So you get the chance to spend nine weeks working as a fishing guide and training up some guys who have never held a fly rod before. Fancy it? Might also be worth mentioning this is taking place in the Maldives at Atmosphere Kanifushi Resort. Sounds like a dream job. We ask Mark Windsor if it is.
Mark tell us a little about yourself
I was introduced to fly fishing and golf at the age of seven and for most of my life it has been a tug of war. However fishing always had the upper hand. Being from the North West I spent hours trout and salmon fishing in North Wales on the river Dee, lake Vyrnwy Talyllyn and many other places and later in Scotland. I was and still am also very keen on sea fishing and hammered the coastline whenever I could especially in the Isle of Man and North Wales, favourite holiday destinations.
Most of my working life has been in a semi-corporate environment and I have spent more years than I care to remember trapped in a suit. However following a job move to the South East I soon discovered Farlows and is was not long before I had made some new friends and found myself working part time on a Saturday. This has carried on for the last eight years and I have been involved with helping in the Game Fair, all the show's open days and events associated with Farlows/ Sportfish group.
I then got myself qualified as a level 2 coach and started coaching and have been doing that for a about 4/5 years and am now looking at doing the AAPGAI qualifications.
Nine weeks in the Maldives, sounds like a dream job, how did it come about?
It was working through Farlows that I met with Mat McHugh who runs Fly Odyssey (worldwide destination fly fishing company) and having already had a few saltwater fly fishing trips to Mexico, Australia, Maldives and Cuba it was through a number of conversations with Mat mostly over the odd beer or two that the opportunity came about to help with the a new resort/ destination in the Maldives that Mat was working with to help them develop their fly fishing operation.
Thankfully, I was in a position to be able to take some time off work, nine weeks to be precise and help out. Get out of the suit and into the flats gear. Nine Weeks in the Maldives during the cold wet months of November and December in the UK it was a no brainer.
How did you pack gear-wise for a nine week trip and was there anything you forgot or wish you had?
Packing was challenging as the longest I had been away for previously was two weeks so I did the math as the Americans say and I used that as the guide. So I had the lightest bag I could find and packed it with lots of small, light fishing things that together took me up to 22 kilos. Six fly rods, six reels plus flies, leaders etc., fishing and popping gear. My clothes were gathered up Swiss roll style and went into my hand luggage. I felt like it was Noah's arc I had two of everything. That was me ready to go.
Gear that got trashed: one 10 weight line, metres of leader, flies lost count, Pair of flats shorts and trousers, wading boots and inner neoprene socks destroyed thanks to the coral, one cap plus other stuff.
When you arrived did you hit the ground running or had a day or two to say “ hey, am I really here?”
On arrival I would like to say I hit the ground running but I was more like I hit the ground like a dead bird for the first day but the free champagne helped settle me. Once I had caught my breath I did a quick recce and then the first guests started arriving and it was like a baton race for the next five weeks, had a short break and it started off again. But the guiding was great fun and very enjoyable with some wonderful, entertaining and interesting people. Most of the people fishing were of course on holiday with the family and/ or partner and it was a good way of mixing fishing and a family holiday.
Most hard-core fishing only destinations offer very little for non-fishing partners and family but this was a good mix and those fishing could relax and enjoy it, knowing that their other half's or family would have plenty to do and be looked after very well.
It wasn't until probably the second or third week that I sort of pinched myself to think hey this is really happening and it's here and now so don't miss this opportunity to explore around the island and fish your head off, which I did whenever I could. Clearly after a few hours guiding I did take some time off and enjoy the hospitality of the resort. But I also fished damn hard when I could and got out off the island as often as was practical.
What was you approach, did you do some fishing to see how and where would fish best during times of the day?
In terms of my approach I remained quite flexible as I needed to understand more about the fishery and whilst I knew the species we could go for and Mat Mc Hugh had briefed me very well it was still let's see what we can catch. As you know fishing is unpredictable, especially saltwater fly fishing and it pays to be ready for whatever comes your way. So I initially would fish with two rods set up a 9# and a 12# but after some scary moments during some really bad tropical storms where I felt like a radio mast which had me sprinting off the sand spit at top speed with lightning cracking overhead. I decided to fish a little lighter and so I hedged my bets using a 10# rod and just changed the leader and flies.
In fairness after I had caught a few smaller bluefin trevally and striped trevally, spotted darts and a variety of unidentifiable reef fish I sort of concentrated on chasing larger fish when I could.
So blind casting into the surf with a 10# is a lot easier than a 12# and if I hooked anything big I just hung on. I used a total commitment rig in the surf for GTs with an 80lb leader as I was literally fishing in the coral, as you know Pete, waves crashing into you and staggering about in heavy surf is not to everyone's taste and its hard work but it did produce some nice fish.
