Late Afternoon Troll

We had a few hours to kill late in the afternoon and decided we needed to go for a fish.

It was rough as guts and we only got one Spanish Mackerel, but we did get some nice photos.

Wayne with the only fish for the afternoon.

Tight Lines

Charter fishing in Fiji with Derek, Carly, John and Brendan.

No snorkeling today with Derek and Carly, just good old fashioned trolling. 

We got word that the Wahoo and Spanish Mackerel had arrived in Fiji and were on the chew. 

So, with trolling gear in hand and a full tank of gas off we go. 

The weather started a bit iffy but soon the sun was out and the sky cleared up. We had a bit of wind chop all day but nothing we couldn't handle. After all, the trades in Fiji can blow 25 knots for a week straight. 10 to 15 is nothing, just keeps you cool in the sun.

Waiting for the bite.

First on board a Barracuda.

Derek with his first Wahoo still showing its colors.

Carly with her first Spanish Mackerel.

Rosie with a Long Tom.

Brendan with a nice Spanish Mackerel.

John, that's not a guitar.

Only in the tropics.

John with a Bluefin Trevally.

We had a great time with these guys and can't wait for them to come back to Fiji and fish with us.

Until next time

Tight Lines

Pop and Drop

This time we decided to do a bit of popping for GT's and then a bit of jigging after.

Just Rosie, Wayne and myself on the boat today. 

The morning started out a bit gloomy, but the fish don't care, so why should we.

My shoulder has been hurting me so I was sticking with a stick bait instead of a popper. As the photo below says it all, it was working. A nice Grouper.

Wayne gets on the board with the first GT on popper. A nice clean fellow and easy release.

He follows it up with a little one that is feisty as all get out.

Not to be out done, I cast my stick bait to a fishy looking spot and proceed to hook up a nice Spanish Mackerel.

Wayne with a little Barracuda that Rosie has claimed for bait.

Wayne started jigging in 100 meters of water and proceeded to hook up more than 10 Dog Tooth Tuna. Unfortunately the head he is holding represents the only proof of his sweat. The sharks were thick and relentless to the point of us moving on to another spot.

Rosie on the other hand was having a very successful bait fishing trip. She filled the ice box single handedly.

This is a Long Nose Emperor. Caught at over 100 meters and fought all the way to the surface. A very tough customer, but not as tough as Rosie.

We had another great day out, with plenty of fish caught and lost by a variety of methods.
Until next time.
Tight Lines

Half Cast Fishing Comp

On June 2nd and 3rd, there was a GT fishing comp held at VoliVoli Resort on the other side of the island.
Our team was Rosie, Brendan, Wayne, and of course yours truly.
We are to drive our boat all the way around the island, about 120 miles, Friday. Then fish Saturday and Sunday. Then drive back on Monday.
We planned, packed, planned some more, packed some more, planned a bit more, then planned some more until finally the day arrived.
Now what could possibly go wrong with all the planning that was done?
Well, we left the jetty at 6:00 AM sharp, just as planned, but by the time we left the river we were taking waves over the bow of the boat. That was to be the prelude to the first 2+ hours of our journey. To say it was rough would be an understatement. Luckily once we got to Suva Harbour we would go inside the reef and it would be calmer.
As predicted it got much calmer and we made good time to the Rewa River for the next leg of our journey/adventure. The only problem was, it took over 1.5 hours longer than we had anticipated. That put us to far into the falling tide to cross the sand/mud bar in the river mouth. I eventually put the boat
on the muck and there we sat, waiting for the tide. Now for those who spend time in the saltwater, they will know that waiting for the tide is a fact of life. Fish prefer certain tides and wont bite on slack tides. Sometimes there is too much current caused by the tide and sometimes not enough. Not to mention "time and tide waits for no man".
So there we sat, rigging, talking, eating, and dancing. Waiting for the return of the tide. It took 2.5 hours for the boat to float free again. Good thing we are all friends.
The rest of the trip was like clock work. Once we came out of the Rewa River the wind was on our stern and we flew. Although we did not get to fish on our way up we arrived at the resort at 4:00 PM.
At that very moment all of our plans went out the door.
The problem being, we knew almost everyone there. And when 40+ friends get together at a fishing comp, well we all know what happens. Plans go overboard.
We partook in festive activities until all to late hours of the night/morning.
We did manage to get up and be on the water quite early considering the night before. Unfortunately the weather for the first day of the comp proved to rough and tumble and on top of that, we did not find fish. We caught a few, but not what we had hoped for.
The second night proved even deadlier for our team of merry makers. After all we were Team Xstreem. Xstreem grog, Xstreem tequila, Xstreem beer, Xstreem late night.
Yep, Sunday, day 2 of the comp, was a little rough for us as well as the other teams. A late start, rough weather and xstreem hangovers did not fair well for catching fish. Although I must say Rosie did manage to land a nice GT in the morning. That would be our only GT.
We were a sorry lot I must say.
Oh well, "the best laid schemes (plans) of mice and men often go awry".
Boy did they go awry. No time to sulk, there was a party to be had. After all the winning team came from our fishing club, The Twisted Leaders. They were Team Vai Lima, consisting of Russell Baumann, Erik Powell and Ben Duea. They won best Team, Russell won Best male angler and biggest GT. A side note, they did not partake in any of the festivities. They did however fish hard and deserved to win.
I think we won most partying and least sleep.
On Monday, we were to leave the resort early for the trip home. Yeah right, we left late and missed the tide and did everything in reverse going home.
We had a great time. I would do it again in a second. In fact plans are going forward for a first, catch and release only, popping comp. I don't think we will win that one either.

Here is a slide show of the trip with a few high lights.

