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

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

In search of Doggies (Dogtooth Tuna)

We have decided to try something new.

A new style of fishing.

A new kind of fish in a new depth of water.

Deep water jigging with knife jigs and flutter jigs.

With short jigging rods and big reels.

And a bunch of research.

360Tuna Sportfishing and Jigging

JigNPop Forum

We head out on a gorgeous morning. Armed and excited.

From In search of doggies, take 1

From In search of doggies, take 1

We start the day out warming up on some smaller fish in about 30 meters of water.

Please note that some of the fish are sporting sunglasses and hats, that is for our fishing club photo contest.

First up is Wayne, aka, Fisher X.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Next on the board is yours truly. Note the two in the boat behind me. The guy standing up is Donno, and he don't know how to fish. They are trying to steal our spots. Not to worry, they did not catch a thing.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Wayne with another grouper.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Now it is Brendan's turn.

From In search of doggies, take 1

The day was a cracker. Blue sky and clear water. Here is a shot of Bird Island. there are great reefs around this little beauty.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Once we headed out to deeper water the fish started to change. Here is a double lined mackerel sporting some new piecing and preparing to go back to the deep.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Down she goes. Do us proud.

From In search of doggies, take 1

While our little mackerel was down in the deep, Brendan managed to get connected to something rather large. After a good fight from 100 meters deep. We catch our first glimpse of an Almaco Jack. Here is the video and image.

Sorry the image is a little foggy. That was inside the camera housing.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Needless to say Brendan was over the top with his catch.

We try and do a bit of popping but the wind has kicked up and it is a lot of work just standing up in the boat. This does not deter Wayne and he continues to pop long after everyone else stopped.

His perseverance paid off. He lands a nice GT and Brendan lands a Bluefin at the same time.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Here is another shot of that GT, I just love these fish.

From In search of doggies, take 1

We go back and do a little more jigging. Brendan is on today and hooks and Boats a Rusty Jobfish, again from about 100 meters.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Well we did not catch our target fish, Dogtooth Tuna, today, but we learned a lot about jigging in deep water. As a side benefit I am learning a lot about how to use my sounder to see fish at 100+ meters.

We are preparing to head out again and focus only on catching a Doggie.

Until then I leave you with a parting shot of happy and tired anglers.

From In search of doggies, take 1

Tight Lines

Boxing day or better yet Fishing day

'Twas the day after Christmas and in all of the sea, not a ripple was seen, not even a swell. The sky was blue and the tides were right, we had no excuses, it was time for a fish fight.

We loaded the boat with rods and reels, nothing was left but to take hold the wheel.

Off we went like a bat out of hell, the fish were hungry we could tell.

From Boxing day 2011

From Boxing day 2011

Ok enough Xmas rhymes, time for some fishing porn.

First thing you will notice is there are no pictures of me. My back is still messed up and I tried to cast a stick bait but the pain was a little to much for this old fisherman. So with that being said, this is the view the Captain sees most of the day.

From Boxing day 2011

Yep, that's it, other people fishing and the sounder/GPS.

In case you are wondering, the round object on the left is a green coconut. (Just one of the many benefits of living in the tropics). It has been husked and put on ice so that the Captain has something refreshing to drink and stays happy even though he can't fish. The yellow water tight Pelican case holds the phones and ID's. The bulging at the top of the image is a life jacket pocket that is held up with a bungee cord, easy access.

Ok now you see what I did all day let's get into some fish.

First up was a very unlucky Barracuda. I say unlucky because here in Fiji we eat them and they taste great. So you know it went to the ice box first aid station.

From Boxing day 2011

From Boxing day 2011

The next patient for the first aid station was a lovely Bluefin Trevally.

From Boxing day 2011

Things got a bit quiet after the Bluefin, so off we went to a spot that has almost never let us down. The current was ripping around some bommies and there was a little bit of chop on the surface. Perfect for a GT to be hanging out in the eddies waiting for unsuspecting prey.

Rosie fished like a machine, she was unrelenting in her casts. As she scanned the surface of the water, pinpointing the next cast to a position that should hold fish.

Finally after a good long, hard slog, she was rewarded. The strike was hard and fast. The predator was dark in color and came from nowhere. It crashed the popper with an almighty splash. Once the hooks were set the fight was on. Line melted from the Stella as if there was no drag. Of course the drag was preset to 8kg or 17+lbs. Once the fish was off the bommie it was time to bring it home.

