# Ono Fiji, Kayak fishing wonderland



## Decay (Feb 25, 2008)

_Ono Resort_

Ono Island is situated about 90 km South of Suva, Fiji. The Island lies in the Kandavu group which is contained within a massive Lagoon structure around 100 km long. The edge of the lagoon has spectacular drop offs that fall from surface level to greater than 200 meters depth in less than 50 meters of distance from the reef flat. The drop offs house a myriad of fish, and yes, you guessed it, large predators patrol those drop offs. This is the famous Astrolab reef, one of the world's finest fishing destinations.


_The main Fiji Island is in the upper center of the picture, the Kandavu group of Islands shown below. Ono Island is marked with "A". (Map image taken from Google maps)._

I first visited Oneta resort, situated on Ono Island, in 2009 and have been making annual pilgrimages ever since (contact details are available at the end of this story). 
On my first visit I was fishing from "Oneta I" an old Hobie "classic" kayak and I was unprepared, surprised and finally humiliated by the ferocity of the resident fish population. To cut a long story short, a GT pulled me off the kayak and over some very sharp coral and after some bloodletting, on my behalf, I started to plot my revenge. Last year I broke even from "Loloa" (the Oneta Game fishing boat) but this year, with help from Tim Clarke and Mark Paton of Okuma and Rapala Australia and some very kind assistance from Mal Gray from Sunstate Hobbie and Piero Piva, the owner of the Oneta Resort, I managed to exact justice on the large predators of the reef.
Let me set the scene with a short video of the outer eastern and western reefs which are located about 4 and 10 kms away from Oneta resort respectively. The Eastern reefs are the Astrolab reef. You should take note of all that sharp coral&#8230;. a fisherman's nightmare!






Now let me set the problem, anybody who has used poppers to catch larger GTs on reef edges will know that one of the big challenges is to keep the fish away from coral and bommies. I've seen 8 meter game boats momentarily stagger off course by the force of GTs that don't even reach 20 kg. In general you use 80 lb braid, 200lb leader, end tackle to match and lock the drag, but this is no guarantee of a successful capture, indeed, it's a recipe for getting dragged overboard  A momentary loss of attention or some slack in your line will be punished and you'll have to replace leaders and lures. Piero once re-counted a story of a guy loosing ~$300 of gear in 5 casts and not a fish to show for it. So how do you catch a big GT from a kayak when you can only apply a paltry 20 lb pressure? When a large Coral Trout can pull you backwards into the reefs, what will the goliaths of the sea do?
On the first day of this year's tour I spend the afternoon setting up _Oneta III_ the new Hobie "Adventure Island" at the resort:


_Here is "Oneta III" armed with 3 rods in its 5 rod holders. It's also carrying a Garmin Echo 100 fish finder a trampoline on the Starboard, a mirage drive and sail. I have a personal GPS on board to track distances and speeds._

If you're interested _Oneta III_ got up to 18 kph with one trolling line out (Rapala X-rap) but it more typically cruises around 9 kph. For the shakedown I sailed about 4 km to the Eastern reefs and that afternoon I was happy to use an Okuma Salina 5000 to spin on the reef plateau. It didn't take me long to remember I wasn't in deep water (only 5 meters at best) and that fish punish you quickly here. My popper hits the water and a green Jobfish cleans it up and cuts me off on coral before I can respond  &#8230; welcome to the Astrolab reef! Damn, tying FG knots in 9 knots of wind in a rocking kayak with wet hands was not the way I wanted to spend what little I had left of the afternoon. New leader, new lure; a nice "shiny little something" that I knew wouldn't last long &#8230;. but long enough to score a little Peacock cod, a green Jobfish, a Red bass and a Coral trout. The next cast got me a hook up with a large Bluefin Trevally and a momentary distraction (kayak heading for a massive "kayak-sinking" coral bommie) and I've lost that "little shiny little something" I had on that leader (which was looking pretty frayed on the previous cast). You have to be prepared to lose a bit of gear on the reef flats, I was happy with the kayak and I had to head back to the resort to give the staff time to prepare the fish for dinner, we had guests at the resort so I had to head back.


