Bite Me Too Delivered !

Our brand new fishing boat Bite Me Too is now at the Resort and we are running in the engines and seeing just how fast she can go. The answer....Very !

Skipper Joe winds up the brand new Mercury 4-stroke 150s and she takes off...

Cruising at 30kts, we can now park on the Kadavu Seamount in under an hour....

Furuno Chartplotter, Sounder, VHF Radio, Lifejackets for 8, comfortable seating for six, plenty of rod storage, tackle boxes, ice boxes and even a head !

She is now ready for our summer GT Popping and Jigging season.

Drop us a line here if you want to be one of the fist to  blast around Kadavu Island !

New Offshore Fishing Boat Almost Complete

Work is well under way on our brand new offshore sportfishing boat Bite Me II being built by BlueWater craft in Navua, Viti Levu. She will be a 28ft go-fast go-anywhere fishing machine designed to perfectly service the growing GT Popping and deep water jigging specialists as well as offer anglers the opportunity to go after pelagic gamefish such as marlin, Pacific Sailfish, yellowfin Tuna, Dorado and Wahoo on stand-up tackle. Powered by the very latest Twin 150 Mercury 4-strokes she will cruise at 25 kts and be capable of reaching 35+ knots at WOT.

Sister Ship

Our vessel will be based on the above design however we have added a number of modifications to suit our fishing around Kadavu Island.

The main hull is complete with the large centre console going on now.

With a 400L in-floor fuel tank she will be very stable for casting and jigging and have extensive range.

We have specified grab rails at the perfect height for safety and ease of casting poppers

There will be plenty of rod storage

and of course easy access transom door for hauling in a big Yellowfin or sliding in the big GTs for release !

I will be personally supervising the finishing touches and loading all the required brand new safety equipment in a few weeks and we hope to have her in Marine Survey and in service by the beginning of December. We are now taking bookings for the summer season starting 1st January 2014.

I can’t wait to barrel out to the Kadavu Seamount and drop some jigs !

Pacific Harbour International Game Fishing Club 30th Annual Game Fishing Tournament

The Pacific Harbour International Game Fishing Club’s Annual Game Fishing Tournament is THIS WEEKEND 6th – 8th September.

Hosted by the Pearl South Pacific Resort, the event is sure to be fun for all!

Pool A entry is $3,000 per boat (no limit on number of anglers) with an estimated prize of $15,000.
Pool B entry is $600 per boat (no limit on number of anglers) with an estimated prize of $2,000.

Many other prizes up for grabs!

Please contact Mark on 9993675 OR msolutions.mark@gmail.com to enter!

Pacific Harbour International Game Fishing Club 30th Annual Game Fishing Tournament

Hook Line and Sinker TV Filming aboard Bite Me

We were delighted to have the guys from Australian TV show "Hook Line & Sinker" filming aboard Bite Me for a couple of days. Presenters Matt and Nick with cameraman Mike had some fun fishing though the bite wasn't particularly great. There is a surface layer of zooplankton around colouring up the water and the big yellowfin were tough to find. Even so we managed a few GTs on poppers, groupers on jigs, yellowfin & mahi mahi on the troll and had some fun. I will post a short video clip when the show has been edited....

Hope the guys can come backs some time for the winter wahoo & Sails !

Summer Kadavu Fishing Update

The GT fishing recently has been pretty modest by our standards. We have been having to work harder than normal with La Nina weather patterns still affecting the ocean current directions along the outer barrier reef.  First off, some pics from Mark from the US who was kind enough to let me post a few pics from his trip.

 Dogtooth Tuna on a Jig

 

Coral Trout on a Stickbait

 Always fun the Red Bass

Mangrove Jack !

Not really any Kadavu Monsters in the mix but a very nice variety of species on both Poppers and Jigs. Offshore South of Kadavu there a lots of schooling skipjack tuna and along the reef, yellowfin to 100lbs but the really big cow yellowfin should move into Kadavu waters in the next few weeks.
They are coming in from the North so currently they are being seen between Kadavu and Beqa Lagoon. This 73kg fish below was caught yesterday aboard NoahRay (Freedive Fiji Charters) fishing off Beqa.

Nice Yellowfin guys !

Other recent news, Stephanie Choate, daughter of Tim Choate ( One of the founders of  The Billfish Foundation ) knocked off the Fiji Womens W-08 kg Narrowbarred Mackerel Record with this fish:

It made wonderful Kokoda for all the guests !

Simply paradise! - Review of Matava, Fiji - TripAdvisor

I recently stayed at Matava with my boyfriend and it was heavenly!  

We disconnected from the world and enjoyed the game fishing (We caught 3 huge tuna thanks to Joe the amazing guide and captain), ocean kayaking, hiking, and stunning food (Sammy, the gardener, is a genius). 

Go to Matava to reconnect with yourself and your significant other!

Simply paradise! - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor:

IGFA GT Record up for Grabs

As most anglers will be aware, the IGFA now has a new Record Catagory - The All Tackle Length Record. This is strictly a Release Catagory so all eligible fish must be released in healthy condition.
 As we release all GTs caught here, this record catagory is ideal for us to have a go at the World Record.

Wait ! Measure that !

The current record is 107cm so about 42 Inches, held by Patrick Sebil
We have released plenty of GTs larger than that... This season we will be measuring all the big ones with our brand new IGFA Length Scale !

For those of you aware of the hand made custom Eyre rods we use on Bite Me, you might like to take a quick look at the new Eyre Nano Technology GT Bone Popping rods. I expect them to compare well this season against the top end Ripple Fishers and Hots...

