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!

Matava - Kadavu Enchants a World-Weary Fisherman

Matava - Kadavu Enchants a World-Weary Fisherman
By Bill Boyce
ANYONE WHO TRAVELS THE WORLD IN SEARCH OF FINE

fishing locations eventually has what I like to call,'The Century 21 Moment.' You finally find one of those places that you barely dreamed could exist: one full of insane adventures, gorgeous blue water and friendly locals eager to share their little slice of heaven. When you leave, you vow to return as soon as you can possibly make the trip.

But when you do make that much-anticipated pilgrimage back to paradise, the first thing you see as your vehicle leaves the airport is a gold, Century 21 sign. That's the moment you know that your paradise is lost.

Marlin Magazine Nov 2007, Fiji Article

You know the scenario; we fishy types in our baggy shorts and tournament T-shirts are soon outnumbered by the dreaded “shirt and tie on the beach' look. Or worse yet, the large, pale fellow clad in Bermuda shorts, white socks, black polished wing tips and a big, obnoxious woven hat with MEXICO stitched across the front. All of these telltale signs scream out that your 'secret is a little less secret and to be the hottest new time-share destination”.

Thankfully for those of us who like to get off the beaten a bit, you can still find places on earth that haven't"

Read full article here: Matava - Kadavu Enchants a World-Weary Fisherman

Cam Jr. and Kadavu Fiji Wahoo!

Cam Jr. and Kadavu Fiji Wahoo!

The Summer Yellowfin run is in full swing

Its not often that Joeli, 'Bite Me's deckie gets to fight his own fish but sometimes clearing a spread of lures when a guest angler hooks up can have its rewards.

On a recent half day 'Bite Me' charter Joe was clearing a couple of 15kg outfits when one unexpectedly put up some rather robust resistance. After the guest's fish was gaffed, Joe set about coaxing a nice yellowfin tuna out of the depths and onto the resorts dinner menu.

Next day, our PADI Instructor Simon Parry was treated to a go at the yellowfin out in front of the resort. His only previous fishing experience was sitting on a canal bank as a kid catching old boots. He soon got the hang of it after a bit of instruction from the crew and he was pretty damn pleased with the result.

Actually he is still bragging about it to anybody who will listen....

Guests are reminded that Joe's a big lad and its not a good idea to leave your sashimi lying around.

Fiji Special Photo-Site by Don

"I am glad to have a chance to have experienced a memorable trip to Matava. Also, you guys there have done a fabulous job contributing lots to the education of our fragile environment and needs to conserving them for the future generations, cultural as well as Improving the social status of the locals. Hope the “Fiji Special” will contribute towards your goal."

Vinaka

Don, Hin Lim

Hin Lim Photography
274, Victoria Street

Richmond 3121 Victoria,

Australia

Tel: +61 (0) 3 9421 1548 (available on Thursday and Friday)

HP: 0401 012 374

Saltwater Fishing Report – December / January 2008

• For the waters around Kadavu Island- Fiji Islands – South Pacific.
• Charter Operator – Matava Resort Gamefishing
• Boat Names – Bite Me (Offshore) and Offensive Tackle (Inshore)
• Average Water Temp – 28.0
• Average Sea State – 50% Wind chop to 4ft, groundswell to 4ft / 50% calm
• Average Winds – 50% 10-15kts / 50% light airs
• Water Clarity – Good inshore, good offshore

Now:
Fiji waters have been thick since Christmas with big schools of Yellowfin tuna. Ranging from marlin bait size to 100lbs plus, most good fish are coming in around the 80lbs mark with huge shoals of juveniles providing plenty of live bait for billfish enthusiasts.

All charter boats are reporting bumper catches of tuna with excellent action close in to the Great Astrolabe barrier reef around Kadavu island. The big yellowfin are schooling at 120ft in 300ft of water on the steep reef drop-offs. We are using the old trick of running a deep squid on a trip-planer to draw up the first fish then the whole spread gets smashed.

The Kadavu trench and seamount are still consistently producing several shots at blue marlin every visit. We are also still seeing the occasional wahoo, sail and short-billed spearfish when working out wide but the best time for these species is winter (May - October) when they turn up in huge packs.

Plenty of mahi mahi along current lines and the occasional raft of pummice from the underwater Tongan volcano that erupted last year.

Outlook:
The predicted La Nina event is in full swing but the blues will keep biting until the water temperature hits 30 then the bite will cool a little. We expect March to be a relatively quiet few weeks for billfish as the hot calm sunny days bake the surface waters but the yellowfin and mahi mahi will keep anglers busy over bent rods. By April the water temperature will ease off its peak and the billfish action will fire up again.

The weather has mostly been excellent for popper casting anglers and should just keep getting better and better through February / March with calm seas allowing big game boats unlimited access to miles and miles of barrier reef breakers where the big GTs hang out.

Summary:

• Blue marlin – Lots of mid sized fish with the occasional 500+ pounder
• Yellowfin - Here in big numbers, a virtually guaranteed catch
• Sailfish – Just the occasional
• Wahoo – Just the occasional
• Mahi Mahi – lots to 30lbs and some bigger bulls to 50lbs around
• Mackerel – Just the occasional
• GTs – Good bite at the moment with excellend weather conditions for popper casting

Cpt Adrian Watt
Director, Matava Resort Gamefishing,
Tel: + (679) 3337 222 or 3336 098
www.gamefishingfiji.blogspot.com
www.matava.com

“just married couple””

27 January 2008

“Bula! We were able to spend such a splendid time here. Everything was exciting that we experienced and we were impressed by the people's kindness. We will come back again

“just married couple””

Takehisa & Ayumi

Japan

Marlin World: a new ONLINE magazines for the sportfishing community

FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO A GREAT NEW ONLINE MAG!

Interesting international articles with video content, interactive pages, the possibility to add your own articles & its fun and easy to use.

The preview has been described as AWESOME, WONDERFUL, BRILLIANT, AMAZING - imagine what the first issue will be like!

Marlin World will become one of the most popular ONLINE magazines for the sportfishing community. It looks just like a magazine; turn the pages and watch the articles come alive with video clips. Interactive advertising connects readers to products and services instantly.

Adrian is looking to publish some of his photos, articles and possibly even some new video footage in the Feb issue!

"Epic Battle"

Recently, Adrian participated in the longest fight between angler and fish that he had ever experienced. They were fishing 4 kilo line class with Tim Simpson (editor Bluewater Magazine ) on strike and hunting the big wahoo and Pacific sailfish that congregate here every winter.

Tim wrote a feature article about his trip in the latest edition of Bluewater Magazine and the full article can be found at Matava Lightweight Sailfish Battle .

As they neared one of Adrian's favourite sailfish spots, a big fish chased down one of the lures on the surface but failed to hook up. Looked like a big dogtooth tuna so round we went for a second pass. On this pass however, a big sailfish inhaled a lumo white/blue Mouldcraft Wide Range and began the usual spectacular dance across the ocean common to feisty sailfish. At first glance, this sail looked to be dangerously close to World Record size and all hearts were racing as the deck was cleared and we quickly began to charge down the leaping fish. It was about 3.00pm. Lots of time to play with Adrian foolishly thought...

Read full article here: Matava - "Epic Battle"

Matava gets TripAdvisor Popularity Index: #1 of 6 hotels in Kadavu Island

TripAdvisor:

Matava gets TripAdvisor Popularity Index: #1 of 6 hotels in Kadavu Island

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating:

TripAdvisor Popularity Index: ^#1 of 6 hotels in Kadavu Island