The weather was not looking so good on this particular Sunday, so we decided to stay inside the reefs and do a bit of light tackle fishing.
Out comes the 6lb to 30lb gear. Now anytime you pull out this light of tackle in the ocean, your gear is bound to get smashed and busted. We were not let down. Lots of tackle was lost, but a lot of fish were landed too.
The weather did not disappoint us either. It blew harder and harder as the day progressed. Good thing we stayed inside.
A rather ominous looking morning sky.
Wayne with the first of many on his little 6lb soft plastic grub set-up.
Rosie catching the toothy critters without a steel trace. (Barracuda)
Brendan with a little bluefin trevally.
Another toothy critter. (Gar fish or Long Tom)
This is a little better bluefin.
A baby grouper or coral trout.
Now we're talking dinner. Rosie with a green job fish caught on bait.
Two at a time. A long nose emperor and a grouper
Another good day on the water despite the weather. Come to think of it, as long as we get home safely, it is always a good day on the water.
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.
Hello everyone, it has been a long time since my last blog update & i am sorry i have not been here posting up my catch reports.
I will try this in date order as this report is going to be pretty big! (Which is a good thing i hope) So here is goes hope you all enjoy!
So went out on Saturday March the 3rd for a afternoon after the Wrasse on the Soft Plastics. started of pretty quiet and there was alot of cloudy water ( I prefer Clear Blue water) But the deeper water gully's i managed to find had better viability already i feel more confident dropped down my Reins Bubbling Shad and Boom Wrasse on!
Was not a big one only measuring in at 36cm, but still its a first of the day already feels like i got a chance of catching more wrasse or a bigger one!
So carried on fishing away trying all different Gully's getting a couple of bites to keep my hopes up. I then got a follow of a small one wrasse, so flicked it back with the hope to get it & BOOM oh this aint that small "Bloody Hell" I was telling me self. As it came to surface got exited and thought it was a Whopper (5lb+) but it was under the size i first thought, and weighed 4lbs measuring 47cm.
Big Fat Belly on it :) even managed to get a self timer image personally i hate doing this. It always seems to go wrong but it worked first time in this case, which i was quite delighted about :) Also caught on Reins Bubbling Shad 10 Gram Jig Head
So after another 30 mins i called it a day.
I dont think i went much after then took Alex Plaster for his first ever Bass. He managed one, not bad for his first time fishing for them. Too bad about the Size of it ;)
Apart from that i either blanked or forgot about the session.But simply cant be arsed to go to my van now to get my book telling me what i caught. So just sticking to what images i already have on the Computer :)
So went out Fishing with Liam Harrison the day before i was off to Mexico. I fished with Crabs for the Wrasse and Liam going for Pollack & Wrasse on the Lures. We went to a low water mark making full advantage of the big 38ft Tides.
Was quiet to start with until the tide started to turn where my crab got hit by this nice Wrasse:
This one going just over 3lb
Liam Had a Pollack & then Managed his first Lure Caught Wrasse of the Year on the Reins Bubbling Shad again, they do seem to work well throughout the year :)
Right so now i am casually in Mexico in the Riveria Maya. Getting use to the 30 Degree Heat it didn't take me long to rob the Buffet Restaurants of there Bread and be down on the Beach trying to catch Tropical Fish lol!
Started off Lure fishing Savage Gears but it is very hard to do so, as it is shallow for a long way out!
Close in Shallow work is what i needed to do.
Me into my first Mexican fishy
Standard float set up using a size 4 hook bit of bread and Boom!
Only small but its a start this fish is called a Bar Jack! Put up a very good fight for its size!
I did get a bit exited as you can tell by this video
Right so left it a few days didn't want to get in the bad books ;)
And the mission now was to get my Girlfriend Jess onto a fish! I had first cast to see if the fish was there ;) and managed one straight away. Different species this time, Bream like fish.
Then first cast and Jess got one :) !
We did take some awesome photos this holiday of fish just going to show you a couple of my Favorites :)
Baby Barracuda
Would be here all day if i were to show you all of them.
