Giant Trevally on Boxing day

With the long holiday weekend I thought we would get a lot of fishing in. Xmas was out of the question but Boxing day and Sunday were definite possibilities.

Boxing day morning we head out fully outfitted for a days popping. John, Rosie, my mother and myself.

As we leave the protected river mouth and head up the coast to some new grounds I am exploring I notice the ground swell and slight wind from the Southeast. Even with that we can cruise at 24 knots and we are at the grounds in 20 minutes.

John gets out the first catch and hooks up right away. Unfortunately his 30lb outfit is no match for his finned adversary. He gets reefed and all is lost. It takes a while before we see more fish but it was worth the wait. As I cast out and start to retrieve my popper a school of small fish start fighting over my popper. I just leave it in the water and let them fight over it. To bad none of them were big enough to bite the hooks. Good fun watching though.

John is driving the boat so I can fish a bit.

As we approach a point I can tell it is fishy. I cast my popper out and am rewarded with a massive explosion and a solid hook up. After a good clean fight I boat the first fish for the day.

From boxing day

If you look closely at the water in the photo you will notice it is starting to get rough out. The wind starts to blow up to 30 knots and rain squalls can be seen coming out way.

By this time Rosie has had enough of this rough kind of fishing and beds down for a nap.

From boxing day

The weather is winning and we decide to head back but I must have one more cast. I let it fly to a point in the reef and as I watch, two massive shapes appear from the depths and one of them explodes on to my popper. The splash is so big that even Rosie wakes from her slumber. As my line pulls tight the fish is swimming towards me and I am unable to set the hooks. My popper floats to the surface and I call it quits.

From boxing day

On our way back the weather just keeps getting worse so we duck inside the reef and slowly pound our way home.

Weather aside we still got a fish but not quite what I was hoping for.

It is now Sunday and the weather is atrocious, blowing 25-30 with no end in sight.

Tight lines and windy days.

Giant trevally with Russell

I finally got back out on the water. It has been a month since I have been fishing. This of course is due to weather and a short vacation, that did not involve fishing but did involve a lot of eating and drinking. That's another story.

Rosie was under the weather so it was myself, my mom and a good friend Russell for the day.

First up was Russell with a really nice Sea Bass

From fishing with Russell

Next on the menu was a GT for my good friend

From fishing with Russell

Ok, that is enough for him, now it is my turn.

From fishing with Russell

Now that I am happy I turn the show back over to Russell for a final Bass

From fishing with Russell

Here is some video porn for you fishing maniacs.

The weather in general was beautiful, bright sun and warm. Unfortunately it was bowing 20+knots and the water was a bit cloudy.

We had a few drops and a couple other bites but all in all a good day.

Tight line

We survived Cyclone Mick

Well we survived cyclone Mick. The power just came back on last night. Kudos to the Fiji Electric Authority for wanting to make money. There is a little trickle of water. Enough that I do not have to bath with swimming pool water. No real damage to the house or our lives. But I will say Mother Natures way of trimming the yard is a little brutal. Not what I would have done, but with a little chainsaw work and a lot of raking we'll have it right.

My boat faired much better than the yard. I moved it up the river and into the mangroves where she spent the night calm and quiet.

Here is a couple more images of the storm and when I get Rosie's video together I will post that.

From cyclone mick

This is just before it really got strong for us and also the last image I was able to get until it passed.

From cyclone mick

This is the last of it as it left us.

The storm lasted 9 hours before we got to the eye. Then a 2 hour break and the wind picked up again. Lucky for us the back side was not as strong and only lasted another 2 hours.

The town of Navua is 10km from us, and it was completely flooded. The flood reached almost 6 km from the river. 4 people lost their lives and most farmers lost their livelihood.

That was the first for the season and there is a total of 8 predicted for this season.

The fun is just beginning.

Thank you all for you kind words and thoughts. It is always nice to know people are supporting you in you life struggles.

Tight lines

Cyclone Mick update 3

Getting closer and windier.