From Boxing day 2011

It was Rosies first Black GT. Short, fat, shaped like a barrel. Tough as nails and refused to smile for the camera. I swear he gave us the fin when we let him go.

Next up was the smaller cousin of grumpy. Yet he still put up a good fight. There was no coming in easy with this one either.

From Boxing day 2011

Now you would think that by now Rosie had had enough. Oh no, not even close. So what does she do? Adds one more to the list and just to be different, this one is small and full of piss and vinegar. It puts up a hell of a fight and even when it was in the boat it still fought and struggled. In fact we almost did not get a photo as the small GT tried to make a flying leap out of Rosie's arms into the water. Alas I was quick with the camera and here is the photo to prove it.

From Boxing day 2011

The hour was getting late and we called it a day. Rosie of course a little worse for wear.

Tight Lines

VoliVoli Resort take 2

My how time flies. I have actually not been out on our boat for almost four weeks.

Since my last post the weather turned to crap. I don't mean a little rain and wind, I mean blowing 25 knots for weeks on end and raining like the end of the world. Now I am usually the first to say, fish don't care if it rains, but this weather has been really nasty. We even have "very rough seas" warning put out by the weather people. So, needless to say not a lot of fishing has been done. On top of that I hurt my back,(more of that later).

We did get the chance to go away for a few days as it was Rosies birthday. I booked three nights at Volivoli Resort. I thought it might be romantic if we could do a bit of popper fishing with heavy gear. You know just the two of us and a skipper.

We stayed at Volivoli back in April, you can read about it here.

The owners are the Darling family and they are quite wonderful.

The staff are friendly and make you feel like family. Especially, Jenny, Sheba, Wise, Sasha, Pola, Ben, Bola, Amit, Lela, the night watchman, Puncture and all a few I can't remember their names.

We decided to take the back road to get there. We did this the first time also, only this time we had our own truck not a rental car.

From Volivoli 2

You can see the rod tube sticking out of the back end of the truck. I think we had more fishing gear than anything else.

Only about 15 km is not paved and even that was not bad. The new road is being built full swill and soon it will be a breeze to get to the top end of the island.

From Volivoli 2

It is a very scenic drive of about 3.5 - 4 hours. You go through some very pretty and clean villages.

From Volivoli 2

The life style and pace are just a little bit slower.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

Eventually you come out from the interior of the island and of course you are greeted with the sea.

From Volivoli 2

We arrived at the resort a little late to fish so it was time to relax and enjoy with our friends.

In this picture is Rosie and Jenny with a tanoa filled with kava.

From Volivoli 2

Nick's wife and child were in New Zealand so jugs kept him company.

From Volivoli 2

This image is me giving instructions to some of there resort guests on how to mix the kava.

From Volivoli 2

The next day we had to wait for the boats to return as the resort was full of scuba divers. We had a leisurely morning and snapped a few pictures for you all.

From Volivoli 2

The weather was less than stellar.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

When the boats finally returned and we got to go out, the weather had turned for the worst. Never mind, we are going fishing. Our captain was new to GT popping, but he new where to take us and I could direct the rest. We had a hell of a session. We landed six fish and raised another six in 1 1/2 hours.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

Rosie, first on the board.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

As you can see the weather was not very cooperative.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

This video shows how tough the these fish are. I am using 80lb braid with 120lb twisted leaders and 12kg of drag. By the end os this session I had pinched my sciatic nerve in my lower back. Although I fished the second day also I have paid a heavy price, as I am still laid up with a bad back.

Our second day out fishing proved to be harder than the first. We woke up early on to be greeted by cyclone type conditions.

From Volivoli 2

By noon Rosie and I decided to head to the bar as the weather was not letting up. Well we all know what happens when you go to the bar at noon, you start drinking. And drink we did until after 3:00 pm, when Nick said, "Look the weather is letting up, let's go fish".

So we did. Only this time it was rougher than before. To be honest, it was too rough for fishing in the boat we were in, but we had a few drinks in us and we wanted to fish.

After pounding our way out to the reefs we managed to land a few fish.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

We could not stay out very long as it was just too rough, but we did not get skunked.

The next morning we were leaving and of course the weather turned beautiful.

From Volivoli 2

We had a nice easy drive back to Pacific Harbour with lots of great scenery.

Here is a sugar cane train.

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

From Volivoli 2

I can't wait to get up to VoliVoli Resort again. The fishing is great and if I can get there with the weather good I know it will be epic.

That's all until my back gets better. I am still not 100%.

Tight Lines