Bite Me Takes Fiji Sailfish Record

The Eyre rods and Avet SXs - Our ultra-light tackle Record hunting gear

Australian anglers Steve, Peter and Paul came to Matava Eco-Adventure Resort recently to fish light and ultra-light tackle on the winter wahoo and sailfish. We fished 3kg line class for wahoo and tunas and targeted Pacific Sailfish on 6kg line class.
Steve brought with him a new Cam now available from Avet. Called the South Florida Cam it modifies the Avet SX drag curve to perfectly suit our ultra light tackle record hunting.
The wahoo fishing was slow thanks to La Nina weather patterns but the guys did pick up some National Records including the M-03 Kawakawa and Yellowfin tuna. Deckie Glen was clearing rods after a multiple yellowfin hook-up when a chuky skipjack tuna jumped on. Turned out his skippie smashed the current M-03 Fiji National Record when it weighed in at 8.6kg

Deckie Glen chuffed with his M-03 Skipjack Record of 8.6kg

The boys hooked and fought several sails on 6kg but the sails continued to elude us with spectaculor leaps and jumps across the ocean (We have some great video to post when I get to a faster connection !)
On the last day we went all out for the M-06 Sailfish Record. Fishing Soso bay Paul hooked up a nice sail and we went into action....Winning back the belly of line, charging backwards after the hard fighting fish. With both Joe and Glen aboard to handle the leader and gaffs we finally had the sail aboard after about a 45 minute fight.

What a cracking Sail for Paul on 6kg line class

The sail weighed in at 34.20kg and subject to FIGFA approval and line testing is the new M-06 Fiji National Record

The new M-06 Fiji National Record

Big Dogtooth Tuna Records Fall

Just heard from pro fishing guide George Trinkler aboard Suva based charterboat Golden Eagle that they have smashed a couple of Fiji Islands ladies dogtooth tuna records. I asked him for the low down. He writes :
"During day 2 of our trip the boys caught some nice fish jigging and
livebaiting so the girls decided it was ther turn in the morning. We were
drifting over the Kadavu seamount with the girls both harnessed up with the reels
set on strike drag and a drop back to the baits via the rigger when Kim
Gilbert hooked up on 24kg line, shane also hooked up on a jig at the same
time but was cut of when his fish bolted for the bottom. We left Sheridan
Purvis bait out and as we got colour on Kims fish Sheridan hooked up on
37kg. Fight time was around 20 minutes each and Kim Gilbert's fish was 42kg
on 24kg and Sheridans 64kg on 37kg, Sheridan fought another dogtooth for 40
minutes on 15kg only to have the hook fall out and both girls were stoked at
catching bigger dogtooth than there partners."


Awsome doggies mate, that's a fun day on the seamount !

To top that off, Golden Eagle also won the recent Denarau Sport & Gamefishing Club Tournament.

Very well done to the angling team and crew.

Black Marlin - Bite Me Gamefishing Charters - awesome Sailfish, Marlin and Wahoo Fishing in Kadavu, Fiji

Home Fish Species Black Marlin

Black Marlin

Kadavu island sees black, blue and striped marlin however the easiest marlin to target are the black marlin that are found close in to the Great Astrolabe barrier reef outer slopes.
Little is known about these blacks but it is speculated that they migrate past Kadavu island on their journey to and from the breeding grounds off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Bite Me holds the M-60 Fiji National Record with a fish of 320lbs but much larger fish have been seen by the resort's divers and a probable grander was briefly hooked by anglers aboard Offensive Tackle before throwing the hook. She was estimated to have been over 16 feet in length as she swam under the boat.
	So far, the best times for black marlin seem to support the Cairns/Lizard Island migration theory with blacks usually seen July to October and January to March however some fish have been seen outside these times so there may be a resident population.
When fishing for black marlin, as with Australia, the bite seems to be in the afternoons and we follow the traditional Cairns methods.
	We spend the morning inside the barrier reef catching and rigging bait, move outside the reef at lunch time with large lures and then switch to running two circle hook rigged baits off the outriggers for the afternoon bite.
Black marlin are extraordinary fish that jump like sails but fight like enraged bulls. They always put on a show for the cameras and will astound you as they charge across the ocean in a repeated series of spectaculor jumps.

