# FIJI (by boat). A trip of a lifetime.



## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Well this wasn't a kayak trip but it was the most amazing fishing trip of my life so i'll share it and hopefully i can get across the some of the excitement.

The start of the trip wasn't looking good as i sat next to a full bag and looked at all the stuff i still hadn't yet packed.
Of course the first stuff to go was the clothing, who needs it anyway.
Then i started shedding some camera gear and finally out came a pile of jigs, poppers, plastics and my smallest reel.
A bit of jumping and twisting and the bag was done.

The trip consisted of 4 of us, Dave73 (who had gone on ahead to check out another location near Nadi), Mark (a fishing journalist from NZ), Brent a fishing journalist from Sydney and myself.
I meet Brent at the airport (just look for someone with a rod tube) and off we went.

On arrival I was surprised to see the devastation from recent flooding in Nadi, it was worse than i had expected. The van taking us to the hotel had to drive down the beach as the road was washed out.
We all met at the hotel, had a few beers, some food and off to bed in anticipation of tomorrows journey on to the island.
It was at this point i discovered that when i took some clothes out of my bag and made one pile of what i needed and one of what i could do without i had then packed the wrong pile, so guess who had not a single pair of undies.

















Next day we flew to Kadavu where the boat was to pick us up and take us to Ono, a journey a little over an hour.
Flying in and seeing all the reef gets your blood pumping but when someone on the plane points out a school of yellow fin jumping you know you are in for a hell of a week.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

The boat was waiting for us and after loading all the bags and rod tubes we were off.
Half way to Ono we came across a school of yellows jumping all over the place (not sure if it was the ones we saw from the plane but it sure makes for a good story). The skipper had one rod set up with a popper on it for emergencies and as the reel had the handle on the left it was thrust into my hands.
I was thinking a) i've never caught a fish that big and b) i've never thrown a heavy popper before and had intended to get in a bit of practice while no one was looking.
Anyway first cast and a yellow launches up under the popper, goes about 3 ft up turns and lands straight back on it .... i'm on .... oh shit. But alas not for long.
Next cast and i get smashed again, god damn it i lost that one to.
By this time Dave had rigged up a rod and was into a fish so i put down the rod and grabbed a camera. After watching Dave struggle with the fish i was quietly thinking thank god that wasn't me.
Anyway at last we have about 18kg of sashimi on board and and we resume our trip to the island.
At that point i was thinking that no matter what happened on the rest of the trip it was all worth it just to see those tuna smashing a popper.

















On arriving at the island we were handed a cold coconut to drink and i decided that eating a bit of the flesh would also be a damn fine idea. Unfortunately i was wrong, as much as i wanted to think the large crack i heard in my mouth had just come from the coconut i sort of had a hunch it hadn't and after a quick search with the tongue i found about a third of my back tooth was missing, SHIT.
As there was nothing i could do about it, i decided the best course of action was to eat on the other side, wait a few days for the nerve to die down and get on with the fishing. There were knots to be tied.


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

No Undies, Dropped tuna, broken tooth...don't leave us waiting too long Kerry!


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Day one of our 4 days fishing.

Everyone was up and champing at the bit to get on the water.
The boat was a 28ft centre console with a 200 hp engine and the journey to the outside of the reef only took 20 minutes.
The 4 of us were casting poppers and it didn't take long for the action to start.
Red bass were the main fish, these bastards hit the poppers hard and head straight back for the coral so the moment you get a hit you have to lock it up and try to get him out of there.
The boat will either drive around to give you a better angle or help to drag him out to deeper water.
I was up the front, the lip around the front of the boat was only about 1 ft high and with a moving boat i was wondering how the hell i wouldn't be pulled over the side if i hooked a GT.
At that point i made the announcement that i knew what was about to happen and sure enough after a couple of casts a mother of a GT engulfs my popper and Brent yells it's a big one. Can't tell you what happened next as i wouldn't have a clue but the gods were on my side as the GT had my whole popper (all 200mm of it) in his mouth side ways and this did make the fight a bit easier.
It went 23kg and i was thinking well if i catch nothing else i've still had a great trip.
Dave and Mark also got GT's around the 15-17 kg mark. Other fish were Red bass and a Blue Fin Trevally.
We headed back for lunch and to regroup for the afternoons assault.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

We had come to the area to see what we could find with poppers and also to try jigging, as far as we new not a lot of jigging had been done so the afternoon was our chance to give it a go and hurt a different muscle group.
We tried a couple of spots just out from the reef where ever we found a good drop off.
The first nice surprise was a big Long Nose Emperor and this was followed by some delicious Coral Trout and a beautiful fish called a Puka Puka. Of course the Red Bass made an appearance here also.

























