Before.....
(Those were the days !)After.....
Damn I forgot my bow tie....11 Dec 2011
5 Dec 2011
Fame Anybody ?
We are arranging an opportunity for World renown photographer Jon Schwartz to visit us and photograph GT Poping aboard Tease Me this summer. We need a couple of GT anglers willing to model !
You have probably seen many of Jon's photos gracing the covers of publications such as Marlin Magazine and BlueWater Magazine. You can see some of his work here www.bluewaterjon.com
Jon will be taking action stills of anglers fighting GTs, posing with their catch and releasing, some of which will be filmed from underwater......
We need to fit this in between the 18th and 25th February. Matava Eco-Adventure Resort currently has a 'Special' on for February but it does not include Fishing Packages.
As this would not be a 'normal' fishing trip we are offering to extend this Special Second Person Half Price deal for anbody who wants to GT Pop on Tease Me and be photographed all day long !
Our primary target will be GTs, the bigger the better but if we see an opportunity to pop for 
yellowfin, wahoo or jig for dogtooth tuna and film that as well, excllent !
This is a great opportunity to get a ridiculously cheap GT Popping trip for two on the Great Astroabe Barrier Reef, Kadavu and be presented with your own professional photos of the trip. Oh, and you might get famous as well.
Drop us an email if you are interested.....
1 Dec 2011
Take a Friend to Fiji for 50% off Matava package: 2nd Person Half Price on Land and Air! | Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort
Matava Summer Special
2nd Person 50% off
Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the Second Person stays Half Price !
Valid for travel between 1st December 2011 – 29th February 2012
- valid for double / twin share
- ANY Matava Dive, Romance or Adventure Package
- 5 nights stay or longer
- All meals and airport transfers included
- Complimentary Snorkelling on Critter Junction
- Waterfall hike and village afternoon
- Lovo feast and kava ceremony
Additions:
Extra night – 2nd person half price (based on double occupancy)
- Extra days diving – 2nd person half price
- Single Supplement – Waived
- Based on published package and add on rates
- Excludes gamefishing and kayaking packages
- Travel through 29th February 2011 subject to availability
- Blackout period: travel Between 23rd December 2011 and 29th December 2011 excluded
Air Pacific Special
Take a Friend to Fiji for Half Price Air special.
For a limited time, 2nd passenger gets 50 % off airfare from Los Angeles on Air Pacific.
From now until March 31, 2012 travel to fabulous Fiji and the second passenger travels for 50% off airfare!
TRAVEL DATES: valid 1 Oct 2011 through 31 March 2012
Sale ends Dec. 31
(No travel on the special airfare permitted during the blackout of 15-Dec-11 to 15-Jan-12)
—
Book your Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the Second Person stays Half Price !
24 Nov 2011
Sea Save Foundation - Auction Home Page - BiddingForGood Fundraising Auction
The Sea Save Foundation Holiday Auction is now open!
The proceeds will go to Sea Save Foundation in order to support ocean conservation.
Auction items range from exotic diving vacation getaways, diving equipment and gear, underwater photography courses by noted oceanographers, and incredible hand crafted works of art guaranteed to delight and surprise.
So, tell your friends, family, and community. Let the bidding begin!
11 Nov 2011
Prime Slot opens up for Anglers
Summer Dolphinfish are numerousMatava Eco-Adventure Resort was totally fully booked with divers for early January however it has just had a cancellation from the 1st to the 10th January 2012 opening up some accommodation space.
This means that Bite Me Gamefishing Charters now has a slot available for any anglers who might wish to charter Bite Me or Tease Me between the 1-10th January 2012
During our summer season we usually concentrate on offshore heavy tackle gamefishing for blue marlin and yellowfin tuna or we focus on heavy tackle popping for GTs and deepwater jigging for Dogtooth Tuna.
Summer time is usually when we see the larger blue marlin 
The summer Yellowfin Tuna run is when we get the big cow yellowfin 
Yellowfin boiling on glassy seas....a typical summer sight Weather conditions are usually hot, humid and calm, ideal for offshore gamefishing, working outer barrier reef slopes with poppers for huge GTs and deepwater jigging.
If anybody is interested, please drop me a line any time at adrian@GameFishingFiji.com
10 Nov 2011
October 2011 GT Popping
Its still early days yet with the summer Popping and Jigging season starting in December but a couple of anglers from Australia caught a break with the Spring weather and got some great GT Popping in.
Justin's pretty pleased with this 45 inch short length GT 
Red Bass
Double Hook-upfor Brendan & Justin 
Another nice GT pushing 40kg for Justin 
Last season the Pacific Ocean experienced a strong La Nina event. This meant that higher than normal sea surface temperatures were experienced in the West Pacific, particularily the Coral Sea. Tropical cyclones derive their energy from the warm oceans so most cyclones developed to the West of Fiji and tracked away from us. For us this meant good weather but frequent large ground swells from the South West as cyclones track south to the West of Fiji. The weather patterns stalled the normal oceanic currents that sweep along the Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef and the water clarity was poor compared to a normal season. We countered this by switching primarily from poppers to stickbaits as the GTs tended to sit out in deeper waters rather than their usual whitewater breakers zone.
The NOAA weather gurus are forecasting another La Nina event this year but it is expected to be much weaker than last year and shorter lived.
The above chart from NOAA shows current sea surface temperature anomolies. You can see the La Nina effects with a big slug of warmer than normal water in the SW Pacific and cooler than normal sea surface temperatures off the Americas.
So, all in all, we are expecting fewer than average cyclones for Fiji this summer and a better GT Popping season than last year.
Not such good news for Queenslanders....Expect above average numbers of cyclones this summer....
26 Oct 2011
24 Oct 2011
Ultra Light IGFA Wahoo World Record Hunting
Graeme and Owen fron South Australia spent a week with us at Matava Lodge with the intention of going after the M-03 Wahoo IGFA World Record. Owen makes a range of ultra-light custom rods and this was a great opportunity to put them through their paces on some relatively big fish.
We started off with a bit of a warm-up on some small yellowfin. Despit their small size, on 3kg line these yellowfin put up quite a fight.....Fortunately the guys had been practising on the Southern Bluefin Tuna at home so we were asured of some sashimi for dinner !
A couple of Rainbow Runners later just for a bit of variety...
and we were ready for the serious stuff....Trying to beat the current M-03 IGFA Wahoo World Record of 23.13kg caught in 1978 off Puerto Rico.
Graeme was up first using an Avet SX (Florida Cam) spooled with Platypus Pre-Test on an Eyre Toxic Wahoosta. We were using the best wahoo lure money can buy...The Halco Laser Pro.After a fight of just over an hour, Graeme had his first prize....
A little shy of the World Record but what a great catch on 3kg !Owen then had his chance using an Eyre Pirate These rods were hand made specifically for Bite Me and the finishing is beautiful. What's more they proved to be perfect for the job in the hands of an experienced angler.
A beautiful wahoo and quite a challenge on 3kg lineGraeme then hooked up and fought a feisty Mahi Mahi that would have smashed the Fiji National Record but just as Joe went in with the gaff the fish leapt out of the water (as they so often do !) and threw the hooks boatside.
Unfortunately the weather turned on us for a few days so we had to switch tactics. One of the advantages of the Pirate is its working range up to 8kg so we re-spooled with 6kg and headed back out. Owen got this nice Mahi Mahi, again using an Avet SX on a Pirate.
By the way, if any angler catches an IGFA World Record using one of our Eyre Custom rods they get to keep the rod....Or Owen will make them a brand new one for free ! Check out his website for details.
You have to experience the fun of fighting a fish like this on ultra-light tackle. Its a lot of fun for the skipper too !The weather got worse so we spent the last two days fishing the calmer lee side of the island with the 3kg gear, in particular, the Ono Drop-off. After having a beautiful little sailfish jump and throw the hooks on us (bugger) we found some decent sized yellowfin. A bit too decent ! We fought two yellowfin for well over an hour and a half each only to have the line break just as we were getting close..... I have hours of GoPro video footage but I won't subject readers to blubbing anglers ! These yellowfin would have smashed the Fiji Record and possibly given the IGFA World Record a scare but it was not to be.
Anyway, we just missed out on the Wahoo World Record but had a lot of fun chasing it. The Eyre rods performed beautifully and now have a proven track record. I can't wait to have another go....In the mean time I might just mount them on the wall...They are that pretty !
World Record Hunting on Bite Me
Owen from Eyre Custom Rods Australia landed this 40lb Wahoo on 3kg line class using an Avet SX on an Eyre Pirate custom rod aboard Bite Me. Fight time about one hour and a very nice fish on 3kg line class !
12 Oct 2011
Fiji Winter Season Saltwater Fishing Summary
From the beginning of 2011, the South Pacific experienced strong La Nina weather patterns. Warmer than normal water gathered towards the Western side of the Pacific leading to unusual weather conditions. Normal tropical depression and Cyclone paths shifted West and Australia's long running drought was broken. For the Fiji Islands this meant fine weather but frequent large ground swells from the South West. Normal oceanic currents along Kadavu Island's Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef stalled and the GT Popping season was significantly affected with coloured water outside the barrier reef and GTs moving from regular haunts.
The summer yellowfin tuna run started late but by the end of March, Bite Me was landing excellent yellowfin around 130lb with our best fish weighing in at 165lbs.
Our normal winter Wahoo season begins with the first wahoo packs arriving in May and by June the outer reef slopes are crowded with hundreds of wahoo packing up on reef points and current lines. Not this year. Water temps stayed stubbournly higher than normal. Our June water temp was the highest recorded for that month in 15 years....