This fish would have taken the IGFA Length World Record !

US Billfish Conservation Act becomes Law

Great news for Marlin, Sailfish and Spearfish !
On October 5, 2012, President Obama signed the Billfish Conservation Act into law, effectively banning the importation of all billfish into the continental United States. The signing marks the culmination of a united undertaking by a diverse coalition of angling and conservation organizations working in cooperation with a bipartisan group of congressional champions.  Although there are no commercial fisheries targeting billfish in the US, the US has been the largest importer of billfish in the world, importing about 30,000 billfish annually.
More details here on the IGFA Website here.

More of these guys around for future generations

There are many sustainable alternatives for restaurants and retailers to offer in place of billfish; thus most restaurants have taken marlin and other billfish off the menu.

Issue 94 of BlueWater magazine out NOW!

Issue 94 of BlueWater magazine

FISHING FEATURES

where even the bad days are sensational!

BlueWater Readers’ Trip to Canada

Editor Tim Simpson led a troupe of Aussie and Yankee anglers to Prince Edward Island where they hooked enormous bluefin tuna in magnificent surrounds. But the trip was not without some unexpected challenges!

australia’s 75 years of organised gamefishing

For 75 years the Game Fishing Association of Australia has provided the organisation and framework to grow our thriving sport and evolve it to become a world leader in sustainable gamefishing. Along the way, Aussies have landed many remarkable captures, as historian John McIntyre recounts.

the longranger

In search of giant yellowfin

Imagine trying to land one of the biggest yellowfin tuna in the world from a stationary boat, amid a bunch of fellow anglers also hooked-up and jostling to follow their tuna around the railing. It’s all part of this long-range adventure.

creatures of the deep

Remoras

These fish aren’t suckers, they know what they’re doing! Why swim when you can hitch a ride?

a day to remember

A Pink Flamingo for Thanksgiving

A remarkable true story with Capt Ron Hamlin and his weirdest catch.

cairns black marlin hall of fame

Three individuals that made exceptional contributions to the development of the Cairns fishery.

prey species

Predators as prey

It’s a dangerous ocean out there! Even the mightiest predators must run a deadly gauntlet from birth.

lure lore

Part 12: A catalogue of the bizarre

Thinking outside of the box can produce some exceptional lures.

big fish small boats

Hooked-up all year

With the mobility of a trailerboat you can follow the seasons and keep catching fish all year.

classic tomes

Saltwater Game Fishing in New Zealand

A great guide to New Zealand’s history and best fishing spots.

smoke and mirrors

Mold Craft ‘Chubby Chugger’

Its big, its chunky, and it’ll catch you a lot of big fish ... just don’t expect it to look pretty.

BOAT FEATURES

a classic reincarnated

O’Brien 34 Custom Express

This custom-built gameboat has been designed with meticulous care by one of Australia’s foremost craftsmen with decades of experience in the gamefishing business.

bluewater tinnies don’t get any better

Vindicator 580

What this plate aluminium pocket-rocket lacks in physical size it more than makes up for in design, craftsmanship and rough-water performance.

REGULAR FEATURES

Newslines

Hot Bites – Australasia

Hot Bites – International

Rum Lines

IGFA Rule Book

BlueWater Calendar

A Site to See

Classic Tomes

Tournament News

IGFA Report

On the Waterfront

Charter Operators

Out of the Blue

COLUMNS

Editorial – Simpson

Pepperell

Butler

Saul

Boyce

The IGFA

The Billfish Foundation

Fiji Winter Season Gamefishing Summary

Well we are pretty much done with the 2012 Fiji winter season now. I think it could best be described as um....lets say "Challenging". A second year of continuing La Nina weather patterns reinforced last year's unusual oceanic currents and higher than normal water temperatures. Last year's wahoo season suffered a bit but the double La Nina whammy just killed the normal spectaculor wahoo fishing here.

 

Peak Wahoo Season but La Nina intervened (again)

 
 The colder ocean currents that normally run West to North East along the Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef reversed direction and any wahoo that did venture into our unusually warm waters didn't gather into packs but simply moved on....We caught wahoo but the crazy 30-40 wahoo packs just didn't exist.

 A few decent sized solitary Wahoo were landed....

 

 

  But most fish were lean around the 20kg weight....Much smaller than normal

 The winter Yellowfin Tuna fishing wasn't to bad though. Occasionally a little patchy, it did produce some decent fish around 40kg aboard Bite Me. That's a decent size for the winter time. (Summer is when we see the really big 70kg+ Yellowfin Tuna)

 

 

 We did have some fun with the Ultra-Light tackle Avets & Custom Eyre outfits. Graeme above fought several Wahoo on 3kg line class as we targeted the M-03 IGFA World Record. We got one probable WR boatside but the fish was just a bit too green and made a last ditch run, ripping the leader through Joe's hand and snapping the Double. With so few Wahoo around we just didn't get enough shots to take out the World Record...

The winter Pacific Sailfish season was reasonable but not spectaculor... We did see quite a few large sails around 60kg and surprisingly, a fair few juveniles that couldn't have been more than 15kg !
Generally the sails here average around 40kg but this year seems to have been a year of extremes.

 All in all, a pretty disappointing winter Wahoo season compared to normal years. The good news is that the La Nina conditions are definitely now coming to an end. The general consensus in the scientific community is a possible reversal to an El Nino weather pattern.....In fact there are already signs on El Nino conditions developing in the Eastern Pacific.
The best Wahoo season I have ever experienced here was during the last El Nino event. Next season could well be the best Wahoo season in 10 years....A happy thought to end with.