For years, batfish were one of those species that flats anglers simply looked at rather than targeted. Abundant on the Indian Ocean flats, they were generally considered algae and crustacean feeders, and despite plenty of experimentation with conventional bonefish flies, consistently catching one on purpose remained something of a mystery.
BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF
That changed when Blue Safari guide Matt DeFilippi made a remarkable observation while guiding on the Seychelles flats. While standing on a sandy knoll on the edge of St. François Lagoon, Matt noticed a batfish breaking the surface to eat something drifting in the current. Soon afterwards, another did the same. The object, he realised, was a bluebottle – the common name for the Portuguese man o’ war.
When another bluebottle drifted towards a group of batfish, the fish charged it with surprising aggression. Matt had discovered something few anglers had previously considered: batfish were actively feeding on floating jellyfish.
The next logical step was to create a fly that imitated the strange blue creature. Matt’s first prototype may not have looked particularly convincing to his fellow guides, but it worked. On its first proper test, a batfish rose to the surface and inhaled the floating imitation.
Together with fellow Alphonse Island guides Kyle Simpson and Brad Young, Matt continued refining the pattern, eventually developing what is now known as the Blue Bottle Fly – a highly buoyant surface fly designed specifically to imitate a drifting Portuguese man o’ war.
The fly is as unconventional as the fish it was designed to catch. Built to float high on the surface, its construction combines buoyant materials with long, flowing synthetic fibres that create the distinctive trailing tentacles of a bluebottle. The body is designed to sit prominently on the surface while the long fibres move naturally beneath it in the current.
The result is a fly that is best fished with minimal intervention. Rather than stripping it, the Blue Bottle Fly is allowed to drift and swing naturally with the current – exactly as the real thing would. And when a batfish decides to investigate, the take is anything but subtle.
Watching a batfish rise through shallow water, break the surface and engulf a fly may once have seemed unlikely. Thanks to one observant guide and a rather unusual jellyfish, it has now become one of the most visual and exciting new challenges on the Indian Ocean flats.
Watch Matt DeFilippi tie the Blue Bottle Fly in the accompanying step-by-step video.
Watch our Alphonse Island film where batfish are on the agenda:
