BlueWater Magazine : Kadavu record breaker

A great old article I stumbled on from BlueWater Magazine : Kadavu record breaker

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A grand total of 330 islands, sprawled out over 500 square miles of Pacific Ocean, makes up the magnificent Fiji group. For many years it's been well documented in fishing magazines that these islands not only produce an amazing variety of tropical gamefish, but also that the fish always seem to come in exceptionally large sizes.

My trip to Fiji last year, which I covered in BlueWater, not only provided excellent fishing, but also confirmed what I'd heard and read about the place. The huge black marlin and enormous wahoo we ran up against were enough to convince me that the potential for records there is virtually untapped!

The success of that particular trip sparked plenty of interest, and I must admit that I couldn't wait to get back over there myself. Editor David Granville also displayed a keenness to have a look at the place, and we started negotiating a trip with Xtasea Charters, which is based at Pacific Harbour on the Coral Coast of Fiji's main island Viti Levu.

These guys specialise in light- and heavy-tackle gamefishing and offer daytrips and extended trips down to the beautiful island of Kadavu - about 70 miles south of Pacific Harbour. There, they operate from a couple of pretty little resorts that are only a few miles from some real hotspots - such as an enormous sea-mount and a 1000 fathom canyon!

With the assistance of the Fiji Tourist Bureau, the owner of Xtasea Charters Capt Brad Cupid and his right-hand man Rob Krause, were able to put the trip together for David and me back in July. Accompanying David was his charming wife Robyn - a keen fisho herself, who made our plan of targeting some line-class records even more interesting.

As we found in Fiji last year, the wahoo in particular are surprisingly large, and the prospect of both a men's and women's claim to world recognition was a real possibility

BlueWater Magazine : Kadavu record breaker