Back to the main resort Bure to eat, tie knots, discuss plans for the next day and best of all was that our host had brought in a masseuse and set up a permanent spot where we could try to repair the damage to our bodies each day.


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Awesome Kerry.. keep it coming. It brings back memories of 10 days I had on Namotu in 2000. GTs from the beach, massive schools of fish everywhere.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Day two of our 4 days fishing.

We had decided that although yesterdays jigging was good, it hadn't turned up the one fish we were looking for .... Dog Tooth Tuna, so the plan was made to get out there and find them.
As well as the jigs we also rigged up some large soft plastics. Mine seemed to get bitten off as often as i got them back to the boat but Brent managed to secure our first Doggie on one.








For some reason (maybe the fact that i had feathers on my assist hooks) my supply of jigs was also being depleted rapidly. We managed a double hook up of large Red Bass, another nice Blue Fin Trevally, Long Nose Emperor and some better sized Puka Puka.
























Then my little saltiga 54s keeled over and i new i was on to my best fish of the day. 100 metres of heaving and i had a nice 10kg Doggie on board.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

I saw the glint in Dave's eye that said "that bastard has had the best fish two days running" and with that thought in mind he hooked in to a fish that was set to give him a run for his money. 
After a drawn out fight that left him with a few aching muscles he hauled in a 26kg Doggie and my record was smashed.
















The other highlight of the day for me was Jigging up what i thought was a nice Red Bass only to find out that it was in fact a Mangrove Jack. The colours on it were as bright as a Bass and i wasn't expecting to find one in the deep water off the reef.
I don't have a pic of this but if i can get one from the other guys i'll post it later.

In the afternoon we decided to rest our wary bones by fishing light gear inside the reef. We pulled in a lot of Coral Trout and more Red Bass and as you had to pulled these fish hard to keep them out of the coral it was a hell of a lot of fun.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Day three of our 4 days fishing.

By day 3 we were thinking what could possibly top of even compare with the last 2 days fishing but as each day seemed to have a new high we were excited to see what it would be.
On the way out Mark decided to have a quick drop with a bigger jig and it got nailed big time, the fish didn't hook up but the bend in the jig was enough to put the plan in place to return the next day with some heavier gear.








So off to the reef to cast some poppers.
We once again scored some nice Red Bass, Blue Fin Trevally and a couple of GT's.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

The highlight of the day came whilst i was trying to untangle a wind knot in my braid.
First thing i hear is Mark say "i'm on a GT" next i hear Dave say "me to" and then the last straw was Brent with his "you beauty".
A triple hook up on GT's and i have a bloody wind knot. I went for the make or break option and pulled hard and fast and out it popped. As a GT took a swipe at my popper i thought "is this wise? 4 of us on at once" . I didn't hook up so quickly put the rod down and picked up the camera.
Amazingly all 3 GT's were boated after a lot of yelling and screaming. 
Photos were taken and then while the boys had a quick celebratory Fiji Bitter, i cast out and hooked into my own GT.








Mark had one more hook up before we headed in and this was a big GT unfortunately this guy had other plans and unlike any other fish we had hooked he lay on his side and shot over the shallows heading for the inside of the reef. bye bye.









We decided to stay inside the reef for the afternoon session but try some smaller poppers. 
I had wondered if my saltiga 63 and freams 4500 with 50lb braid would be over kill for this but my mind was quickly laid to rest as i watched my supply of halco 135's disappear from my tackle box.
The Red Bass on the inside of the reef seemed to be as big as the ones on the outside and with the shallow water they were almost impossible to pull out of the coral. You could see the areas of the reef that would hold fish and although some looked like trouble you just couldn't help yourself casting in to them, usually with the comment of "i'm a dead man".
You soon got the hang of locking these guys up and trying to pull them as hard and fast as you could.
The deckies were also on hand to grab a snorkel and mask to try to retrieve fish from the coral. They usually came up empty handed but Dave was pleased to see his favourite popper being held above the water still attached to the fish.
With a few beers thrown in and calm waters of the inner reef I think this was my favourite session of the trip.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Day four of our 4 days fishing.

