Fiji Great Barracuda Record Falls

A new Great Barracuda Fiji Islands M-06 Line Class National Record has just been set by Zane Southwick who landed an 8.50kg (18.7lbs) fish on 6kg line class.

Zane fighting the fish from the beach

The Barracuda fell to a cast metal slug rigged on a mono leader. Well done Zane....Pretty good catch on light tackle for a big fish with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth !

This Week's Tally

The GT bite has been a bit quiet this past week. Bill and Marc visiting from Australia had to work hard for their fish. Not quite sure why, perhaps the run up to the full moon yesterday had something to do with it although most people think that's a good time to popper !
The fish were there... they just demanded a bit of extra effort from anglers.
Thanks for the pics guys !

Bill with his new Personal Best GT of around 30kg

Small doggies on jigs

Fair few Yellowfin around but mostly schoolies

The ever present Red Bass are always a bit of fun

Marc aboard Tease Me with a respectable GT taken on a Halco Haymaker

Latest Popping & Jigging Pics

Just before I zoomed off to the main island to haul-out and do my Marine Survey I had Brendan and Justin over from Australia for a few days popping and jigging. Both were new to the popping dark arts but they armed themselves with the right gear and put the effort in to get some nice fish.

Brendan brought one of the new FCL Panic Trout lures and tried it out on a spot we call 'Double Trouble'. On the third cast it got smashed by a very big mackerel. After a brief struggle the mackerel bit through the leader and we thought it and the lure were gone....luckily a minute later up poped the lure....smashed to pieces and with a big Owner Jobu hook snapped.... That was one BIG mackerel.

That's one very Panicked Trout

Justin with a nice GT

A tastey Mackerel on a silver Cubera 150

Brendan's best GT around 30kg

Black trevally on a jig

A chunky green jobfish for Justin

Brendan gets ready to cast at a school of boiling yellowfin tuna

Joe had a cast and took this nice fish on a popper

Bite Me gets her Bottom Checked

Its that time of year again when I spend at least a week in Suva hauled out on the slipway and doing annual maintenance on Bite Me. Also on the list - my Fiji Islands Maritime Safety Authority (FIMSA) Marine Survey...Out of water...and in-water...
Just to give you some idea of what I have to cram into 5 working days...

Drive Bite Me to Suva
Haul-out on a slipway
Bring in FIMSA Marine Inspector and agree a defects list
Remove Stb'd engine turbocharger for service
High pressure hose blast the hull / running gear and sand down the old anti-foul
2 new coats of anti-foul
Inspect and clean all underwater inlets and outlets
Drop Rudders, clean, inspect, grease and re-install
Remove Port prop and have it balanced and re-installed
Buff and polish both props
Clean, inspect and measure both shaft bearings (Clearance report for FIMSA)
Open up Shaft seal housings, clean shafts, install new shaft seals
Repair autopilot rudder indicator connection
Underwater Report for FIMSA
Bring in FIMSA MArine Inspector to sign off on completed Defects List
Un-slip Bite Me and tow round to Suva Yacht Club for further maintenance work and in-water FIMSA Survey (Engineering / Deck Safety / Life Saving Apparatus / Fire Fighting Apparatus)

And that's just the out-of-water bit....
Other fun things for me to cram in after getting back in the water...
Chance engine oil in both engines
Change gearbox oil
Change oil blow-by filters
Change main and pre-fuel filters
Re-install serviced Stbd turbo and sea-trial
Repair Bimini
Get the Liferaft serviced
Re-fuel
Pull and clean raw water intake strainers
FIMSA in-water sea trial and survey
Scrub all the engineers oily fingerprints off everything....

Oh, and get our 2,000lb scales re-certified for another year...and renew my Boatmaster license...and get a haircut........and get home....in time for the next fishing charter...

Don't kid yourself that the life of a gamefishing charterboat skipper is a glamorous one !

A slipway for Bite Me on the left hand side. In the middle a longliner and on the right the world famous Naia liveaboard dive ship.

The work begins...

Bite Me is dwarfed by the hanger usually used for much larger ships

Before...

And after...

FijiSun Newspaper Daily E News

Kadavu eco-adventure resort Matava is taking a leading international role with a major shark conservation initiative.

The resort is proud to be the first resort in Fiji to be certified Shark Safe.

Matava Director Stuart Gow said, “We have worked hard over the past few years to ensure that all the food, not just the fish, within our resturant ‘The Terrace’ here at Matava, are sustainable and natural”

“Matava, and our onsite fishing charters Bite Me Gamefishing Charters, are the first in Fiji to sign up and be awarded certification.

“We are now actively promoting, coordinating and distributing information about the Shark Safe certification programme around Fiji.” he continued.

Goals of the Shark Safe certification programme:

l Increase public awareness of the need for shark conservation.

l Reduce the sale, use, and trade of shark products. Shark Safe certification is designed to give discerning customers confidence that their choices help protect sharks.

Restaurants and businesses recognised as Shark Safe have met scientific criteria and stringent guidelines, and they are awarded the authorisation to display the Shark Safe logo.

The logo and its associated recognition and prestige will help attract customers to the business.

Since sharks are universally recognisable and tend to attract attention, customers and passers-by not already familiar with the programme will be drawn to the displayed logo and will be inquisitive. Participating establishments can provide literature about the Shark Safe programme, explain the basic premises, and direct people to the sharksafe.org website.

Christopher Chin, Executive Director and Founder of COARE and the Shark Safe Ceritifcation programme, said, “We’re thrilled to be working with Matava.

“For them, conservation and sustainability are not mere bylines, but a deeply held philosophy.

