Derek and Carly for a day.

This trip has been a year in the making.

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.

John looking suave.........or is this dejected? 

Carly showing us how it to cast.

Derek is not to be outdone.

The water was beautiful.

Carly's first catch from the deep.

You go girl.

See Derek, this is how you do it.

Derek fighting the Bronze Whaler.

A deep water dip after the shark fight.

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

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

Better late than never for Nick's second trip

Ok, so I am a little late on this post. Ok, a lot late, but hey, I've been busy. Yeah that's it, busy. Doing what I'm not sure but it sounds good. Actually sometimes there just isn't enough hours in the day and sometimes I am just plain lazy/tired by the time I get home. Oh yeah and my mother came over to Fiji and we took a little fishing vacation, but that's the next post.

So any ways here we go, our last trip out with our good friend Nick from Marine Graphics Ink.

It was a beauty of a day, a little breeze and a little swell. We headed out to some new reefs that we sighted many moons ago. These particular reefs looked extremely fishy but if there is any wind or a big swell fishing them would be next to impossible as they are wide open to the SouthEast, the general direction of both win and swell.

We head out with visions of grandeur and bait breath.

It does not take long before the first fish is in the boat.

A Red Bass for Nick and excitement starts to build for a cracker day fishing.

From fishing with Nick 2 2011

Not to long to wait and Rosie brings one in also.

From fishing with Nick 2 2011

Now with everyone all excited and fired up you know what the inevitable is, the fish shut down.

All quiet.

Not even a look.

Soon the rhythm of casting takes over and it is time to put in the hard yards. I am not sure how long we went with out a bite but it was a while. As both warriors were starting to feel the weight of the big lures and the strain of keeping ones balance on a rocking boat.

Finally Nick gets another Red Bass to the boat.

From fishing with Nick 2 2011

Has the spell been broken?

Not just yet. It takes a bit more work and then Nick land a small Emperor.

From fishing with Nick 2 2011

At this point there is still excitement and high anticipation for our target fish.

Remember, these little fish are nice and all, but what we are after is in another class altogether. We are hunting Giant Trevally, pound for pound they are arguably the hardest fighting fish in the sea. And we have yet to catch one.

Back to casting.

Soon a little Bluefin Trevally is at hand.

From fishing with Nick 2 2011

Now at this point Nick has been using the same popper the whole time. It is a red and white Williamson Jet 07. And I might add he has gotten a little cocky with this particular color as it has been working quite well for him.

That is until he casts it onto the reef and it gets stuck.

Bye Bye popper.

Now he has to change poppers and readjust his popping style, as each popper works differently. Does this slow him down? Noooooooo he then goes on to hook a nice GT right on a group of bommies. The fight is on and as I move the boat into position Nick puts the hurt on the fish. This one is a better fish and it is fighting for it's life.

That is the beauty of GT's, they never give up until they hit the surface. They fight with every once of their strength. Alas freedom would only come once it's picture was taken with Nick.

From fishing with Nick 2 2011

We fished on after this, but it was a case of lock jaw and nothing else was landed.

I still think these are fishy grounds but need to work them a bit more.

Tight lines

To film or not to film? That is the question.

We set out with the intention of filming some how to videos. How to tie a bimini, how to cast big poppers etc. Unfortunately our camera man brought his new fishing pole and wanted to give it a try. And who am I to say no you can not fish?

As we left the river mouth it looked to be a cracker of a day.

From Inshore with Brendan

But as usual that was just a teaser. Within 5 minutes the wind was blowing 20 knots and the chop had picked up. We headed to a sheltered bay to do a bit of filming. Brendan (the videographer) grabbed his new 15 lb rod and reel and proceeded to cast a small popper to the shallow reefs surrounding us.

Before I could tie a bimini twist he was on, and it was a good fish.

From Inshore with Brendan

The Trevally had him doing circles around the boat. I knew at that very instant that he would not be filming on this day. After a good fight by both angler and fish, the angler was victorious. A nice 4kg trevally.

From Inshore with Brendan

So it was to be, that Brendan was now sporting a grin that would not soon go away.

We then moved out to a bit deeper reef system which of course means a bit larger fish. Time to switch to the 30 lb gear. Of course just to make his point clear that he had no intentions on filming, Brendan went on to catch a very nice 6 kg Bluefin Trevally.

From Inshore with Brendan

Now this next picture of the same fish, only a close up, is for a reason. It is the last time Brendan's popper was ever seen.

From Inshore with Brendan

Very soon after a giant cod or Red bass engulfed the popper, split ring, and swivel in one smooth, explosive move. It bit right though the twisted double leader. Of course Brendan was devistated. I felt his pain for exactly one second, then I realized he would be buying another from my shop. I know, I'm a little bit evil.

Next up was Rosie with a nice Bluefin.

From Inshore with Brendan

Followed by another Trevally.

From Inshore with Brendan

Look closely at Rosie's popper because it is no more. Taken in the same unceremonious way as Brendan's. A big rampaging something that was unstoppable.

After all the fish these two were catching it made me hungry.

Corned beef and crackers, a clasic Fijian lunch.

From Inshore with Brendan

After lunch it was the captains turn to catch a fish, no matter how small.

From Inshore with Brendan

On our way home we tucked into a small sheltered bay again and Brendan proceeded to catch a few small Trevally's and a baby Goatfish.

From Inshore with Brendan

From Inshore with Brendan

After that we pounded our way into the wind and chop to make it home before dark.

We had a great day despite no filming.

Oh and Brendan has decided he wants to go out again this Sunday, to fish.

Tight lines