Day four and I was sore, the one thing I hadn't pack was all the drugs the other guys had, it was like a voltarin users convention. 
But hey it was our last day and we intended to fish hard. The plan was to pop a new area of the reef in the morning then jig for some big fish in the afternoon.
We headed up to the top of the reef and got our poppers working. In the past if it was quiet on the poppers we would switch to jigs and vice versa but this didn't seem to happen often and it seemed to me that the quiet patches on popper were when the sun was behind clouds. Today we had hit a quiet patch for half an hour but as we moved up the reef things started to fire.
We hooked into some really decent sized Bass. 








Dave hooked into something that we thought was a GT but turned out to be a Napoleon Wrasse, a new species for the trip.








We had plans for a big afternoon fish so we decided to head back in for an early lunch.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

We set off in the early afternoon looking for some good deep drop off to jig.
The first one we found looked promising but we weren't turning up many fish so decided to move. Just before we left Mark hooked into something huge, it looked like his choice to use heavy gear and big jigs had paid off.








After a fight that nearly killed me just to watch, up popped the biggest GT I have ever seen, it went 43 kg and a new pb for Mark. As excited as he was I could see he was thinking that if only it had of swallowed his jig it would have been over the magic 100 lb mark but what a fish.








Off to the next spot and we were into some more fish, Dave managed to hook up another Dog Tooth Tuna that was down graded on the way up to just a head.
Then Brent and I managed to bring in a double on Doggies.








I was once again plagued by bite offs but at least I was using Dave's jigs now and not my own.
I also managed to pull in a couple of Barracouta heads so there seemed to be a bit of a battle going on on the ocean floor.
We brought up some of our biggest Puka Puka of the trip 








and then the boat stopped moving as Mark once again hooked into something that resembled the ocean floor with head shakes.
After a long tug of war (better his back than mine) up surface the mother of all Cod.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

And that was my four days in paradise. The fishing was over and it was time to pack up all our gear.
Well nearly all our gear, I mean you have to leave one rod out for the trip to the airport.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Top report mate, cant imagine hooking anything like that!

Brilliant photos too mate, how about a rundown on your SLR?


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

WELL DONE KERRY - FISH PORN SATISFIED..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

CAN I HAVE MY ROD BACK NOW PLEASE BEFORE YOU BECOME TOO ATTACHED TO IT :lol: :lol:


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

Yeehah you might have lost a tooth but I just lost my whole bottom jaw in shocked ecstasy at your report and photos. i am so happy for you mate, that's just fantastic!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

again,

yeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaah!


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Sorry Dick, i've been sleeping with it but i am trying to wean my self off.
The wife is getting upset so i guess your rod (know as the other woman) will have to go :lol:

Paf, i took 2 cameras. a canon 1Ds mkII and a Canon G9, both had underwater housing. I had intended to do a lot more underwater shots but the time just went to fast. Also i have to admit that the odd shark following our fish up put my off a touch.
I ended up mainly using the G9 in the water and to do a bit of video and then i used the 1Ds with a 20mm lens on the boat. Dave was pretty hands on with the G9 and did jump in the water a bit but we hadn't always communicated as to whether the camera was set for stills or video so there were a few good shots lost.

ps. 15kg of hand luggage is always a challenge to make look light


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Fantastic trip Kerry & Dave, stunning pics too Keza (you should think about doing it for a living). Great mix of species & tactics. Tell us about the food...

I've got one of those big Williamson red & white poppers - noisiest lure I own (bought for 'mine's bigger than yours' value). I haven't managed to convince anything that it's edible yet, but it looks like it worked over there.


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: 
Wow.
How much tackle did you end up going through and what gear where you using?


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

I lost lots of my smaller poppers (about 6) but for the big stuff i managed to keep hold of my 2 big river2sea dumbbells although one of them is down to the wood :shock: The inside reef accounted for most of these.
I lost all of my bigger jigs (probably around 6 again) but i'm convinced this was because my assist hooks had feathers on, although at one point 3 of us got bitten off at once.

My leaders took most of the onslaught and needed replacing regularly but i was lucky not to lose any of my braid.
I had 3 reels, my popper rod had 65lb braid (or was it 80lb, Dave ?) and the other 2 reels had 50lb braid.
Dave knows the weight of the leaders as i kept pinching his line but i can tell you we tied lots of twisted leaders before we went but after being introduced to the mid knot on the trip we never used them.
I borrowed Dicks (whopfish) monstermesh popper rod and a 14000 upgraded spheros from Dave.
Jigging i used my saltiga 54 rod and saltiga blast 4500.
and my saltiga 63 rod with freams 4500j was a jigging back up and tossed plastics and smaller poppers etc.