_Dinner, from top to bottom, the Salina 5000 claims a Peacock cod, Jobfish, Red bass, Coral Trout._

It was getting late and I had dinner on the tramp, so I set sail to head back, of course the wind died and I had an uneventful 4km peddle back to Oneta.
The next day was my first attempt at a larger GT. I set out to the inner edge of the Astrolab reef, no point taking the kayak over the edge through the 5 meter break and it's a minimum of a 20 km trip in the kayak if I want to get to the nearest reef exit. I'll set my ambush on the inner edge &#8230;.. and I waited &#8230;. Patiently &#8230;&#8230; trolling a Rapala CD26 on an Okuma Salina 16000&#8230;.. nothing &#8230;&#8230;.. becoming less patient &#8230;&#8230;. I decided to throw a popper around and changed out the Rapala magnum for a Williamson Jet popper and quickly extracted my revenge on a decent Jobfish &#8230;. hopefully the one that pinched my popper yesterday! Hmmmm will I get revenge on the Bluefin Trevally that took my shiny lure yesterday?


_A Green JobFish lays victim to the Williamson Jet popper._

I wish I could say this was targeted fishing, but it was luck, in reality, the Williamson Jet popper was in general too large for the inner reef on this particular trip and I can explain why if anybody is interested to understand the politics of the Astrolab reef. We were having more hook ups this trip on smaller lures but I had already learned a few valuable lessons. First, the new Salina reels were doing their job but second and quite by accident I realised that fishing while the wind pushes the kayak off the reef might be the strategy for the bigger fish&#8230;. tomorrow I will put hypothesis into practice, but for now, I had an appointment to keep with Piero, we were to do some fishing from his small center console. The afternoon was spend catching and releasing an obscene number of fish and cherry picking dinner&#8230; or lunch for the next day as the case was. Piero motored over to some turquoise water and said, "Derek, use that popper in the center of that blue water, I want sashimi tomorrow". The result was quick:


_Bluefin Trevally is one of the best fish for Sashimi and it fed us for two days._

Day three and I was starting to wonder if it would happen&#8230; the larger GT from the kayak. I had a plan now. I used a red and white X-rap and the Salina 16000. I would use a "close haul" (heading slightly into the wind) to get me to the reef until I got to 7 meters of water, do a 110 degree turn and use the wind behind me in a "Broad reach" to haul the lure away from the reef edge. My hope was to hook up, momentarily confuse the fish and displace it a few meters away from the reef before it hauled me back to the coral. The idea worked and I hooked several decent Jobfish but the big predator was not to be mine today &#8230; maybe. I was tired and didn't want to be caught out on the reef edge as the afternoon wind died, so I decided to troll the lagoon and headed to Buliya Island about 15 km away in a nice downwind run, very uneventful. I didn't put in at the Buliya village since the locals have an expectation of a gift or money when you visit and I had neither with me. I turned and decided to go to Vurulevu Island, which is uninhabited and famous for its gigantic Manta rays that mate off the north point. Upon arrival I played with 2 Mantas bigger than my kayak for about 10 min, we circled each other, they flapped fin tips on the water, I flapped the fins of my Mirage drive back and I anxiously looked on at the spectacle in awe. Eventually I decided to break off and set sail up past the north point of the Island back to Ono. Suddenly I was caught off guard by a shallow reef, quickly I applied my skills learned earlier today, heading for the shallows and then using the wind to pull me off the reef into deeper water. Then it happened, I had the Salina 16000 in the front rod holder so it was sitting in front of my eyes, I won't do that again as the rod arched around, almost hitting me in the face, and line was being pulled off an agonised reel. With the drag set at about 15-18 kg I was stunned for a moment, my first thought was "Do I have another X-Rap in sardine colours? &#8230; Good bye", the fish was pulling so hard that I couldn't get the rod out of the holder and a quick look at the GPS confirmed the kayak was travelling 6 kph &#8230;. in reverse! No problem, I do this all the time with Tuna in Australia, you peddle a bit, get some traction and turn the kayak until you get the rod out of the holder and start your fight. I start peddling and a quick look at the GPS confirms &#8230; I'm going 6 kph &#8230;. in reverse  Bugger, reverse the rudder and let the fish do the work&#8230;. no good, as the kayak turns so does the fish, but it's tired enough for me to get the rod out of the holder and I'm fighting an unknown monster over my head, my arms are aching, my physiotherapist will abuse me for this silly manoeuvre. Finally after 5 min I get some angle on the fish and I think I may have made some ground but the next 10 min would only prove that we were both on equal footing. I managed slowly to distance myself from the reef juggling between the rod and reel, the rudder and the peddles of the kayak, and VICTORY I've put hypothesis into action, I'm in deeper water and I am now clearly in command, another 5 min and she's aboard. The scales confirm a 16 kg GT:


_A powerful GT that had the kayak racing in reverse_

My preference is to release anything that won't be eaten but the prolonged battle had exhausted the GT and it died on my trampoline as I did surgery to remove the lure. The locals love GT so after a happy snap it was given over to the staff, cleaned and dined upon.
The next day Milo, Piero's 14 year old son, was scratching in the sand looking very bored, so I said I'd teach him to sail _Oneta III_ (incidentally, _Oneat II_ is a 16 ft racing Hobby Cat). I removed all hooks and dangerous objects from _Oneta III_ and suited up Milo with a life vest and made a pre-sail check and at the last moment grabbed the Salina 5000 set up with a Rapala CD 14 magnum (sardine colour). We set off in light winds around 6 knots, absolutely beautiful, we set off for Vurulevu Island, Milo took the captains seat and quickly learned the ropes while I sat on the tramp enjoying the reefs below. We were sailing calmly when a school of tuna burst out of the water not 100 meters from our position. I looked at Milo and with an "aye aye" he turned towards them and I set the Rapala for a troll. We got to within 25 meters and they went under&#8230;. "oh well" that was spectacular and we set course for Vurulevu again when the tuna boiled again, 100 meters to our port, I looked at Milo and said "your call captain". He turned and we had to tac towards them, it took forever but this time they weren't going to be spooked. We were 10 meters from the school and we saw the exposed fins of large black tip sharks cleaning up bait fish shoulder to shoulder with Tuna, then the sharks and tuna were all around the boat and we were speechless, the sharks and tuna didn't give a care about us. As it would be, we had tacked to the reef edge of the smaller Vuru (cupcake Island) and now we were heading with a tail wind through the tuna back off the reef, the same strategy I had applied yesterday for the GT. I'd forgotten about the trolled rod until it started to scream, this wasn't the 16000, this was the Salina 5000 and it was struggling, eventually well furled the sail and started a spectacular run in reverse with Milo commanding the boat with expertise, I took the advantage of having a boat man and gave instructions to reverse us away from the reef and Milo executed the manoeuvre with precision. It's so much easier with somebody steering and peddling the boat. Only a 10 min struggle and another decent GT on board! As I later said to Piero, "GT at Ono are indeed child's play". The fish was a bit bigger than Milo, we unhooked it, had a cuddle and released it safely.


_GTs at Ono are child's play._

That afternoon Piero took us out to the Astolab reef and I finally had a chance to test the big Williamson Jet Poppers. I had specifically asked Tim Clarke at Rapala for a purple one since I knew that colour worked well from my previous trips. With the Salina 16000 spooled with 80 lb braid and a 200 lb mono leader I made my first cast with this set up. The popper flew out 30 meters into the shallows of the Astrolab reef and I had my first chance to see the action of these bigger lures &#8230; VERY NICE. Second cast and I put a bit more into it and got the popper nicely up on the reef flat, pop once, pop twice and Simeli, the boat man, yells "hold on"&#8230; now how does he do that!?, he always sees the fish before us&#8230; this would prove to be a vicious and unwarranted attack on my lure, a bow wave behind the popper and &#8230;. a miss, a small tug on the rod to align the lure and to take up some slack from the first miss, BANG, the lure leaves the water &#8230;. unattached to any fish, Simeli yells "It's still there" and then with a sucking sound "Woof" it swallows the lure &#8230; the whole lure gone! The rod bends, the spool is locked but I still manages to lose some line, Piero is yelling, "fight! don't just stand there like a stunned mullet" &#8230;. Then he realises I was sliding towards the back of the boat. A mammoth battle but the ending is history and we landed the brute, a 20 kg model. Here's Simeli doing surgery to take the lure from it's guts:


_Remarkably Simeli got the lure from the GT's gut, a brilliant piece of surgery. _

My camera fogged over at that stage so we got a quick picture from a phone and released the GT:


_A 20 kg GT model in a black suit_

The attack on the lure was ferocious and it was punctured and leaking water so it was retired and will spend it's days adorning the wall of my workshop. Next to a 100gr knife jig that almost got folded in half by something "rather large" an hour before the GT hit.


