Fiji National Record Released

IGFA Rep Tam and his wife Dee Little took a break from their excellent home town Australian NT barra & inshore reef fishing to have some fun with the bluewater gamefishing around Kadavu Island.

Blue marlin were the target choice and with excellent weather, we headed out to the Kadavu seamount to tow some big lures and skipbaits.

We had a skipjack skip-bait set on the short rigger and a small tuna lure out to catch a second tuna for another marlin skipbait to be set on the long rigger.

Using 80lb chair tackle, we had an 18ft 500lb wind-on to a 9ft mono leader to 16/O circle hook, rigged just in front of the skip-bait's nose with a short dacron bridle.

In no time, the tuna rod went off, Tam began to bring in the next marlin bait and Bite Me slowed to a halt. After about 10 seconds, line started ticking off the Penn International 80STW set on the short rigger with the first skip-bait. Tam quickly passed the tuna rod to deckie Joe and climbed into the chair. After a good 15 seconds of controled free-spool, Tam eased the drag up and Bite Me edged forwards. The rod loaded up and we all waited for the marlin to explode on the surface.....

No exploding marlin...just heavy pressure....

Now blues have done this to us before, but nine times out of ten on the Kadavu seamount, no marlin leaping across the surface equals shark, and usually not for long as we use mono leaders.
This one was different. About an hour later we bullied the shark into view and found out why.

Bizzarely, we had managed to hook a good sized Bronze Whaler, with a circle hook, on the leading edge of its left pectoral fin. It must have chowed down on the sinking skip-bait, nipped off the tuna and the belly of line had pulled the circle hook back along past its gills and perfectly set onto the pectoral fin.

Amazing what you see out there.

Although this shark smashed the existing Fiji National Record for Whaler shark, I am happy to say that Tam elected to release the fish unharmed. Testament to the spirit and ethics of the members and Reps of the IGFA.

Another Fiji National Record on Bite Me!

Angler: Magdeline Ko
Species: Giant Trevally
Weight: 9.4kg
Place: Kadavu
Boat: Bite Me
Lure: Mother-in-Law popper from PalmFishing
Skipper: Capt Adrian Watts
Deckie: Glen Gardner

Well done Magdeline!

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

Current Fiji National Records Held at Matava: 20

Men’s

M-04kg Yellowfin Tuna

M-04kg Mahi Mahi (Dolphinfish)

M-04kg Narrowbarred Mackerel

M-04kg Barracuda

M-04kg Rainbow Runner

M-04kg Skipjack Tuna

M-04kg Wahoo

M-04kg Giant Trevally **

M-04kg Kawakawa

M-06kg Kawakawa

M-06kg Wahoo

M-08kg Pacific Sailfish

M-10kg Pacific Sailfish

M-15kg Rainbow Runner

Women’s

W-06kg Yellowfin Tuna

W-06kg Narrow Barred (Spanish) Mackerel

W-08kg Yellowfin Tuna

W-10kg Yellowfin Tuna

W-10kg Bluefin Trevally

W-15kg Yellowfin Tuna

** Latest Record Taken – August 2007