The food was superb, fish, fish and more fish, this was largely due to me not eating other meat.
Dave can run you through that better, him being a chef and all.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

1.wow
2. When's the next trip?
3. Where do I pay my deposit?


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Bula!

Well said Keza, great photos and report. Such an awesome trip. It exceeded my expectations although this was my second time to Kadavu, I was there around 2 years ago and finally got back there this time after cancelling last years trip.. I'm already thinking about returning again.. :twisted: 
Fiji is great, the people, the food, and the fishing in certain areas is as good as anywhere in the world, Ono island is my favourite place bar none... 8)

We mainly fished outside the lagoon, eg, casting back into the reef break from the deeper water.
Considering the Great Astrolabe Reef is the 4th longest reef in the world, you only scratch the surface.
The popping and jigging was such a highlight, and the variety of species available in this area is awesome. Confirming that dogtooth tuna are there in numbers was one of my highlights.  
We must have got 15 species, the fishery is very healthy with virtually no pressure because it's such a remote location.
I dont think these fish had seen a jig EVER, and we didnt wait too long till one of us got a hit. Those puka puka (Red snapper?) are a beautiful fish..
Same with poppers, the excitement of seeing your mate throw a cast right into a bommie, coral head or deep hole and then all eyes are glued on the popper for a few 'bloops' till the inevitable Red Bass or GT takes care of the rest... These images are imprinted clearly in my memory..

Medium large sized poppers worked well, I was using 100 - 125g cup faced bloopers. Smaller Halco Roosta 135 are ok for bluefin trevally, coral trout, red bass inside the lagoon etc on my 8000 Twin Power and Nitro Godzilla (50lb), this outfit can also throw soft plastics quite happily.

For the record I was using a heavy popping rod and Stella 20k
Heavy jig rod and same reel
I took light tackle stuff but wouldnt bother next time, the lightest I'd go would be 50lb.
Leaders were 150lb mono, 130lb FC, 60lb Fluro, 80lb mono.
Keza had no worries using my Sphero's 14000 (80lb) and Woppies Monster Mesh rod. Great outfit that one.

The anglers lodge was pretty lush and exclusive, the massages were a welcome addition.  
Keza and the other guys kept me laughing the whole time, great humour and spirits and plenty of fish for everyone.
I've got a few photos but Keza as always took some rippers! We also got some vid footage of big popper surface strikes.. 8) :lol: 
I'm a bit sad to be back in the big smoke now..

Cheers Dave


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Oh shit, I nearly forgot.

Rocked up to the far outer reaches of Ono Island out the back of Kadavu, Fiji.
There on the beach is my kayak, RTM Disco! Exact same as mine here in Sydney!
He also has a few tandems, a hobie and other yaks but the kayak wouldnt be able to stop these fish...

Maybe head there in winter and get into the wahoo, at least they wont reef you!


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

Wow, I feel like I need a cigarette


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## wayner (Jan 7, 2009)

good to see you had a trip of a lifetime,and hope you have another one like that again.

wayne


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Fantastic trip report and photos guys.

I spent a week in the Yasawa Islands last year and would go back in a second!

I didn't get to catch any fish like that and didn't even have any serious gear with me but the outer Fijian islands are just magic.

Awesome!


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Sh#t ay!!!! So it really does happen... Some people spend thousands to have a cracker of a fishing trip in a remote location and actually get what they paid for. 
Good onya Keza, you're helping restore my faith in destination based fishing charters. Glad you and the guys kicked some goals in paradise. It sounds like it was well and truly worth the $$$.


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## azzaroo (Aug 17, 2007)

&^%$#@ me :shock: ............. was there any surf?


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## cummins (Jul 7, 2008)

i wonder how the mother of all cod whold have been on a yak


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Keza , fantastic report mate , gee talk about land of the giants how the hell do you get a cod that big out of his hidie hole must have had 500 ld line what a fish , but then again i could say that about any of the beautiful fish you caught , did you eat any of them , if so i bet they were delicious , Keza , what a trip , i wanna go , amazing , loved the photos .Bulla Vanaka Keza


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## CastAway (Dec 28, 2007)

Absolutely amazing! Fantastic fish and great photos, that is the stuff that dreams are made of. Time to start saving for a trip to Fiji and all the heavy tackle required to come with me. Well done!!!!


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

Brilliant report, great pics...What a hoot.
Were you shooting Jpegs or raw files?


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Drewboy said:


> Brilliant report, great pics...What a hoot.
> Were you shooting Jpegs or raw files?


all raw files.

