Sunday, August 23, 2009

Gavin,Steve,Lindsey and Peter Aug. 21st Fiji fishing

With our shop open six days a week and all the other things that keep life interesting, we have not been out fishing a lot lately. Somehow we just can't find enough hours in the day to get everything done. The saying feast or famine truly applies to our situation.
So again Rosie and I are sitting in the shop working on some display when a group of guys that are visiting from Australia and doing some work for the schools and hospital come in. The first The first thing they say is, "Do you wanna go fishing?" Now haw can anyone turn that down. Of course we wanna go fishing. I ask in my most professional tone, "When would you like to go?" To which they reply, in unison I might add, "Now!" I swallow hard and say give us a few minutes to go and get the gear ready and we will come back to the shop to get you.
So off we go. It is around noon and the weather looks threatening but all of our spirits are high.
We arrive to our first spot and some quick instructions are given. Then the lures are flying. Not long after our start, Gavin is onto a nice fish. A good solid fight and Rosie give it a lift into the boat.

From gavinlindseystevepeteraug21
This is Gavin's first Red Bass, and after a few picture and some video it is back into the water and back to fishing.
Lindsey was using the 30lb rod and after a while of no bites, decided he had enough for now and would become the videographer for the gang.

From gavinlindseystevepeteraug21
He willingly turned his rod over to Peter. Peter then started casting like there was no tomorrow. Before long he was onto a nice fish. After a good fight and a little coach from Rosie, a Job Fish, first for our boat, was brought on board for it picture taking session.

From gavinlindseystevepeteraug21
Now there was one fellow who at this point was still not on the board, Steve. He was up front with a 50lb rig and doing everything right. He could cast a bloody mile, and his retrieves were perfect. For some reason the fish had lock jaw when it came to his lure. I have to say he persevered for the entire trip. Never faltering and never giving up. He must have had a million casts. I would give him a location and he would cast there, nothing. I would say cast out at 2 o'clock, he would and nothing, not even a bite. Then towards the end of our session with the tide ripping, he cast to a small coral head and had the mother of all strikes. The sound was massive and a hole opened up all around where his lure was. But alas it was not to be. The GT missed the lure and left Steve with the knowledge of what is out there.

From gavinlindseystevepeteraug21
Steve in action with one of many casts.

All in all we had a great time out. These guys were a pleasure to spend the afternoon with and I hope they come and fish with us again.

Tight lines

Thursday, August 6, 2009

August 5th Fiji fishing charter

I was sitting in my new tackle shop dreaming of all the money I was not making from all of the customers I didn't have when my mobile phone rang. I looked to see who it was and saw my good friend Captain Charles' name. I answered with the usual "Hello Captain", to which he replied,"you wanna go for a fish this afternoon". Now usually when he says that it means he wants to eat fish and will drive the boat while I get to fish. Not this time. He says, "I have a couple of guys that want to go for a fish, do you want to take them?" I ponder this for exactly 1.5 seconds and respond sure why not. After all I was not rolling in customers.
Within 20 minutes I was at the jetty with all the gear and meeting my guests,

Denis and Christina Kay
From august5charter
Theo and Youlla Eriunidis.
From august5charter
As we pull away from the jetty, Capt. Charles is at the wheel and I have taken over as deckhand/host. Rosie, who usually does this job had to stay and watch the store.
It is about a 25-30 minute ride out the the reefs we are going to fish, so I sit down with my new angling friends and go over a few things about safety and not hooking me in the back or head with a lure.
We arrive at the reef and I give a few casting lessons and put Denis up at the bow and Theo at the stern. Lucky for me these two fellows are quick studies and are casting like pros in no time.
Unfortunately the fish gods were not shining their grace on us. Between a full moon and 25 knot winds we did not see a lot of action.

Denis landed a nice Bluefin Trevally on 30 lb.
From august5charter
We kept up the chatter and never lost hope. These two fellows put in the casting time and deserved more fish but it was not to be. The wind was relentless but every time we moved the boat Denis would get out on the bow and do a Leonardo DiCaprio "Titanic" impression, only his Kate Winslet decided it was way to rough to be out there so he did it alone.
In the end we had a good time despite a lack of fish as told by Theo's smile.
I hope to see this group again as it was quite enjoyable.

Tight lines