“The world would truly be a better place if more resorts were to follow Matava’s lead.”

Beginning with the city of San Francisco and neighbouring towns and cities, COARE and Wild Aid are organising a campaign to increase awareness of shark finning and the deleterious effects of sharkfin soup consumption.

The ultimate goal of this campaign is to encourage both communities and the city administrations to embrace a requirement that any shark fins used come from legal and sustainable fisheries.

As part of this project, COARE is proud to offer Shark Safe certification to businesses that distinguish themselves through their dedication to shark conservation.

Bite Me Gamefishing Charters actively avoids fishing for any species of shark and encourages this practice to be followed by all. By encouraging non-lethal ‘catch-and-release’ shark fishing gamefishers and those sharks inevitably caught accidentally can enjoy their sport while ensuring that shark populations are not further diminished.

By promoting sustainable practices of ocean management we hope that sharks will be around to keep our oceans healthy for generations to come.

“At Matava, and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters we are of course both happy and proud to be spearheading this initiative in the South Pacific and indeed the World,” said Matava Director and Bite Me Gamefishing Charter Captain, Captain Adrian Watt.

Captain Watt finished by saying “We would like to thank all friends and clients of Matava and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters past and present who have contributed to the success of our ecotourism principles and the resort and we look forward to exciting times ahead.”

The Shark Safe certification programme is a featured project of COARE: The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education.

COARE is a tax-exempt nonprofit organisation based in the San Francisco Bay Area whose purpose is to study our oceans and increase public awareness of the earth’s marine environment through educational programmes and outreach.

To learn more about COARE and its other projects, visit www.coare.org.

FijiSun Newspaper Daily E News

Some Pics from this week

Le explains to the GTs what is required of them

Excellent popping weather that day

One of the new Hammerhead Designs - Worked very well

A big Patriot, didn't work so well for us here

Tri with a GT around 30kg

One of several caught on trolled stickbaits

A nice GT around 30kg for Le

African Pompano on a Popper

Brett & Ashley

Took a very nice couple out for a bit of a fish aboard Tease Me last week.
Brett and Ashley from Montana USA. The bite was a little slow but Brett's dogged persistance paid off with a nice GT on a new style Buffalo Popper.


Ashley however first managed to snag a crocodile longtom in her braid line (and landed the fish !) and then proceeded to be the first ever angler here to land an African Pompano on a popper.


Resort divers often see Snub Nosed Dart (Pompano) and occasionally African Pompano but its the first African Pompano ever landed on rod and reel here !

Distinctive barring on the flanks

The African Pompano looks like a sort of cross between a GT and a Roosterfish. This one is a bit of a teenager as it is still showing some of its juvenile long trailing dorsal fins.

Only a face a mother could love !

Fiji Record Mako Shark Released aboard Bite Me

Joe is hooked up but its not a swordfish....

I have been waiting for the opportunity to have a go at a Broadbill Swordfish here in the waters around Kadavu Island. I have done my research, talked to many experts and have a good idea of swordfish rigs and techniques. Yesterday afternoon we got our chance to try some out. With my deckie Joe as the designated angler, colleague Richard as photographer / deckie and friend Glen Gardener from the Sydney based charterboat Bounty Hunter as wireman, we set out with some very heavy weights and hit the deep water with a bent butt 130lb outfit.
This method of fishing was new to us but after stuffing up our first deep drop and learning a lot, we got our second drop just right and positioned our bait for a broadbill...

In less than 10 minutes we had our first bite though we didn't realise it at first. The bend in the rod from the deep set weight just eased and we considered the possibility that the weight had touched down on an uneven seafloor. Just as we were discussing the possibility of a 'lifting bite' when glen yelled "There's a big fish jumping over there !" We all looked out at a big ball of spray some 70 yards away......then a huge Mako shark erupted from the ocean surface and launched itself straight up at least 15ft into the air.......



For a second we all stared gobsmacked....an unbelievable sight...
Then Glen spots a leader on the fish and yells "We are on !" and I ball "We are freaking connected to that thing !!!" (or words of a similar theme...)
(Bedlam... bedlam.... bedlam.... in the cockpit)
Joe grabs the 130, straps himself into the chair and starts cranking in a huge belly of line in high gear. About 30 minutes later we have the Mako alongside and what an awesome fish it is... I have never seen anything quite like it !
Fortunately it behaves itself. (I have heard some scary stories about these sharks)


We check for a tag and after a couple of quick photos, we cut the leader right on the circle hook which is neatly tucked in the jaw corner using a safety knife/ release pole .

What an awesome creature !

The Shortfin Mako swims away unharmed

The smallest estimate of weight from all aboard was 150kg (I'm always a bit conservative) and the highest was 200kg. The fish was almost certainly a new Fiji Islands M-60 and All-Tackle National Record for Joe.
I am however delighted to say that there is no way in hell any of us would have harmed such a magnificent creature, even if it had been a World Record so the fish was released unharmed, save for a small new piece of jewelry in the corner jaw that shouldn't cause any harm and should be shed in the near future.
I consider myself privileged to have had such a close look at this magnificent and awe inspiring fish.

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 !!!

How to convert a Diver into an Angler

Our Matava Eco-Adventure Resort PADI Dive Instructor has spent much of her life underwater watching fish but never tried to actually catch one.... So the other afternoon Joe and deckie Glen took her out front to get the resort guests some fresh Yellowfin Tuna sashimi...

Louise soon discovered how much fun catching dinner can be....

When we asked her if she was diving tomorrow she said "Hell No ! I'm going fishing !

Ooops...I think we need a new PADI Dive Instructor....