Book your Black Marlin Gamefishing Trip Now!

Click here to book your Black Marlin Game Fishing trip to the Fiji Islands today and see what all the pro's are raving about in the fishing magazines about Kadavu, Fiji!!

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Black Marlin - Bite Me Gamefishing Charters - awesome Sailfish, Marlin and Wahoo Fishing in Kadavu, Fiji

Pacific Bluefin Tuna World Record

Lynn Salvidge and her husband bruce spent a couple of days in June aboard Bite Me having some fun with the wahoo and Lynn honed her big fish fighting skills taking a W-10kg line class Fiji National Record Pacific Sailfish.
With that record under her belt and the record hunters bug firmly caught she recently decided to have a go at a fish that heavy tackle record hunters dream of landing. The Pacific Bluefin tuna (thunnus orientalis), a fishery recently discovered on the Hokitika Trench off the West side of New Zealands South Island.
Fishing for these monsters is not for the feint hearted. There are only a handful of game boats able to reach these waters. They have to cross dangerous bars outside harbours, make at least a 40 mile run offshore and he weather conditions are nearly always attrocious. Once out on the grounds, game boats find and closely follow one of the huge Hoki factory trwalers that the bluefin follow to scavenge on scraps thrown overboard.

Lyn's trip was no exception. With snow on the grounds, freezing 40-45 knot winds and 3-4 meter swells, the crew fought awful weather and skipper Lance fished within yards of a huge Russian trawler. After 27 hours of hard fishing and whilst the other anglers snoozed below decks, Lyn hooked up in the dark using a whole Hoki bait and began a 63 minute fight with a monster bluefin on 60kg tackle.

Back on the dock the fish weighed in at 223kg and should earn Lyn a New Zealand and World Record.

Awsome fish Lyn - Rather you than me though. Think i'll stick to my nice warm Fiji waters.....

Fiji National Sailfish Record

Another Pacific Sailfish Record fell to Bite Me last week and New Zealand angler Lyn Salvidge. Lyn and her husband Bruce spent two days aboard Bite Me having some fun with the wahoo and looking to take a ladies National Record back home to Auckland.

Bruce hooked up to his first ever wahoo

Happy to oblige, we introduced Bruce to his first ever wahoo and after a 15 minute fight on 30lb line class, Joe sank the gaff into a nice 60lb fish. Not a bad start for your first ever wahoo.

Nice Hoo Bruce !

We decided Lyn should target the W-10kg Pacific Sailfish record. Normally we tag and release all billfish but a National or World Record are sometimes the exception. Working one of Bite Me's favourite sail spots with a pair of 10kg outfits on the riggers, we hooked up a nice sail on a Hollowpoint Mahi Sniper in white and pink with one of our special light tackle hook rigs.
With some careful backing down early on, we had the sail in close after 20 minutes but using only 5lbs of drag on the Shimano TLD20, the fight was anything but over. Lyn applied steady pressure using her Black Magic stand-up fighting harness as we began to slowly chase the sail down in reverse. 55 minutes later with the sail tiring we upped the drag and Lyn guided the 130lb leader into deckie Joe's hands. Using special light tackle Pakula Katana hooks, this was no time for brute force so Joe gently eased the sail into gaff range and the fight was over.

Lyn and Bite Me's deckie Joe

Weighing in at 47.8kg, ( 105 lbs ) and almost five times line class weight, this was a very respectable fish and earned Lyn the new W-10kg Fiji National Record.

2008 Pacific Harbour Gamefishing Tournament

There are two slots available aboard Bite Me for the 2008 Pacific Harbour International Gamefishing Tournament. The tournament will be held over three fishing days - 26th, 27th and 28th June this year with Registration and briefing on the afternoon of the 25th June and prize-giving on Sunday the 29th June.

Bite Me has earned her anglers thousands of dollars in prizes over the previous three tournaments and taken several new Fiji National Records in the process.
Any anglers wishing to compete aboard Bite Me should contact me at Matava Resort for more information.

Adrian Watt
IGFA Certified Captain
www.matava.com