Bazz we did eat some of the fish and it was delicious. We had a fantastic cook and although we eat fish twice a day i was always looking forward to the next meal.
We ate some, released some and some kept the local village happy.


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## hoodlum (Sep 24, 2008)

That was great work guys, I am off there in may. Only hoping for a fraction of that stuff.

Like the line,,,, up popped the biggest GT I have ever seen, it went 43 kg and a new pb for Mark. :lol:

Great work!


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWejH9QIAABlXgHAQYIWgYNCKP3ffoCAAhBqTNTRqaep6GiZPU/UaaZJoRTyninop5Jp6R6CNBg1Guk17WApyhXeSKjIAyVSmi8MhOK/IHdhbPR7M7dUba/EQhZgmIdxMb5cPVHSTPpsFN7VJfV4Ff43crAX2EuVGhB9uYQ5FkcM5DJ76LV3ksYC1Yfooy1dbiak7EOBukDwMTKtyHaoAqF/F3JFOFCQ6Mf1AgA==


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## Rstanek (Nov 5, 2007)

Well done boys, I've been patiently waiting for this report and you didn't disappoint!

Sounds a hell of a lot better than my most recent holiday - last Friday night after a long evening at work, just as I was about to go go to bed, Dad mentions, "By the way, we're going to Canberra for the weekend to help your great grandmother move into a new unit. We're leaving early." Yes! :lol:

Looks like you both got into some amazing fish, I'm particularly impressed with the Puka Puka (I'm pretty sure it's Rusty Jobfish Dave). There's something so enamoring about that thick bottom jaw, the big gleaming eyes and the colour right the way through - they're a spectacular fish (up toward the top end of my wish list). The monster GT's, Doggies, Cod and Tuna were pretty good too I suppose. :twisted:

And to think that there's _that_ much more untouched reef to be explored over there...


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Hi Rowan,

I thought they were rosy jobfish also but I've since found out this is not the case.. They are called a red snapper or ruby snapper and I'll do some research today about them more. Nothing comes up when searching for 'puka puka' on the net.
They love jigs, go very hard and apparently a highly prized and priced table fish. ;-)

As Kerry mentioned the resort / lodge cook was fantastic, various fish currie - served with grilled plantines (banana family) baked fish, sashimi!  
Yes so many highlights..

Cheers Dave


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Yeah have to agree with Occy about the weather........ give me PUKA PUKA anyday................ so whos keen for a trip just like that one...............I'll need to get a pass :?


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## joey (Jul 5, 2008)

Absolutely incredible fishing trip!!


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

here is a pic of the Mangrove Jack along side a Red Bass, you can see how i nearly missed it and what amazing colours.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

wow... looks like a siamese upside down fish to me.... :shock:


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## Rstanek (Nov 5, 2007)

They're practically identical! The easiest way to tell them apart is that Red Bass have a prominent pit in front of their eyes, and big jacks don't.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Kerry more fish porn PLEASE !!!!! You dont need to write anything - just send us the money shots !!!!


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## pescado (May 17, 2007)

Sensational pics boys, truly mag worthy stuff...

Those Napoleon Wrasse are a cool looking fish 8)


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Yeah Keza no more writing just more photos of monster fish , i cant read anyway so i only ever look at the photos , but the young nubile readers want some more ,,,,what did they call it ,,,,,, ahhh yes ,,,, fishing porn ,, its going to be hard to fish Sydney or anywhere for that matter after that .


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## mcbigg (Jul 14, 2007)

Wow.

Just, wow.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2009)

Sod! Now you have me looking at flights and accomodation that I really should not be looking at!


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Awesome :shock:


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Hey Michael,

So this doesnt turn into a commercial post I'd prefer you contact me directly on the address below.
I actually just posted the cost up but have edited this out to keep within the forum rules. :shock:

Anyone can contact me for info if required.
Needless to say Fiji is damn cheap to fish, fly to, and stay.

A trip like this is very reasonable, a few guys I've spoken to have been guessing around double it's actual value. and they are very keen to plan something now.
I may talk to the mods and see about an AKFF discount or special offer trip also, something to consider for down the track.

Cheers Dave


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

I heard that Keza acted as the camp bitch for the entire week and managed to get a substantial discount......

Apparently there are some photos of him in a wig, short skirt and stilettos.... :shock:

Now we know why he forgot his undies . :shock: :shock: :shock:


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Davey G said:


> Apparently there are some photos of him in a wig, short skirt and stilettos.... :shock:


Davey some people fancy me just the way i am


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## Kez (Nov 5, 2008)

Totally Speechless! Definately Trip of a life time! and Beautiful Photos!