Nevertheless we did get a wahoo run, just not as crazy as normal years. Packs averaged 10-15 fish rather than 20-30 and the average size was down from 60lbs to around 40lbs. The Kadavu Seamount proved very patchy wahoo fishing. Some days it was loaded, some days quiet. Very unusual indeed.
The Pacific Sailfish didn't disappoint but with unusual current directions along the reef and a scarcity in normal winter bait, they moved around a lot making my job a little harder than normal. Still, we did manage to take the M-06 (12lb) Fiji National Record with a sail of just over 75lbs.
The new M-06 Pacific Sailfish Fiji Record taken aboard Bite MeThe La Nina weather patterns usually only last 9-12 months so by December, the start of the next summer Popping & Jigging season, we should be back to normal. Looking forward to it.
8 Oct 2011
Yellowfin Sashimi for Hong Kong
With the new direct flights between Hong Kong and Fiji operated by Air Pacific, we have been delighted to welcome more and more guests from that part of the world.
Manny and Cherry stayed at Matava Eco-Adventure Lodge for some diving, snorkeling, adventure and of course...fresh sashimi !
Even small Yellwfin put a fight on light tackle
Cherry hangs on...
Mann looks forward to his sashimiAugust Wahoo
Brett with a nice Kadavu winter wahoo
Barry with a respectable Hoo
Brett tags his first Sailfish
Darren knocked off his first Wahoo
Brett somehow managed to land all the biggest fish that week....
A school wahoo typical of this season1 Oct 2011
Matava Current Fishing Records
TOTAL Records held as at 1st October 2011
Fifty One (51)
For a great photo spread of the Fiji National Fishing Records caught on Bite Me see here the Records Photo Gallery.
Species Class Record Angler
Pacific Sailfish M-10 60.30 kg Remco Hanibal
Pacific Sailfish M-08 46.60 kg Shane Cole
Pacific Sailfish M-06 34.20 kg Paul
Pacific Sailfish M-04 31.40 kg Bill Boyce
Pacific Sailfish W-10 47.80 kg Lyn Salvidge
Wahoo M-15 44.00 kg Edmund Sturdy
Wahoo M-06 26.00 kg Adrian Watt
Wahoo M-04 31.60 kg Tim Simpson (World Record)
Wahoo M-03 19.40 kg Tim Simpson
Wahoo W-03 21.00 kg Fiona Stallard (World Record)
Wahoo W-04 4.80 kg Diane Woods
Dolphinfish M-04 7.20 kg Tim Simpson
Dolphinfish W-08 7.00 kg Renae Perryman
Dolphinfish W-06 7.80 kg Toni Carlsson
Giant Trevally M-04 10.20kg Adrian Watt
Giant Trevally W-04 7.00 kg Diane Woods
Giant Trevally W-08 9.40kg Magdeline Ko
Bluefin Trevally M-15 5.80 kg Richard Akhtar
Bluefin Trevally M-06 7.20 kg Glen Gardener (All Tackle)
Bluefin Trevally W-15 4.80 kg Jamie Martin
Bluefin Trevally W-10 3.00 kg Teresa Clemmer
Yellowfin Tuna M-04 14.60kg Tim Simpson
Yellowfin Tuna M-03 6.40 kg Paul
Yellowfin Tuna W-15 25.50 kg Anne Oberg
Yellowfin Tuna W-10 20.50 kg Teresa Clemmer
Yellowfin Tuna W-08 6.20 kg Cherie Gardener
Yellowfin Tuna W-06 5.80 kg Cherie Gardener
Yellowfin Tuna W-04 9.40 kg Diane Woods
Mackerel M-04 5.00 kg Shane Warmington
Mackerel W-06 3.20 kg Susan Raebitt
Marlin, Black M-60 103.40 kg Peter Mumford
Great Barracuda M-10 19.20 kg Owen Spalding
Great Barracuda M-04 6.20 kg Tim Simpson
Great Barracuda M-03 9.20 kg Tim Simpson
Rainbow Runner M-15 9.00 kg Michael LeHanie (All Tackle)
Rainbow Runner M-04 3.00 kg Tim Simpson
Kawakawa M-08 4.50 kg Remco Hanibal
Kawakawa M-06 2.80 kg Peter
Kawakawa M-04 3.40 kg Adrian Watt
Kawakawa W-04 4.60 kg Diane Woods
Skipjack Tuna M-04 4.00 kg Tim Simpson
Skipjack Tuna M-03 8.60 kg Glen Gardener
Skipjack Tuna W-06 7.60 kg Toni Carlsson
Dogtooth Tuna M-36 90.60 kg Bill Busch (All Tackle)
Dogtooth Tuna M-06 1.8kg Shane Warmington
Dogtooth Tuna W-15 5.60 kg Mary Alice Migge
TOTAL Fiji National Line Class Records held – Fortysix (46)
TOTAL All-Tackle Fiji National Records Held – Three (3)
TOTAL IGFA World Records held – Two (2)
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