It's a Blow-Up

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.

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 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

Charters, Money and Fish

So here is the low down on what has happened with my charter business. Here in Fiji it is only proper to go and ask permission to fish in a villages waters. As you saw in earlier posts I did this with a couple of villages already and all was fine. In fact on even asked me if I would help look after their waters, I said yes of course. So after many attempts to meet with the chief of Na Waisomo, Raviravi and Lalati, one person by the title Tui Raviravi, he agrees and gives me about 2 hours to get out to Beqa island where he is. We arrive there and present our Yanqona. We explain our intentions about running a guiding opeation and how it will be catch and release and so forth. Tui Raviravi then sits back and says, lets get right down to business, we want $5,000.00 dollars upfront and for you to write a letter of intent. After I pull my jaw up off the floor I tell him that is a lot of money and I need to think about it. Truth being, there was nothing to think about. No way! $5,000.00 for what? Why? What are you going to do for me? Well the answer to those questions is a resounding, Nothing. So Tui Raviravi and his entourage says they will let me think about it for a week and then call me for another meeting. They never call and I decided I will hold off on the charters for awhile. Too bad, but I will focus on my tackle shop and fish for myself and friends.

Now onto a fishy subject. We got out on the water the other day and it was a beauty of a day. Rosie wanted to go and do some bait fishing with her aunt Adi and sister Lou. So off we go, out to the reefs to drop anchor and bait. Now for those that know me, they know I hate bait fishing, mainly because I suck at it and I seem to catch the fishes house a lot. This day proved to be no different. My first fish was a cracker of a fish.

Luckily the day was awesome and we were having fun.

We caught all sorts of fish. From small to really small.

We had a great time with lots of sun and laughs.

Tight lines