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

kraley said:


> Gatesy said:
> 
> 
> > Nah in all honesty it really sounds like you had a great trip. And well done getting onto the doggies!!!!! How did they fight? Was it like you always see in the jigging videos??????
> ...


They hit a jig the same as most fish (hard) and then time stands still as sometimes I was actually a bit scared of what might be down there. Especially once we verified that medium size to big doggies are around. I know a Fijian guy who has seen a 77kg doggie come from this area, and our skipper has seen big ones down deep when scuba diving off the reef.. :shock: 8)

It's true that they 'grow' or hit the afterburners, the run starts off slow and then picks up, and up.. We lost a few this way :lol: :lol: Then there was the bent jig scenario...
The small ones soon slow down with a strong drag and you turn them. The bigger one just went off and I was expecting to lose it on the first run.
Being an oversize bonito the fight is all about the tailbeats and side on continual pressure. The YFT I got was a bugger, and the long 8ft lighter Saltiga rod and 8000 Twinpower hurt me more than the fish..
New species for me this trip, yellowfin tuna, red bass, GT, dogtooth tuna, pukapuka, maori wrasse. Definitely a learning curve.
Kerry's first GT was a big fish, nudging 24-25kg and it was the first GT for the trip, it was a great start!

Did he mention the first small doggie took a soft plastic? Just like catching kings with big teeth..


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

i was fishing the same kit i use to jig kings, 50lb on my 4500 blast and either the saltiga 63 or 54. I think my 10kg doggie max'd that out, if i had of hooked Dave's fish i would have been smoked.
We jigged up lots of different fish but everyone new if you had hooked a doggie because after bringing it up about 5 metres it then took off. Like with most fish at that depth the hard fight seems to be at the bottom and once you get them half way up it is more like a heavy wait (with a tail).
My kit would only take jigs up to 210, i used a couple at 230 but i seemed to get down ok. I think Mark had something like a 450 on for his big fish, i couldn't have pulled the jig in let alone the fish


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

oh did i mention $2000 to fix the tooth :shock: 
i opted for the temporary fix for now. $2000 is a lot tackle


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

This thread was bought to my attention by the one and only Woppie - he was peddling his exotic fishing, addictive wares - trying to turn a profit from my poor defenseless popper loving soul. Shame on you Woppie, shame on you :lol: :lol: ;-) Lucky he sold this trip to me before I read this thread - amazing stuff Keza, the sort of trip I dream of!


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

I am looking at doing the same trip to Fiji in Dec 09 ( first week ) - looking for three more people for a trip of four. Looking at 5 days fishing - poppering and jigging - you will need to supply your own gear that fits with this style of fishing. I would say at this stage the trip inc flights would be approx 3.5 K tbc. 
Whos Keen to catch some monsters :lol: :lol: :lol:

PM me if your up for it 8)


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Hi Roberta, I think Mark's article is out around August and there will be one in modern fishing also.
I'll let you know when we know which issue.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

keza said:


> Hi Roberta, I think Mark's article is out around August and there will be one in modern fishing also.
> I'll let you know when we know which issue.


I'm assuming your pics will be gracing the pages?


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Davey G said:


> keza said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Roberta, I think Mark's article is out around August and there will be one in modern fishing also.
> ...


definitely in the NZ mag but Modern fishing like to take there own so we shall see.


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Poor Keza,

At times he didn't know whether to pick up his rod and cast or to pick up his camera and shoot. :lol: :lol: Either way would have resulted in a great outcome.  
Talk about torn between two passions.

Look what happened when he let me near his camera, I jumped in the water to get some underwater shots of fish coming in, and I mucked it up. Pressed the on / off button instead of shoot, and when I got it right, it was set on record, not shoot.   Stupido!!

Yep, happy to leave the photography to the experts, great shots mate.

You reckon the mags will want to run these of me being at one with the fish? :? :?

Cheers Dave


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

no but here is one of Dave with his Doggie before i had a go at it with photoshop :lol:


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## BillyConnolly (Nov 9, 2008)

Wow, Wow, Wow........

Trip of a lifetime is certainly the only way to explain that, until you head back again of course. That Cod was like something from the prehistoric. I'd hardly feel safe swimming around with the likes of him in the water. Outstanding trip and well written report.


