Friday, March 11, 2011

Better late than never for Nick's second trip

Ok, so I am a little late on this post. Ok, a lot late, but hey, I've been busy. Yeah that's it, busy. Doing what I'm not sure but it sounds good. Actually sometimes there just isn't enough hours in the day and sometimes I am just plain lazy/tired by the time I get home. Oh yeah and my mother came over to Fiji and we took a little fishing vacation, but that's the next post.
So any ways here we go, our last trip out with our good friend Nick from Marine Graphics Ink.
It was a beauty of a day, a little breeze and a little swell. We headed out to some new reefs that we sighted many moons ago. These particular reefs looked extremely fishy but if there is any wind or a big swell fishing them would be next to impossible as they are wide open to the SouthEast, the general direction of both win and swell.
We head out with visions of grandeur and bait breath.
It does not take long before the first fish is in the boat.
A Red Bass for Nick and excitement starts to build for a cracker day fishing.
From fishing with Nick 2 2011
Not to long to wait and Rosie brings one in also.
From fishing with Nick 2 2011
Now with everyone all excited and fired up you know what the inevitable is, the fish shut down.
All quiet.
Not even a look.
Soon the rhythm of casting takes over and it is time to put in the hard yards. I am not sure how long we went with out a bite but it was a while. As both warriors were starting to feel the weight of the big lures and the strain of keeping ones balance on a rocking boat.
Finally Nick gets another Red Bass to the boat.
From fishing with Nick 2 2011
Has the spell been broken?
Not just yet. It takes a bit more work and then Nick land a small Emperor.
From fishing with Nick 2 2011
At this point there is still excitement and high anticipation for our target fish.
Remember, these little fish are nice and all, but what we are after is in another class altogether. We are hunting Giant Trevally, pound for pound they are arguably the hardest fighting fish in the sea. And we have yet to catch one.
Back to casting.
Soon a little Bluefin Trevally is at hand.
Now at this point Nick has been using the same popper the whole time. It is a red and white Williamson Jet 07. And I might add he has gotten a little cocky with this particular color as it has been working quite well for him.
That is until he casts it onto the reef and it gets stuck.
Bye Bye popper.
Now he has to change poppers and readjust his popping style, as each popper works differently. Does this slow him down? Noooooooo he then goes on to hook a nice GT right on a group of bommies. The fight is on and as I move the boat into position Nick puts the hurt on the fish. This one is a better fish and it is fighting for it's life.
That is the beauty of GT's, they never give up until they hit the surface. They fight with every once of their strength. Alas freedom would only come once it's picture was taken with Nick.
From fishing with Nick 2 2011
We fished on after this, but it was a case of lock jaw and nothing else was landed.
I still think these are fishy grounds but need to work them a bit more.

Tight lines