_My wounded Williamson Jet Popper with the scares of its one and only battle_

Today I wanted to tour some of the Western side of the Kandavu reef so I sailed North to Vuru (Cupcake Island) and picked up some Sambutu (humpback snapper) and Longnose emperor for dinner on the reef using a small slug &#8230;. which I eventually lost on another Jobfish. I re-rigged the spinning gear and in the process drifted towards Naqara village on Ono Island, I knew the village had set up a marine park in their bay and I wanted to respect that despite the temptation generated because I had caught some nice Shark-tooth mackerel there in previous years. I set the Salina 16000 with a Red and white X-rap and started my troll outside the marine park and headed to the uninhabited Yabu (Bird Island). It didn't take long for me to drowse off into a "Pacific wonderland" thinking to myself that this can't be real, sailing these beautiful Islands and that I was the first person to do so in a kayak. My revelry was terminated abruptly as the reel sang it's sweet song, I had enough time to furl the sail and by now had mastered the new technique of reversing my kayak under speed. Rod in hand it didn't take a rocket scientist to realise I wasn't fighting a GT. A long hard run, more or less keeping it's depth, and I was thinking mackerel! 10 min later I'm rewarded as I see a LOT of silver under the kayak. A new problem though, I knew I might be tackling Mackerel today so I had put about 1.5 meters of 44 lb wire trace on a solid ring, as it would be, I couldn't get the Spaniard next to the kayak because the solid ring had hit my last rod guide and my arms were not long enough to reach the fish. I was struggling with the gaff to reach with the rod in my left hand leaning back as far as I can and reaching with my right hand. The Spaniard was hooked well so I was confident I could take some time, enough so to see the local Boobie and Gannet birds were going crazy above the kayak. I don't think they saw me or the kayak, they saw a Spaniard and whenever Spaniards are close to the surface they are chasing bait fish, the birds were going crazy looking for the bait fish, even after I had it on the trampoline of the kayak. There pursued 5 min of anxiety, I was in a 1 meter chop, the fish was not dead and had a face full of heavy duty hooks, one wild shake and I would be full of heavy duty hooks (I've been there before :? ). With leather gloves on I spent the next 5 min very carefully bagging this prize. All set and I'm on my way again. The Spaniard had almost pulled the twist out of my wire trace attached to the X-rap so I put out the CD26. I sailed to the reefs halfway to the drop off, hauled the lure out of the water and navigated the bommies that reach up from 20 meters to 0.5 meters and continued to the reef edge. That's when I got my second strike and after a frantic moment to get some distance from the reef I was looking at a second Spaniard next the kayak and a whole new problem. This fish was not hooked well, being held by the hook shallowly embedded in its back, I didn't think I could do this and I resigned myself to this loss, I was struggling when I took my first strike with my gaff which just bounced off the fish but didn't dislodge the hook. A quick look at the gaff and I saw I had blunted it on the last fish &#8230; it was also straightened a bit (it really is only a lightweight kayak gaff). Now I was convinced I would have to get the gaff in the gills &#8230; and I did it, up on the tramp and one almighty thrash from the fish and its back in the water, still hooked. A third attempt had on the tramp and the fish was exhausted and I bagged it easily.


_Spanish Fiesta _

When Piero saw these he said "Ahhh, just want Derek always wanted, two sexy twins on his tramp"


_Sexy Twins on my Tramp_

Probably you get the gist of the story now, the big Astrolab fish can be tamed from the kayak but just in case I need to reinforce any misconceptions:


_I use these GT counterweights on the Starboard Trampoline to balance the kayak  _

And some from the boat:


_Piero and Milo do battle._

Hmmm OK, maybe GT are not child's play.

Another trinket for me 


_GT paradise_

Here's Piero's catch of the day (I couldn't resist holding it up):


_Wahoo to be served in a coconut and ginger sauce, Yahoo_

I won't bore you any further with Fish Porn so I will leave you with some images of the area so that you know that fishing and sightseeing can be combined easily at Oneta resort and all in kayak range.


