If you like fishing topwater—and we all do—this awesome video taken from David Attenborough’s Blue Planet 2 is enough to make you salivate. The footage, originally aired on the BBC, shows giant trevally at Farquhar Atoll in the Seychelles smashing birds… both on the water and in the air.
Each fall, sooty terns congregate in huge nesting colonies in a particular area of this Indian Ocean archipelago off East Africa. Giant trevally, which can grow to more than 5 feet in length and heavier than 175 pounds, have discovered this plentiful source of food. Normally, trevally are solitary hunters of the flats. An abundance of fledgling terns in their earliest flights bring these big fish together in schools to massacre baby birds.
The terns have learned to stay off the water as much as possible as they hunt small fish near the surface. The trevally have learned to judge the birds’ flight and leap out of the water to hammer them in mid-air.
There’s no doubt fishing operations in the Seychelles have taken notice of this incredible phenomenon. You can bet innovative fly tyers are working on new patterns to mimic terns on the wing.
Here’s a starting point to begin planning your trip to the Seychelles: https://www.seychelles.com