Short Fin Mako caught in Kadavu (and of course released!)

Yesterday we had a go at a swordfish with Joe in the chair. 

 

Deep bait dropped down to 450m. 7 minutes into our second drop we had this guy explode from the surface and leap 15 feet into the air.... For a second we all stopped and stared....then we realised we were connected to it !

 

We fought the fish alongside....and released.....

 

Short Fin Mako Shark

 

It would have been a Fiji National (All-Tackle) Record.....

 

Is this a cool fish or what !!!

Light Snack for a Whaler Shark

Here's a fun one...

This unfortunate angler fought a nice sized Yellowfin Tuna of around 30kg for 15 minutes or so only to have his much anticipated sashimi somewhat reduced in volume just as the fish was about to be landed. It doesn't happen often but just occasionally a shark decides to take an opportunistic nibble...

What the anglers didn't see whilst they took photos of their catch ( I had a great view of from the bridge ) was the shark was obviously still a bit peckish...

Er.....Look behind you Joe....

And it took the best Sashimi cuts as well !
Oh well, sharks are in enough trouble worldwide, I guess I can spare a few kilos of Yellowfin now and again :)

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.

Canberra Game Fishing Club

It was with great pleasure that Matava Resort welcomed back a group of keen anglers from Canberra Game Fishing Club, Australia who decided to return to Kadavu island for some more serious fishing action. Seven anglers arrived in early June to give Bite Me and our inshore fishing vessel Offensive Tackle a fisho's workout. Bite Me targeted the offshore waters whilst Offensive Tackle concentrated on casting poppers for the big GTs that lurk all along the Great Astrolabe barrier reef.


The wahoo and sailfish action was a little quiet being very early in the season but the GTs were on fine form and a number of excellent fish were caught and released. The Canberra boys were keen to try out some new ideas and spots so Bite Me on a heavy tackle trip to the Kadavu seamount tried some rather deep bottom bashing down at 150 meters. The bite was immediate and some nice bream raised but the sharks soon turned up crashing everything on the way up. One huge shark even checked out the drifting boat before cruising down and nailing a hooked up fish that was being battled up from the depths. Fish caught during the week included wahoo, sailfish, Spanish mackerel, Giant Trevallys, Bluefin Trevally, rainbow runners, red bass, coral trout, bream, amberjack, sharks and emperors.

All the staff were delighted to welcome our CGFC frinds back and would like to thank them for another memorable and thoroughly enjoyable week of gamefishing and beer drinking...
See you next year !

Pressure from within the Calderon Administration May Force Changes to Shark Norma (NOM-029)

On Wednesday the Mexican fisheries agency, Conapesca, issued a press release in response to urgent advocacy efforts within sectors of the Mexican government by TBF and our Mexican conservation partners, including tens of thousands emails sent in opposition to the recently enacted "Shark Norma" – NOM-029. TBF, La Fundacion para la Conservacion de los Picudos (FCP), Seawatch and other conservation organizations have asked for specific changes in the regulations to prevent a new wave of longlining effort in the waters of the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. The press release attempts to downplay criticisms and states that changes will be made to the new regulations to prohibit the commercialization of billfish and cites Mexican fisheries law (Articulo 13, La Ley de Pesca) to clarify that species protected by the 50 mile conservation zones are reserved for the exclusive use of the sport fishery and may not be taken by other than recreational fishing gear.

“We are pleased to see evidence that rational minds within the administration have looked to correct this terrible rulemaking effort by Conapesca,” said TBF’s Chief Scientist Dr. Russell Nelson, “but unfortunately experience has shown that promises made by Senor Corral are to be taken with a grain of salt.”

In December of 2003, at the beginning of his tenure as Mexico’s fisheries head, Ramon Corral announced that Mexico would ban longlines, factory ships, large drift gillnets and rescind all permits allowing any taking of billfish and dorado following scientific presentations on the impacts of longline and drift gillnet gear in La Paz and Cabo San Lucas. These actions never occurred. In January of this year, Corral and his senior staff met with Mexican Senator Luis Coppola, Nelson, Guillermo Alvarez of FCP, and Alejandro Robles representing a coalition of Mexican conservation groups focused on the Sea of Cortez. There he promised that the Shark Norma would not go into effect until new research was conducted to look at its biological impacts. “Corral announced the implementation of the new regulations as we were involved with scientists in La Paz developing a work plan to analyze the impacts,” said Nelson.

“We no longer can deal in good faith with Conapesca,” said TBF President Ellen Peel. "We are going to keep up the pressure on this issue until it is dealt with by Senator Coppola, Chair of the Tourism committee in the Mexican Senate, and we are still calling for a suspension of NOM-029 until all the required changes are formally in place.”

Click here for details on the Shark Norma and TBF's position.

Join TBF or renew your membership today! Don't forget you can shop online for your tagging equipment and TBF apparel! Please visit our website at www.billfish.org.

Largest Fish Ever Caught On Fly

Marty Arostegui recently landed a 385lbs Lemon Shark on fly line, not only taking the M-08kg tippet class but also the distinction of landing the heaviest fish ever caught on a fly rod.

After the fish was weighed it was eased back into the water and released unharmed.

See IGFA website for more details...