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## Decay (Feb 25, 2008)

Hi everybody,
This is my first post on this forum so I'm new to this and please excuse my long winded story but somebody asked me to recount it "'cause it's a great tale'. Here's touch down at kandavu and that's where adventure starts!









I couldn't help but comment on the original post and the trip to Ono because I visited the resort in its early days and even helped set some things up at the resort (see the shelves behind the bar).







Apparently I also have the honour of being the first person to go trolling from a kayak there. I'm sure the authors of this trip saw Piero's (the owner) old kayak, this whole story revolves around that yak! It is a small Hobie Mirage. I've never seen one since, it's a small job with a hole between your legs where two 'fins" should sit and you can paddle with your legs. Anyway, they were busted off long ago leaving a hole in the centre of the yak. I had to resort to an old paddle to get me moving, you should also know that there are no rod holders on this thing and the internal hatches were missing, the rear hatch was there but didn't seal. The yak leaked and was at risk of sinking each time I took it out. Let me tell you my sad story of that trip! Here's a photo of me setting out that day.







Although the photo is taken in calm water, you can see out over the reef, it was blowing 25 knots and the waves were about 1 to 2 meters, and it was raining, I thought I might put a life vest on just in case&#8230; just as well, I'll get to that. Anyway, I needed to get out fishing and I couldn't resist anymore!

I trolled the reef in front of the resort, it would take about 30 min to get out 1 km and less than a minute to be blown back onto the shore. On this particular run I had decided to move out up wind of the reef which was now being exposed by low tide.. a sad mistake indeed. I turned the yak for my down wind run and I thought I had the bottom (again&#8230; shallow reefs and boomies are abound out there), but then the line whizzed past my head and I realised that pieces of coral rarely move that fast. I grabbed my rod from behind and I knew I was on and was now I moving very slowly against the wind out to sea. The fish tired reasonably quickly and a few minutes later I had my first glimpse at a GT with my lure in its mouth and all its buddies wondering if there was more of that feisty bait to be had. This particular GT was obviously having fun, but seeing the yak it had decided the joke was over and took off again. A few minutes later I had it next to the yak but it wasn't quite finished yet, just a large wave came it took off to sea, in that moment so much happened. I got pulled out of the yak Eastwards by the GT, the paddle, which was not attached to the yak or me went Westward as did the yak and my hat. Fortunately the yak didn't go too far as it hit a bommie. With rod in hand and rapidly spooling, I grabbed my paddle and put it under my chin, hat in my mouth and reached for the yak. That's when I learned why the yak hadn't moved too far, even in a 25 knot wind&#8230;. I too hit the boomie. Now you're probably thinking that I mentioned the life vest earlier because I was going to be out at sea and the vest would save me and keep me afloat for rescue. Partially correct, it undoubtedly did save me, but in this case in a more unexpected way, the vest saved my ribs as a big waved dumped me onto the reef, I had a bruise on my chest for several days afterwards but I'm sure the vest saved me from a broken rib. Having broken a rib on a previous fishing trip I really appreciate the salvation the vest offered me on this one. Now you might be thinking I'm fairly stupid to get myself into this situation but I have one more incredibly stupid act to tell you about. Let's set the scene for my next foray into the depths of stupidity. I'm chest deep in shark infested water, I have yak in left hand, paddle under chin, hat in mouth and oh yes a rod in the other hand (unfortunately now with a very slack line), its raining and blowing a gail. All this for nothing, but no &#8230; wait, there it is! An exhausted GT right next to my left hand, with lure in mouth, what an opportunity&#8230; yes this is the moment for me to prove to you all that my intellect has no limits, I let go of the yak and made a grab for my GT. I missed! At that moment a few "inspirational questions" come to mind like, 'where is all that blood coming from in the water, lets do a quick check list, Yes, I'm bleeding quite significantly from my unprotected legs which have just been racked over the coral bommie, check, The GT is still next to me bleeding from the mouth and gills, check, oh yes and I'm bleeding heavily from a hole in my finger from which is protruding my lure, yes, you guessed it, strategically I missed grabbing the GT and managed to get the lure instead, an easy mistake to make in the middle of a turbulent sea. Fortunately the hole in my finger was temporary, once again the GT decided to make a last ditched effort to escape and it successfully managed to tear the lure out of my finger. Looking from an optimistic stand point at least the hook, which was previously restricting blood flow, was now removed and I was free to bleed unabated into the water. My thoughts did, at that moment, turn to the local wildlife, no reef is free of sharks, all be it small ones. Quick as a flash I finally do the first sensible thing for this trip, I put my foot on boomie, and leap back into my now upturned but half water logged yak, and I have recovered my paddle (and hat, I do have a quick mind under duress). Now I appreciate how smart a move that was as I see that now not only is my finger bleeding freely, so are my legs (it would be another 5 weeks before the infections cleared up). Time to take account of the situation and make a line to the resort and the med kit and count my losses (several lures unfortunately went overboard) but just then "whizzz" off goes my rod again, that GT was still there. I reeled him in, not too much effort now, brought him onboard, splash, straight through the hole in the hull where those "fins" should be (I did quietly curse the makers of that Hobie at that moment). 5 more minutes to bring the GT in through the hull, a very tricky manoeuvre whilst trying to turn the GT so it could fit back through the slot where the fins should be. A quick paddle back to shore, to deliver the fish to the cook, Clara, who turned it into a great fish curry and the story ends, well almost. Some of the local Fijian men working at the resort had a look at my bleeding appendages and made some comment about Australians being a little more "die hard" than previously anticipated, but the fish also fed them so they didn't make anymore comments. They last unfortunate bit of the story was that I didn't sleep for 5 days afterwards, it winds out that the boomie was covered in fire coral and I explored the joys of that for the next few nights, learning that you can't touch anything after and intimate moment with fire coral without being punished, even light cotton sheets inflict pain.

