Is permit on a self-tied fly on your list? Dream higher, man. Max out the credit card and head for the Seychelles. That’s where you’ve got the best shot at the ugliest, most challenging quarry in the shallows: a bumpie (bumphead parrotfish).
With a set of chompers that put sheepies to shame, these coral-eating behemoths can live 40 years and weigh triple digits. But boy, are they finicky. Wade quietly ahead of a school, lead ’em 50 yards, and drop an orange or tan crab fly in their path. Don’t even think about moving it; let the monster muncher do the work. At the slightest movement, strip-set and hang on. Want a goal to shoot for? Try Mark Weeks’ IGFA world record, set on the Providence Atoll in November 2019. Guide Brendan Becker put him on a 102-pound, 3-ounce butt-ugly bumpie, with a face only a crazed fly-rodder would love.
