you must calm your nerves and cast in the right place, at the right time, so that when the fish circle around or head back to the blue water, they can see your fly.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this is one of the most intoxicating adrenaline peaks you can have, especially when you are about to cast on a mass of fish species that might include snapper, grouper, bluefin, and giant trevally all together, fins-to-fins, totally frantic. It’s definitely not your average fishing experience.
A romantic point of view
Sudan is one of the poorest and most undeveloped countries in the world, which means that – if you go - you are going to experience something you’ve probably never experienced before. And you will be surprised!
People are friendly! They rise above any thinkable western expectations, and they’re beautifully simple and easy-going; just like the environment that surrounds them. They’ll make you feel far removed from the modern world and in a different time and era.
Finally, there is the beauty of the Sudanese landscapes, the contrast between the aridity of the desert and islands and the incredible, multi-coloured water bursting with life. And then there’s the unforgettable Sudanese sunsets behind the mountains and the pioneering and exploratory feeling of a forgotten sea – a complete anachronism in 2022.
The strongest impression, however, is that of being the last patrons of a remote sea with no other boats in sight for a week. Only sea, desert, sun, and fish. That is something truly unique in today’s world!