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In search of Doggies part 2

Time to try to catch a Dogtooth Tuna again.

By the way a Dogtooth Tuna is not really a tuna at all, in fact it is a member of the Scombridea family, in it's own genus, Gymnosarda. More closely related to the Mackerels and bonitos than the tunas.

The game plan is set and the gear is all ready. We load up enough tackle to start another store.

This time our crew consists of, Brendan, Wayne (Fisher X), Loren, who has fished with us before, and of course Rosie. Who, not only does she catch a lot of fish, but she is also on the camera as well as video.

From In search of Doggies 2

First up once we get out to the reefs is to catch some bait. This we done using a Sabiki rig. Slow trolled along the reefs.

From In search of Doggies 2

Here's Wayne setting out our Sabiki rig.

From In search of Doggies 2

The bait we are fishing for is quite a bit bigger than say a mullet or a gar fish. We are actually trying to catch double lined mackerel, also called Scad Mackerel. It is a great bait for all kinds of fish.

Our first catch on the Sabiki is a Walu (Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel).

From In search of Doggies 2

Not really bait material but definitely eating goods.

Back in the water and off we go again.

From In search of Doggies 2

And we wait

From In search of Doggies 2

Until we finally get a couple Scads. (image borrowed from the last post as no photo was taken)

From In search of doggies, take 1

No it is time to get serious and do some jigging.

First up of course is Rosie with a nice Bluefin Trevally caught on a Williamson flutter jig.

From In search of Doggies 2

Now anyone who has ever been out on the sea for any period of time will eventually see amazing sights and events. The ocean is vast and there is a lot of animals and weather and sky to look at.

Almost with out thinking when an image presents itself to you and you have a camera you will take a photo.

From In search of Doggies 2

Dark stormy sky contrasted by lighter sky. Dark seas contrasted by light seas and the birds take no notice.

Next up is your captain with an Emperor.

From In search of Doggies 2

Next up is wayne with a pair of Rusty Job fish.

From In search of Doggies 2

From In search of Doggies 2

Now Brendan shows up to the party with a big Rainbow Runner a member of the Jack family, Carangidea

From In search of Doggies 2

Now Loren has been watching all of this jigging and has come to the conclusion that we are all mad and are working way to hard to catch fish. He might have a point.

He is fishing with bait using a double hook rig with a sinker on the bottom. A very effective rig for catching food fish, and he proves it here.

From In search of Doggies 2

Here is a Bluefin Trevally caught on a flutter jig by Brendan.

From In search of Doggies 2

Now Rosie gets into bait fishing and has her own double hook-up.

From In search of Doggies 2

Now you would think with all the excitement of catching every kind of fish imaginable we would forget the dog we came looking for.

That can not happen. We are on a mission, to subdue a doggie and bring it onboard. And after hours of jigging, with sore arms and backs. Chaffed under arms and blistered fingers a doggie is finally hooked. There is no doubt what is on the other end of Wayne's line. The fight is unique to the Dogtooth Tuna. Hard runs and tail beats that pulse up the line and through the rod. Never surrendering all the way to the surface. Once it is in the boat and secure, jubilation breaks out among us.

Although not huge or even large but amazingly powerful. The one, the only, Dogtooth Tuna.

From In search of Doggies 2

From In search of Doggies 2

It has become almost mythical due to our obsession with catching one.

Now that we have caught one and have learned some valuable lessons, we can set our sites on a real brute, in the 50kg range.

We had a rather long trip back to the dock, but it was made bearable with the knowledge of one under our belt.

From In search of Doggies 2

This quest is not over, not by a long shot. In fact I would say it is just beginning.

Until next time.

Tight Lines

Virgin no more

A good friend of ours named Loren, who you met in an earlier post, Great day with a mixed bag, asked if we would like to help him pick his new boat up from Suva. This pick-up would involve some fishing as well as getting the boat back to his dock. Who can pass that up?

We set the plan for an early morning departure. It is a 45 minute drive to the boat so we all pile into a taxi before dawn and head out.

There is a chill in the air but as the sun breaks the horizon our bone warm up.

From ChiChi delivery

By the time we reach the boat it has been prepped and is ready to go. Just a few last minute pointers for Loren from the builders and we are ready to go.

From ChiChi delivery

Loren's boat is a 24ft version of my boat. Very stable and comfortable to ride in if we were to run into any bad weather. That was not to be. It was mill pond flat and a real pleasure to be out on it.

From ChiChi delivery

As we left Suva Harbour there is always a plethora of sights to see everything from sunken ships to mega yachts.

From ChiChi delivery

Not forgetting to mention the Supa Blu.

From ChiChi delivery

If you have ever entered of left a large busy harbour with completely inadequate markings, then you will relate to theis image. Myself and Loren trying to find our way out of the harbour.

From ChiChi delivery

We are almost out and here is a shot of the weapons for the day.

From ChiChi delivery

Here is an awesome sailing vessel we passed on our way out.

From ChiChi delivery

Once clear of the harbour we made a bee line to some reefs that looked really fishy on the charts. I insisted that Loren take a few casts while I get to drive his boat.

With the drift set and the water looking fishy Loren and Rosie proceeded to cast poppers towards the reef. It did not take long before we all saw the strike. Loren's popper was violently taken by a good size fish. After a good fight and a couple of guesses as to what the fish was, we finally see that it is a nice Spanish Mackerel (Walu).

This was not only the first fish on the boat, but it was also Loren's first Spanish Mackerel all on the maiden voyage.

From ChiChi delivery

We fished on for a while but nothing else was biting. The weather started to look a little iffy so we decided to head home. The ride was smooth and comfortable and Loren was happy.

Here's a shot of the boat's new home.

From ChiChi delivery

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