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.

Tight Lines

Storm Island

I am a little behind again in my posting and I apologize for that.

A while back, Brendan, who you all have met, asked if I would shuttle his crew to an island to shoot a commercial. Of course I would and since I'd have a few hours to kill I would take a fishing rod to kill time.

On the appointed morning we left the jetty with ok weather that looked like it might turn ugly. Never mind, we had an entire camera crew and talent on board and needed to get the shots. As luck would have it, when we dropped them off at the island the weather turned glorious for them. 

With those guys happily on the island doing their video thing we were free to do some fishing.

This is the island we dropped them on.

First drop with a soft plastic and a nice GT.

Rosie with a nice grouper caught with a Lucanus jig.

Paul with a Leather Jacket or Unicorn fish.

Soft plastics are working well. A nice grouper.

Another grouper.

They are coming fast now.

Two for one.

A Lyre tail on soft plastic.

By 1 o'clock the weather that was threatening in the morning decided to make an appearance. We loaded the crew on the boat and raced back to shore. We arrived just in time before the rain came. 

I told Brendan that we would take them anytime as the fishing was good while they worked.

He was jealous to say the least.

Tight Lines

Doggies Take 5

This is our last trip before we left for Japan.
We went searching for Dogtooth Tuna again. But before we could go for Doggies, we had to chase a few GT's.
Now in this post you will notice that the images are not as good as before. Rosie's G10 finally gave up the ghost for the third time and it is time to get a new one. Only problem, they do not sell Canon G series in Fiji, so she will have to wait until we get to Japan.
Meanwhile we shoot with my phone.
We just get into position and Rosie is out on the bow starting to cast and get warmed up when her popper gets destroyed by a giant, fat and definitely healthy GT. What a hell of a fight. After a bit of coaxing it is boat side and it takes two of us to get it out of the water. Rosie, needless to say, has had her ass kicked, but she prevailed.
Here's the proof

Well you can imagine how the rest of us felt, energized and ready to land monsters.
Ahhh, but alas it was not meant to be. In fact not another GT was landed. I heard Wayne say that Rosie set the bar to high for us mere mortals.

The following fish were caught while we looked for Doggies.

First a Rusty Jobfish

Rainbow Runner

Blue Trevally

Leather Jacket

Lyre Tail Grouper

Finally a Doggie, well a doggies head anyways. Damn sharks.

More good tasting aquarium colored fish.

When you start jigging deep you never know what you will catch. Here I am holding a true Black Trevally. Caranx lugubris (also known as the black trevally, black kingfish, coal fish and black ulua). This is the first one we have caught.

This is a Rusty Jobfish.

A finally Wayne hooks and boats a Dogtooth Tuna. I think we are getting this down now. We are catching them where we think they should be. Not big ones yet but we are still catching them.

Until next time

Tight Lines

Bait fishing with family and friends

I am sorry for my absence and lack of posting, but I have a good excuse.
Rosie and I spent 3 weeks in Japan with my mother. Although I had access to a computer and the internet I decided it all could wait until I returned.
Soooooo without further delay I will be posting our last trips out before we went on vacation and then catch up with our latest trip.

Before we left, Rosie's brother Jack came to visit for a couple of weeks. He had not been out fishing with us so we made plans to take him out. We also included Rosie's sister Lou and our business partner John for this day.
It was decided that we would be bait fishing mainly for food fish.

First one to land a fish was Lou. And boy did she lad a fish. No less than 3 fish on two hooks.

Just to prove it was not a fluke, Lou lands another right after the triple. Not too bad at all.

John decides he is not to be out done and lands a Devil fish.

Jack is up next with a Rusty Jobfish.

Lest we forget the Skipper.

John decides he wants a brown camouflaged fish also (grouper).

Jack with a nice Coral Grouper.

A triple hook up.

Lou with an unknown pretty little fish. Tastes good too.

John showing off our fishing club shirts.

Jack with a Green Jobfish.

Relaxing on the way home.

We had a great day out and caught a myriad of fish species.

Until next time

Tight Lines

In search of Doggies Take 4

Well here we go again. In search of the now infamous Dogtooth Tuna. We are going to try a different area this time.

First on the list is get some bait for those that do not want to jig.

There's the birds.

From Doggies take 4

Now to catch some bait.

From Doggies take 4

With bait in hand it is time to fish.

First up is Rosie with a nice Green Jobfish.

From Doggies take 4

I soon find a point that looks promising for Doggies and before long Wayne is right into one.

From Doggies take 4

Here is the video.

From Doggies take 4

So that makes 2 Dogtooth Tuna in four attempts. I think we are getting it.

Not to be out done Rosie manages to land a Black Tip reef shark without steel leader. Notice the circle hook from someone else. We removed it also before letting it go.

From Doggies take 4

We proceed to catch a menagerie of reef fish for the remainder of the afternoon.

Brendan with a small grouper.

From Doggies take 4

Wayne flexing his biceps for the camera with his big GIANT grouper.

From Doggies take 4

Rosie with a snapper

From Doggies take 4

and some strange devil snapper.

From Doggies take 4

Brendan with a Rusty Jobfish.

From Doggies take 4

Here is an artistic shot of the doggies eye for you all.

From Doggies take 4

Tight Lines