Update on cyclone Mick

The winds they are a blowin'. It is starting to feel a lot like Christmas. After all it is cyclone season and we should expect nothing less than a few of them to pass by. Unfortunately this one is passing right through.

Special Weather Bulletin Number SIX for Fiji ON TROPICAL CYCLONE MICK  ISSUED FROM RSMC NADI at 1:14am on Monday the 14th of December 2009  

TROPICAL  CYCLONE WARNING.  A TROPICAL CYCLONE GALE WARNING REMAINS IN FORCE FOR VANUA LEVU, TAVEUNI, VITI LEVU, YASAWA AND MAMANUCA, LOMAIVITI GROUP AND NEARBY SMALLER ISLANDS. A TROPICAL CYCLONE ALERT REMAINS IN FORCE FOR THE REST OF FIJI.  A STRONG WIND WARNING REMAINS IN FORCE FOR ROTUMA.  

TROPICAL CYCLONE MICK [995HPA] CENTRE CAT 1 WAS LOCATED NEAR 15 DECIMAL 5 SOUTH 176 DECIMAL 1 EAST OR ABOUT 290 KM NORTH-NORTHWEST OF NADI OR ABOUT 360 KM WEST-NORTHWEST OF LABASA AT 12 AM THIS MORNING. 

THE CYCLONE IS INTENSIFYING. CLOSE TO ITS CENTRE THE CYCLONE IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE AVERAGE WINDS UP TO 65 TO 75 KM/HR WITH MOMENTARY GUSTS TO 90 KM/HR. THE CYCLONE IS CURRENTLY MOVING SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT 20 KM/HR.  ON THIS FORECAST TRACK THE CYCLONE CENTRE IS EXPECTED TO LIE ABOUT 140 KM TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST OF NADI OR ABOUT 260 KM WEST OF LABASA AT 12 PM TODAY AND ABOUT 40 KM TO THE NORTHEAST OF NADI OR ABOUT 205 KM WEST-SOUTHWEST OF LABASA AT  12AM TOMORROW.  

DESTRUCTIVE WINDS WILL BEGIN A FEW HOURS BEFORE THE CENTRE PASSES OVERHEAD OR NEARBY.   FOR VANUA LEVU, TAVEUNI, VITI LEVU, YASAWA AND MAMANUCA, LOMAIVITI GROUP AND NEARBY SMALLER ISLANDS:  STRONG WINDS INCREASING TO DAMAGING GALE FORCE WITH AVERAGE SPEEDS OF 65 TO 75 KM/HR WITH GUSTS  TO 90 KM/HR FROM TODAY.    

FOR THE REST OF FIJI: STRONG WINDS INCREASING TO DAMAGING GALE FORCE WITH AVERAGE SPEEDS OF 65 KM/HR WITH GUSTS  TO 85 KM/HR FROM TOMORROW NIGHT AND INTO TUESDAY.    FURTHER PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS. FLOODING INCLUDING SEA FLOODING OF LOW LYING COASTAL AREAS.  

FOR ROTUMA: NORTHERLY WINDS 35 TO 55 KM/HR WITH GUSTS TO 80 KM/HR. FURTHER RAIN, HEAVY AT TIMES AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS. 

ROUGH TO VERY ROUGH SEAS. HEAVY NORTHWEST SWELL.  The following information is provided especially for the mariners: EXPECT WINDS OF 35 TO 40 KNOTS WITHIN 150 MILES OF CENTRE. HIGH SEAS. DAMAGING HEAVY NORTHWEST SWELLS.   POOR VISIBILITY IN HEAVY RAIN AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS.  

THE NEXT SPECIAL WEATHER BULLETIN FOR FIJI WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 5.30 AM  TODAY.

Cyclone Mick come to Fiji

As you can see by the image above, I will not be fishing anytime soon.

I just got back from a week in Australia and came home to this.

Fiji is right in the middle and the light grey swirly thing in cyclone Mick.

It is predicted to hit us in about 20 hours.

My house is battened down and only worrying about my boat. But we have a plan in place and are ready.

Tight lines and cyclone shutters