_Small rock outcrop off Vurulevi_


_One of the sandy bays on Vurulevu_


_Yanuyanu-I-Loma with Yaukuvelevu Island in the background_


_Nggasimbale Island_

To my knowledge and those of the locals, I'm the only person to ever have done this, is it something you can do? Maybe you'll be surprised. A round trip to Nadi from Brisbane with Air Pacific cost less than Au$700. Nadi to Kandavu return is about Au$150.00. Piero is happy to organise transfers from Kandavu (about a 2 hour boat trip through fish infested coral bommies and reefs) and he's got deals that can be organised for boat and kayak fishermen alike. 
If you're interested in using the Hobie Adventure Island, _Oneta III_, let me know, its available for rent and I can talk to you about it.

Contact details for Oneta are:
Web: 
http://onetaresort.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oneta-Re ... 4987545708

If you're interested in reading up on my previous trips to Ono you can check them out at:

"Ono, paradise with a GT wonderland (Fiji June 2012)":
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=55557
"Ono Island Part 2"
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=35105

A departing gesture, I couldn't resist:


_A giant of the see tamed from the kayak_

Piero gave me these prices for Oneta resort. If you are interested, they are a guide and seasonal as you would expect from a resort:
Dorm, min 3pax, AU$150.00 per person per night
Smaller Bures, AU$185.00
Bigger Bure aud 200.00
Prices includes all meals, and kayaks, snorkelling gear, wifi, taxes.
The exception would be the AI which would be rented out.


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## billpatt (Apr 12, 2010)

I now have to replace my keyboard after it short circuited from my drool.

Ver, very jealous.


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## Guest (Mar 21, 2013)

Very nice. Bastard.


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

I'm crying


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## RekFix (Dec 30, 2011)

Well....that's a trip report!

Awesome.


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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.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWRR1u40AADtfgAAQQOUACCQhEAA//9/wMAFGowNU8mSZpNNTTTCHqaGmQaqfmiDU0m1DQAAaDTRBDR6p6mjaQAGh4IdfGMWxdtkvHz1G2u17AHPUGpmgSEEjZcyW8VoS2XlN8KFdrNYHOIZ30Jg0JoHEIG+jrCNpBL+ywTSW2SYcX+U1PQibKmXg+bVJqpaTFcHskIXKwvVEF3pqJoS10NwUg/PIpdC5IR5QnPoMz3wRZE/jGK1lvGmlLQnethwTNEitwJzcM4IJIOiijAKpnjXP1jASfFancKGMk4Xs1L7Tq1YAViqLIb9SwwMhJZgqxOUGaSI0SFRg4ApEZ8hHZxOQmHq2uxVNOLsjXxFwFu4Ojvxyk2+coKSaxXgiwiVVCX21BE1XN5hhUkAYEwwAhKTNHnIa8YEVCqmXjSga2eEQbfxdyRThQkBR1u40


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## carnster (May 27, 2008)

WOW........


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## Bigdyl (Feb 13, 2012)

All time!


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## Jeffen (Jan 18, 2011)

Sensational!

That Bluefin Trevally is world class - they don't get much bigger than that.

I tagged my first Marlin about a kilometer off Kadavu Island, and later spent a great day throwing poppers and plastics in one of the lagoons,
I was using a 5 piece travel rod, and 20 lb braid - lost a bit of gear that day  
Ended up with a small Bluefin (my first), barracuda, cod, a grinner, trout and a few unknowns.

It is just a stunning part of the world.

Out of interest - what does the resort cost per night? I couldn't see any prices on their website.

Here's my favourite memory of the place - from Kadavu looking across to Ono island


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## killer (Dec 22, 2010)

Please Sir, can I have some MORE! 
Well done, what a place.

Cheers 
Killer.


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## Ubolt (Dec 8, 2009)

Yep absolutely amazing thanks for the read


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Wow... just Wow!!


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

Jeffen said:


> Here's my favourite memory of the place - from Kadavu looking across to Ono island


Is that at Tilivia?


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## Jeffen (Jan 18, 2011)

Bertros said:


> Jeffen - is that from the beach from the Tiliva resort? Brings back some fond memories.


Sure is. Circa August 2005. I hear the resort is up for sale for about $750k is anyone wants to buy their piece of paradise


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## Jeffen (Jan 18, 2011)

Bertros said:


> koich said:
> 
> 
> > Jeffen said:
> ...


