Fiji Saltwater Fishing Report - April-May 2008

For the waters around Kadavu Island- Fiji Islands - South Pacific.

Charter Operator - Matava Resort Gamefishing

Boat Names - Bite Me (Offshore) and Offensive Tackle (Inshore)

Average Water Temp - 29.5

Average Sea State - 40% Wind chop to 2ft, groundswell to 4ft / 60% calm

Average Winds - 50% 5-10kts / 50% calm

Water Clarity - Variable inshore after tropical rain, good offshore

The summer Yellowfin run has proved to be plentiful with many fish to 100Lbs. Large schools of smaller fish offered great sport on the light tackle and plenty of bait for the heavy tackle marlin enthusiasts.

Blue marlin to 200kgs have been regularly seen with some much bigger fish mixed in. Bite Me fought a blue conservatively estimated at 700lbs for almost two hours only to have the line eventually part under sunset drag.

With the water temp now at almost 30 degrees, the blue bite is quiet but will fire up again from the end of April when water temperatures start to ease. The GTs however are loving it with a superb bite all month - especially around the full moon when they went completely berserk. Anglers aboard Bite Me made the most of it taking three new Fiji National Records on the poppers.

Outlook:
May will see the start of the much anticipated wahoo and sailfish run that Fiji is famous for. Packs of sails start to congregate and the big packs of marauding wahoo gather along the Great Astrolabe barrier reef from May. These pack wahoo average about 50lbs with fish to 100lbs.

This season, anglers aboard Bite Me will be making several attempts an the IGFA World Records on line class and on the fly. Amazingly, the first wahoo pack has already turned up on the Kadavu seamount and the first sails tagged. Very early but very welcome and the coming light tackle mayhem is eagerly anticipated by all.

Summary:

Blue marlin - Bite easing but will fire up again in May

Yellowfin - Thinning out now but still some big fish on the seamount

Sailfish - First few of the season starting to turn up

Wahoo - First pack on the seamount - More soon

Mahi Mahi - Bit thin on the ground with just the occasional pair here and there

Mackerel - Good quantities with some nice fish to 50lbs landed recently

GTs - Crazy bite on at the moment with excellent weather conditions for popper casting



Cpt Adrian Watt

Director, Matava Resort Gamefishing,

Tel: + (679) 333 7222 or 333 6098

www.GameFishingFiji.blogspot.com

www.Matava.com