Did you have a rough plan, along the lines of I concentrate on the bones or bluefin and build the fishing around the other species or did you keep it flexible?
Most of the guests were happy to go hunting for whatever came along and whilst there were testing times we did catch fish and, more importantly, enjoyed ourselves and appreciated the surroundings and the ocean wildlife.
For me to come in after a session fly fishing in saltwater is just the best feeling in the world and as we all know the first beer never touches the sides.
How did you find guiding trevally to say, trout?
Guiding in the saltwater is clearly very different to say guiding for trout and one of the main differences is the fact that the ocean is a big place and the whilst many of the fish follow regular patterns of behaviour it is unpredictable and they can literally appear at any time and during any tide. You really have to be ready with whatever you've got to take advantage of, a sudden opportunity one day the fish are there the next they vanish. Most of these fish are either eating or being eaten so they move quickly and tend not to hang around as they are hunting for food. Trout on the other hand tend to hold station, especially in rivers, and wait for the conveyor belt of water to bring the food to them. So it's different but still equally challenging. However I just love the sea and saltwater so that for me gives it the edge and when you hook up to one of these fish however small you know you have a fish on and that you have earnt it.
Part of your brief was to train up some of the staff at the resort. How did you deal with teaching someone to cast who had never picked up a fly rod and didn’t fully speak the language?
Training up some of the resort staff was always going to be interesting and thankfully I had prepared some notes and rehearsed how I was going to do it which put me in good stead as it was hit and miss at times with some guys being available and others not. The resorts was very busy so clearly the priority was to their main day job and not training as part time fly fishing guides. So we had one or two moments. But overall we made progress and my training was a mix of theory with a lot of visual guides and images along with props. A lot of these guys just didn't know what fly fishing was all about or indeed sport fishing and catch and release and I was known as the flying fisherman which raised a few eyebrows with newly arriving guests that I was introduced to. I tried to correct them but it was a waste of time so I soon convinced myself that I was indeed a flying fisherman.
Language skills were mixed but teaching someone to double haul involved a lot of finger pointing sign language hand skills and 'copy me' !!
But we had a lot of fun and laughs along the way and clearly some of the guys progressed better than others but we made progress and got a couple of guys up to speed.
One lad Hushaam even managed to catch his first bluefin trevally on his own, unaided by me and released it rather than barbecued it. The Maldivian culture is to kill everything you catch so it was a part education process as well. You can only kill a fish once but return it and guest will pay to catch the fish again and again.
Did the people you taught know about the specific fish you were targeting and understand about how to spot them and how you would catch them?
They understood the fish we were after and some had caught them by other methods or knew where they were or had seen them etc. But the shallow water hunting was a revelation as they didn't think you could catch these fish in knee-deep water, until that was we went out fishing and they suddenly started looking in the water and there they were. They all had good eyesight and were pretty good at spotting fish but then it was what do we do and that's when I managed to make a few casts and hook fish which they all found very exciting especially if you make some blind casts and hook fish that you cannot see, but are there.
Do you think they will continue as fly anglers?
I would certainly think that one of the guys will carry on with the fishing, provided he is given the opportunity to do so and encouraged. As he said to me it's in the blood. So I would like to think that my hard work has produced a new fly fisherman and a few more minds that understand sport fishing and protecting this precious resource that we have. As I said to a newly arrived guest enquiring if I had seen any GTs. Yes I said in three places. In the coral surf, under the Jetty and on the buffet!
What were the highlights of your time in the Maldives?
The highlights for me certainly included catching some interesting fish but more importantly meeting some really generous and genuinely enthusiastic guests for whom I guided, not least yourself Pete (with whom I am sure I will remain friends for many years) and making some new Maldivian friends.
Looking back what would I have done differently? Not much to be honest. Maybe slow myself down a little as I did fish some very long days and 'went at it' a bit which was very tiring. There wasn't one day that I didn't cast a fly at some point even if it was only for an hour or two after guiding during the nine weeks.
Would you do it again?
I would certainly do it again. Absolutely, no question and would tweak some aspects of how I would do it but yes where do I sign up? For me it felt very natural and I actually, for once in my life, realised that what I was doing was what I should be doing. Getting up at five was not a chore, I wanted to get up and that's a hell of a difference from having to get up. No smelly tubes to travel on, just a short walk along a sandy beach with palm trees and the warmth of the day surrounding you.
I just hope that from this initial foray there might be an opportunity out there for a more permanent position somewhere.
Is it your dream job?
Yes this was my dream job without doubt.
For more details on fishing in the Maldives at Atmosphere Kanifushi please contact Mat Mchugh at Fly Odyssey