So back to the fishing! We went to a place called Xel Ha to go snorkeling was great highly recommend it! Swim with Stingrays i started Stroking them.....i got a bit carried away get in my own little world when i am snorkeling hence how i was in the water for 5 hours hehe ! But when i got out i wet a line and managed this fish :)
Dont have a Clue what it is dont really care either lol! But so far my best fish of the Holiday! But come on your all thinking where are the fish not the bait??
So booked on with Captain Rick out of Puerto Adventuras on the Boat Named Reel Stripper
We left the harbor at 1.30pm back in for 5pm! 4 Hours fishing for all you people that didn't quite understand Maths :) The Boat looked Decent Enough for just the 2 of us!
Marc is ready to catch some fish!
First hour went by Trawling along and all seemed very quite myself and Marc both looking each other thinking have we just wasted out money haha! But then Rod Screamed off! It was my turn to reel this one in.
It Jumped out water ohhhh its a Sailfish! And after 5 mins Battle it just came off as it jumped through the air B***** :( I was a bit upset
But we Carried on 25 mins went by and 2 Rods screamed off at the same time! Whohooo This is Image of us both playing the fish with Marc being the First to get his in! :)
Fair Play to the Captain for getting Marc's Camera out of his Bag to take Pictures whilst all of this was Happening :)
Then 10 mins later i got mine in! They dont half put up a good fight! This one Estimated at 85lb. I Highly Recommend trying to do this type of fishing.
So on the way back to shore now and 2 rods go off at same time again Marc's turn was next so he was about to grab his rod as i picked up the other one going off. Unfortunately Marc's came of before he felt the fish! But mine was on! Felt a bit bad as it was meant to be Marc's turn. I did offer but he let me have it :) Black fin Tuna was the result estimated at around 15lb :) Put up a great fight also! think all of these fish do!
So i tried couple more times of the shore and caught a few more small fish. My camera broke for the second week. Bit gutted but you didn't miss out on much! Just few more smaller fish of the beach/ rocks etc :) sussed out how to catch Trigger fish on the last day using special limit as bait and lost one on surface around 4lb bite straight through my line. Ohh Well! Thats mexico all summed up! I did the normal holiday stuff mostly though like Drinking/ Chilling.
Back to Jersey! 1pm Tuesday 27th Was fishing by 2pm for 1 hour & Blanked! Was just too tired and Jet lagged! But went last night for a Hour after work and managed couple Wrasse this one being the best (only couple pound on the Reins Bubbling Shad) :
Chow For Now! Should be going quite a bit now so will keep you updated! Ignore how many exclamation marks i do and how bad my grammar and spelling is. I am literally writing of the top of my head and cant waste too much time as i am at work hehe...right back to work now! :(
I will end my Blog Post with my Favorite Picture of my Holiday hehe (Sorry Jess xx)
'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I normally do not forward emails, but this one is a cracker. The names have been deleted to protect the innocent and guilty.
You may be forgiven for thinking that any man would look proud after catching a large barracuda as he poses with the fish and his 14 year-old daughter at the marina afterwards.
14 year old was sitting in a boat while her father fished. Suddenly she saw a silver flash in the air. The barracuda had thrown the hook and grabbed her arm.
Father managed to kill the fish with a knife in the head.
But she needed 51 stitches.
And he felt the need to pose for photos before taking her to hospital!
Yuki, from the Japanese Embassy here in Fiji, has been coming into the shop for some time and always wanting to go fishing with me. This last Sunday was his day.
We meet at around 7:30 am for a full day fishing. After a few introductions to his friends Kazu and Jose we are off to fish.
I knew the tide would be right around mid day and the moon was not in the greatest phase so the morning would be spent hunting for GT's and then we would get into them a bit later.
Yuki is a seasoned pro at fishing. His gear was all top of the line and he could handle everything that was thrown at him.
By now the tide is coming right and we have found a few bommies that looked promising. On one of Yuki's first casts out he is taken for a ride and left holding a stripped lure. It was a massive GT that did not want to be caught.
After the bite slowed we changed locations. Looking for any stragglers that might be lurking about. Eventually we found another and this one gave Yuki a real hard fight. He prevailed in the end and got his picture taken one more time.