The next day, the wind died down and we went fishing from a boat and I got a very nice blue trevally.







The following day I risked the yak again only to catch a few coral trout on a lure.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWZL3ubUAABHfgAAQYAEACARAEKA/79+wIABkNVPxGSj0R4oep6aaNIUwk9RoyZDQ0GBoY3QpSGqlilH1g1seasjwTQzISUjD4cArbRnmANDbCnW2Yxnz4HwOPesenWS470HSz7E7i+q35Vh+PISQirZmD+HgZoBkNxdyRThQkJL3ubU=


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Well Decay - you live and you learn - sounds like you had a painfull time in the process though. One of my first stoopid trips had me off shore and almost lost my paddle and then had difficulties getting back in through the heads of a big water system - man in boat rescued me. Glad to see that you came out with only a few cuts and you were brave enough to get back on your horse again !!!

PS Nice shelves bro 8)


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

hey Decay,
he has a few more kayaks there now but the hobie is still there waiting for you  
i'm amazed you didn't get busted off by the GT, he must have been in and out of the coral and it's a miracle the line wasn't cut.


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Bula Decay.
What a great read.. Awesome that you were there in the early days. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us, it sounds like Kerry and I got off lightly!
The fish curries, oh how good are they!

Definitely planning a return trip, maybe you can join us and be the official kayak guide ;-) :twisted:

Cheers Dave


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## Decay (Feb 25, 2008)

Ha, never thought about the fact I was never busted off, I was only using 15 lb monofilament. Its hard to imagine at the time that somebody was "looking after me", the bruises, scratches and fire coral didn't exactly inspire me to think about how lucky I was, quite the contrary, I guess that just goes to show I'm just selfish, only thinking about licking my wounds. My thoughts must have been clouded by my happiness, partially because of the fish and partly because Piero was grumbling for 4 days that it was too windy to go fishing and we were running out of food, can't belive a paltry 25 knot wind held him back! It wasn't a massive GT but Clara made it go around and fed 7 of us.

Did Piero tell anybody about the local legend regarding sharks! This will explain why, with all the blood in the water, I was left unscathed. Apparently the Shark God and the Octopus God had a disagreement about something, sorry can't remember what it was about, I don't think it was a woman this time, something about eating all the local worshipers. Anyway, they faught. Legend has it that the Octopus God won and told the Shark God not to eat anymore people. Legend has it that there have been no fatal shark attacks around Kandavu since. I like the Legend and I have been trying to contact the Octopus God about gracing us with the same protection, especially around my own paddling grounds (Gold Coast to Sunshine Coast). I'm not sure the Octopus God is keen to discuss this with me because my wife has a keen fetish for his minions, especially lightly crumbed.


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## Decay (Feb 25, 2008)

Hi Dave,

I can't wait to get back, I've already asked Piero if he needs more shelves made. I wish I could say "YES you *need* a guide". Trouble is you would pick me as a phony as soon as you realised you can catch a fish anywhere off the front of Onata resort. Because of the winds I only got out to the next reef once. There were large shadows under the yak but I never got a take there. Like Piero, I think they were put off by the winds.

Cheers,
Derek


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