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
Some good friend of ours came to visit on their way to Christmas Island, John and Karen. Now these two are probably more mad about fishing than Rosie and I. And that says alot.
While they were staying with us it was John's birthday, so we had to go fishing on that day come hell or high water.
Now being mad fishers, these two don't really need any lessons. Except the proper technique for casting a heavy popping outfit, which took all of about 1 minute.
Now if only the fish would cooperate.
The weather was strange, no wind and very muggy.
Hat off to these two, they put in some serious casting time and for John it finally paid off.
Heading out in the morning.
Karen, ready for action.
John showing us how it is done.
Calm and muggy.
Finally a GT, small but feisty.
The release.
Rosie had to get in on the action with a little bluefin trevally.
And the birthday boy lands a second one.
The fishing was less than stellar and a lot of hard work for these two, but we had a good time and with them. Lots of catching up and fish tails.
Rosie and I had promised Derek and Carly, John's daughter and son in law, that we would take them out fishing when they came back to Fiji.
They have returned and as our word is good as gold we took them out.
The weather had been great until they arrived from Indiana. Now it is blowing 15-20 knots and very lumpy to say the least. At least the sky is clear and the sun is out.
We met up first thing in the morning and off we go.
First stop is some casting and popping lessons. Once Derek and Carly get the hang of it then it is time for a try at a GT.
Unfortunately the wind was going to play a major role in where we fished.
We tried spot after spot and had not a single bite.
We tried poppers, stick baits, big and small. Rosie even had a few casts and so did I. Nothing, not even a look.
So we move on to jigging. Speed jigging, slow jigging and soft plastics. Still nothing wants to bite. Now the captain is getting a little peeved. I drop a jig down and after a few attempts, finally hook up and immediately give the rod to Derek. One thing with jigging, you never know what you are going to catch. After a good fight Derek has the mystery fish boat side and it turns out to be a nice Bronze Whaler shark. We had a good look and the it bit the hook off. Thank goodness.
We finally jig up a small fish that is suitable for bait, paternoster rigs for everyone.
Unfortunately the bite just never did turn on. Although a few small grouper were caught, nothing too big.
We had a Fun day even though the fish were not cooperating. It happens sometimes.
I have promised to take them out again when they return, fingers crossed we will have better luck.
Derek, John, and Carly
A quick lesson on twisted leaders and knot tying, even though I'll be doing all the tying.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
