Maldives COMO Maalifushi Exploratory Trip

Maldives COMO Maalifushi Exploratory Trip:

Maldives COMO Maalifushi Exploratory Trip: “Heading into my recent trip, my knowledge of the Maldives was lacking to say the least. However, sometimes life gets in the way. Geographically speaking, I knew exactly where I was heading, but sometimes Google Earth can only do so much. After my first float plane flight south (the most beautiful flight to date for me!) I quickly realized I was in a place of the likes in which I had never seen. I quickly started asking an exorbitant amount of questions: The largest float plane operations in the world? How many islands? How deep are the lagoons inside some of the atolls?

The Maldives is an independent republic comprising of an archipelago of 188 inhabited islands, 1900 islands set in 26 natural atolls. The garden of islands stretches 510 miles from 7 degrees North of the equator to just South of it. If you are lucky enough to fly during a clear day, the enormity of atolls and coral outcroppings inside them is breathtaking. On my flight to COMO Maalifushi on the Thaa AtolI, I got to witness this magical view.

Normally when exploring a new fishing area your accommodations consist of your sleeping bag or maybe a hammock. My experience at COMO Maalifushi was the complete opposite. It was the nicest place I have ever stayed in my life. In addition to being completely blown away by the island, I was taken aback at the commitment to not use any single use plastic products in ANYTHING I touched for my entire stay. An incredible commitment and big step up from just removing single use water bottles at WorldCast Anglers .

Thaa Atoll is over 20 miles to cross in any direction with points over 230 feet deep inside the lagoon. We had very windy conditions during my stay and some of the runs were challenging. The 18ft Hewes Redfisher made the crossings feasible. It is the only flats boat in the Maldives. In the short time that Craig Richardson of Fly Cast Away was exploring prior to my arrival, some amazing trigger fish tailing on the flats were discovered. Large trigger fish on the flats will test the skill level of any anglers and we lost and broke off plenty before we were able to bring some to hand.

The Bluefin Trevally were plentiful during the trip. This was a bonus as they are an underrated species that plays well with all skill levels due to their aggressive nature. If Bluefin Trevally grew to the size of GT’s, they would be the more sought after species. We also found plenty of Yellow Dot Trevally and a couple of Golden Trevally on the flats. On several of the islands we found schools of Needlescale Queenfish which are also extremely aggressive and jump! We saw several good size GT’s throughout the week but never got a good shot at them.

There is plenty left to explore in the Thaa Atoll and the surrounding Atolls. While it might take a little time to figure out the areas, their potential and patterns; there already is a great product available for all levels of fly anglers. Fortunately for COMO Maalifushi, they are already prepared for the exploration in the Thaa Atoll and the surrounding Atolls utilizing their 68 foot Hatteras with skiff in tow.

By the time I got home the wind had died down in the Thaa Atoll (of course) and I was already getting word from Craig that he had seen some bonefish of some decent size and he was going to try and sort a couple of them out.

I look forward to the updates on the exploration and returning to COMO Maalifushi. I have some unfinished business with some large triggerfish and it is a remarkable place.”