Tactics: Fly Fishing for Triggerfish

Tactics:

Fly Fishing for Triggerfish

Few fish are as aggressive as triggerfish. Yet, few fish are as finicky and nervous as triggerfish. They can be painfully difficult to catch, and once hooked they tend to either crush your fly hook and spit it out, cut off the leader, or get stuck inside coral bommies.

By: BRIAN CHAKANYUKA Photos by: BRIAN CHAKANYUKA and ALPHONSE FISHING CO.

There are 40 different triggerfish species in the world, and three main species of triggerfish in the Indo-Pacific Ocean – which are targeted with fly rods: the yellowmargin triggerfish, the moustache triggerfish and the Picasso triggerfish; all equal in beauty and challenge!

The yellowmargin triggerfish (Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus) comprises of an array of colours. It has a tan body with dark spots, orange margins in the fins and a pale orange snout and cheeks. They can grow up to 60cm in length and feed on a variety of live coral, algae, sea squirts, crabs, molluscs and other fish.

The moustache triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) is the most commonly caught triggerfish. It’s appropriately named as it boasts a very prominent dark line above its top lip, resembling a moustache. The rest of the body is mostly yellow with orange fins edged with black lines. Found in lagoons and reefs, these Triggerfish can grow up to 75cm in length and feed on a variety of algae, live coral, sea urchins, molluscs and crabs. The Moustache is the largest and most aggressive of the Triggerfish and due to their strong teeth and being ciguatoxic, they can inflict some very serious injuries.

The Picasso triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) might be the smallest out of the three but definitely tips the scale in the looks department with its striking yellow lined lips, electric blue forehead and black and white markings along the body. The Picasso Triggerfish is also known as the White-banded Triggerfish, Lagoon Triggerfish, Reef Triggerfish, Blackbar Triggerfish, Hawaiian Triggerfish, Huma Huma Triggerfish or Humu Picasso Triggerfish.

This species only grows up to 25cm in length and they predominantly feed on molluscs, small shrimp and crustaceans. The Picasso Triggerfish is the official Hawaiian state fish where it is known as Humuhumunukunuku apua’a or humu humu for short.

The search for triggerfish

All three species of triggerfish can be found on the shallow reefs and flats. The yellowmargin triggerfish prefers sandy-bottomed areas close to patches of turtle grass and coral. It is also common to find a yellowmargin close to a large coral “bommie” situated on a white sandy flat.

Both the moustache and picasso triggerfish inhabit more reef-like bottoms filled with corals and seaweed. And, oftentimes, they can be seen tailing at low tide – looking for small prey items such as shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans.

Making the catch

As previously mentioned, triggerfish are notoriously skittish, partly due to the fact that they feed in such shallow water. All of this makes approaching them quite difficult and extremely frustrating at times. There are three rules to catching a Triggerfish:

1 - A stealthy, quiet approach is needed once a fish has been spotted. You know your own casting capabilities, so if you know you can reach, stop - and make the cast. Getting unnecessarily close will most likely spook off the fish.

2 – You need to make your first cast count. Presenting too close will frighten the fish. Presenting too far away will result in the fish not seeing the fly and, even worse, it will probably spook off when lifting the line off the water to make a re-cast. An accurate, aggressive cast is required.

3 – A bucket load of luck! Following rules one and two on its own unfortunately doesn’t guarantee you a trigger. They can be incredibly tricky at times, hence the nickname ‘Tricky Triggers’!

Hooking the fish is only half the battle though. They have serious teeth that can cut through most leaders with ease, and they are dirty fighters as they burrow themselves into the nearest coral hole, again resulting in cut leaders.

They will fight you every step of the way to the net, darting this way and that and bolting for the coral time and again, but once you claim victory, you would have added a serious notch to your fly fishing belt.

Make your triggerfish dreams come true. Turn your fly into a fish’s ultimate temptation. The Seychelles, with its 115 islands and deserted atolls, ideal weather and warm Indian Ocean waters, is renowned for being home to some of the world’s richest fishing grounds. You don’t even have to venture too far to break fishing records!

For fly fishing adventures in the Seychelles, please check the following link.

www.alphonsefishingco.com

Other triggerfish destinations include Sudan, Djibouti, Socotra, the Maldives, and Mauritius.

Fly patterns for triggerfish: Flies from www.flyzinc.com

1. Alphlexo Crab

This is a very realistic crab-looking pattern. It also has a relatively solid and rigid profile/structure to further fascinate the triggerfish once it has been pounced on. A general rule of thumb is to use olive or tan colours when fishing darker bottoms, and white or lighter colours when fishing over sandy bottoms.

2. Spawning Shrimp

This fly has been around for ages for a reason - it works! It can be tied in various colours and weights. A Spawning Shrimp tied with lightweight bead chain eyes is ideal for super shallow tailing triggers. This also makes for a more delicate presentation when targeting these skittish fish.

3. Kraken Crab

This diverse fly doesn’t really imitate a specific creature, but rather an array of different crustaceans that are found on and around turtle grass, coral patches and white sand. The most common colors would be olive, dark brown, tan and white. The general rule of thumb is to fish a dark fly over a dark bottom and a lighter colours over lighter bottoms.