Yeah, Fijian ex- navy guy and Irish wife - nice couple.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

It's all been said before, and I'll say it again. Wow. Bastard


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## Decay (Feb 25, 2008)

Jeffen said:


> Sensational!
> 
> That Bluefin Trevally is world class - they don't get much bigger than that.
> 
> ...


Hi Jeffen,

I sailed around to the reef exit point almost opposite Tilivia resort and have some pictures from the AI that I didn't post, in light conditions it about a 1 1/2 hour sail to the southern point of Ono before you cross to kandavu. If you remember the area, a bit North-East of Tilivia there is a place where boats can exit the lagoon, I trolled up and down there on the reef edge and hooked my biggest GT, somewhere around 30kg, it was an unfair fight and eventually it took my sardine X-Rap to the depths, goodbye.

I'll see if I can get some ball park prices from Piero at Oneta to get the ball rolling.
He just sent me this:

Prices for Oneta resort. If you are interested, they are a guide and seasonal as you would expect from a resort:

Dorm, min 3pax, AU$150.00 per person per night
Smaller Bures, AU$185.00
Bigger Bure aud 200.00
Prices includes all meals, and kayaks, snorkelling gear, wifi, taxes.
The exception would be the AI which would be rented out.

Anybody reading the story and interested in the AI should PM me.


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

Bertros said:


> koich said:
> 
> 
> > Jeffen said:
> ...


Yeah we stayed there in 2011. We were the only guests there and I just got Johnny the boat driver to drive me around the reefs fishing for like $50 a day and as many fish as he could take back to the village. He caught a 1.2m mack trolling with a handline. It almost pulled him out of the boat.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2013)

Could be grey mackerall


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## koich (Jul 25, 2007)

Bertros said:


> Almost identical to my memories of the place, and Johnny was a cool dude. Not wanting to thread-jack, but any idea what the longish silvery fish are? We were told they were a type of mack, but not like any i've seen before. These are from a day out on the runabout in and around the channel you mention Derek. Already planning a trip back in my head.....


We were getting them too, always getting them in pairs. If one rod went off on the troll you'd wait 10 seconds and if the second one went off you'd know what sort of fish you had on.

Most the time when I asked old mate what sort of fish it was he laughed and said "dinner". He was telling me how much he wanted to catch a tuna because he see's them jumping all the time. So I left him a bunch of Tuna skirts and heap of heavy leaders and line. If someone could confirm he hasn't been dragged to his death I'd be pretty relieved. :lol:


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## blueyak (Jan 20, 2009)

EPIC


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## feelfree09 (May 5, 2009)

Sounds like Fiji is the smarter, cheaper choice compared to another trip I was hoping to do. Food for thought.

Epic trip too


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2013)

Fantastic, very impressive


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Great trip, and thanks for reporting.
Bilbo should have gone.


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## keza (Mar 6, 2007)

Great report Derek, I avoided reading it because i new it would make me want to go back.
I just need to sort out enough activities for the family, maybe they could help Piero build a new bure or something 
If anyone is interested in going, my report on Ono is in the archives somewhere.

Congrats on the GT's from the yak, huge achievement.


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## Decay (Feb 25, 2008)

Thanks everybody, it was a great trip. Somebody asked me if the photos made the fish look larger than they were. On this trip I had big troubles with my camera fogging over and I didn't get any of those "classic" shots, indeed the fish look a smaller than in reality. This photo does help give a bit of perspective:


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## WhipperSnapper (Jun 2, 2012)

Decay said:


> Thanks everybody, it was a great trip. Somebody asked me if the photos made the fish look larger than they were. On this trip I had big troubles with my camera fogging over and I didn't get any of those "classic" shots, indeed the fish look a smaller than in reality. This photo does help give a bit of perspective:


I don't care what the camera says thats a big fish !


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## joey (Jul 5, 2008)

What an adventure!


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Great stuff Derek, I don't think the camera was lying in that last shot. I have just bought an AI over here and am looking forward to getting amongst it. Not sure I feel like tackling GTs though, my budget and back may protest. Might stick to smaller species of Trevally, if possible, and the open water pelagics!
Cheers, Dave.


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