Fiji Islands Saltwater Fishing Report – July 2008

Charter Operator – Matava Resort Gamefishing

Average Water Temp – 25.5

Average Winds - 20kts,

Sea State – 50% Slight to Moderate / 50% Rough

Water Clarity – Poor inshore, good offshore

The expected wahoo and Pacific sailfish action fired up in June with good wahoo packs all along the Kadavu island barrier reef and medium sized sailfish to 75lbs forming small packs in the usual hot spots. Bite Me took the womens W-10kg Line Class Fiji National Record with a good sail of over 100lbs and single fish over this size are fairly common right now.The windy weather so far in July has made for difficult light tackle fishing but with Kadavu island's big lee shore, nobody has gone home disappointed with a number of other light and ultra-light tackle Fiji National Records on wahoo, GTs and Yellowfin tuna falling to visiting anglers.

The hungry wahoo and sailfish packs will stay well into September with the best sail bites either side of the full moons. August should see the start of some nice black marlin migrating through Fiji waters passing exposed barrier reef and offshore seamounts on their way to Australia's Great Barrier Reef spawning grounds.

The blue marlin are being virtually ignored at the moment as charter boats make the most of the fired up wahoo and sailfish packs but there are plenty of school tuna around holding marlin and offering fresh live or skip-baits for the heavy tackle enthusiasts.

Popper casting suffered from the wild early July weather but the bite remains strong with the GTs loving the pounding surf with GTs to 50lbs common and much bigger fish hitting the popper specialists using heavy tackle and super-sized custom gear.

Aboard 'Bite Me' we will continue to target the wahoo and sails on light tackle from 12lb to 20lb line class as well as some specialised ultra-light tackle fishing on the 8lb (4kg) custom gear.

Summary
Wahoo – Here now in big packs
Sailfish – Here now in packs of 3 to 6 with pairs of larger fish nearby
Yellowfin - Plenty of small inshore fish around 20lbs, larger fish to 75lbs farther offshore
Mahi Mahi – Bit thin on the ground with just the occasional pair here and there
Mackerel – Good sized fish around hitting skip-baits
Blue marlin – Largely being ignored because of the hot wahoo & sailfish bite
GTs –  Excellent fishing when the weather allows, particularily around the full moons

Cpt Adrian Watt
Director,
Matava Resort Gamefishing,
Tel: + (679) 333 6222 or 333 6098

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