| Robin and I recently had the opportunity to travel on the
trip of a life time. The destination would be Yasawa Island, Fiji. We planned
the trip in accordance with the prime time for the big fish opportunities.
We were expecting to be fishing from a 30' Blackwatch during the trip. 2
days before we leave we learn that the boat is being over hauled and the
resort will be unable to accommodate our needs for offshore fishing. We were
crushed. Robin wanted to reschedule the trip for another resort or another
time so we could go fishing, I quickly sent off and email to the resort
management. A short time later I got word that the owner of the resort would
offer us his private boat along with the captain. The owner assured us we
would not be disappointed…he was right!
After a 10+ hour flight from LA we landed in Nandi Fiji. After a 7 hour layover
we were back at the airport for the trip to Yasawa Island. A 6 person plane
that took 35 minutes landed us on a grass runway on this 10 mile by ½
mile wide tropical paradise.
 Landing on Yasawa Island, we were in
the back row! The chef for the island resort is on the right in the picture!
Yasawa Island from the plane
Notice the grass landing strip!
Once at the resort we were escorted to our Bure for the week.
All I can say is incredible! Truly paradise and only steps from the ocean.
We were informed that Magumi would be arriving on Tuesday evening for our
trips on Wednesday and Thursday. We passed the time by snorkeling, diving,
relaxing in the spa and eating great sea food and deserts until the fishing
day.
Tuesday afternoon Magumi arrives and I greet the captain as
he comes ashore to have diner with the guests. I quickly realize the caliber
of this captain his resume includes Cairns Australia and Madeira
Portugal……along with more than 30 grander marlin to the boat! We
talk fishing for the remainder of the evening and the excitement builds.
Captain Greg "Muddy" making his way in from Magumi.
The next morning we leave at 8:30 with Greg and his mate
Simeli(Smelly as the captain called him) on board as the crew. 15 minutes
later the rods are in the water trolling the reef where it drops off into
the blue abyss. 150' to 3000' in less than 3 miles.
After only 10 minutes of trolling the center rod takes off and Robin hops
in the chair.
Robin battles the fish for 10 minutes before bringing a 45lb
dog tooth tuna to the boat. This was our first encounter with this variety
of tuna. The captain informed us that they are residents to the reefs in
the South pacific but are very rare outside of the Southern hemisphere. This
fish was a very nice sized dog tooth!
Don't lip these Tuna!
Rods back in the water and we pull in several rainbow runners
on the feathers down the middle. After we get away from the runners we stumble
onto 2 square miles of small yellow fin tuna. After trolling through them
for a few minutes we wind up catching 3.5 10 lb yellow fins. I was battling
the 4th tuna when the fish started a strong constant pull of line off the
TLD 25. The captain instantly noticed this event and called it a "shark ride."
Sure enough I finally reeled in the remaining 2 lbs of a 10 lb yellow fin.
We continue to troll and the bird gets slammed again. I grab
the rod get in the chair and watch a 250-300lb blue dance across the water.
After 30 seconds the fish freed itself. We are all pumped and the expectation
was high. All this action and we were only 2.5 hours into our fishing day.
The bite slowed somewhat and our hopes lay on the turning tide at 2:30. During
the day we continued to catch rainbow runners and a pair of 20 lb mahi. Around
2:30 the fish and birds started to boil the water and our hopes once again
were high of getting the blue.
3:05pm The starboard Tiagra 130 gets slammed!!!! I grab the
rod and strap into the chair. The fish stays shallow and gives us 4 jumps
to our port side. It is the beast we had been waiting for. I settle down
and the captain does an incredible job of working this blue marlin to the
boat. I never broke a sweat and the fish was tagged and released in less
than 20 minutes. I had joked with the captain that if we got a large fish
on he would do 80% of the work, after the fight it was very clear that he
did 95% of the work.
The fish was never more than 5 degrees from perpendicular with
the back of the boat and my job was clearly just to keep pressure on her
and make sure I put the line on the reel properly! Here are several pictures
of the fish.
The captain estimated the fish at about 500lbs. I will forever
have the depth and thickness of this fish etched in my mind. It was incredible.
Here is a picture of the lure that did the damage...
We settled down after this fish and resumed the slaughter on
the troll. Robin broke off on another dog tooth before landing a twin to
the first one from earlier in the day.
Robin with a 45lb dog tooth tuna!
The bite is hot and we continue to catch fish. Somewhere in
there we caught a large oceanic bonita and some mackerel that I forgot the
name of. Late in the day the bird is getting whacked at by something and
soon the fish drops back to devour the bait. Robin takes the rod and soon
after puts the final fish for the day in the boat. The largest wahoo we have
ever seen at 71lbs.
The trip was incredible. We had around 30 bites on the troll
and were back at the resort by 5pm. Captain Greg was a true pleasure to fish
with. He even took the time to show me how he rigs his Dacron line before
we left the resort. The wind blew the rest of the trip and although we ventured
out 2 days later we were turned back by the 6' - 9' seas with very short
periods. The only reason we even attempted to go was Robin's desire to catch
a larger marlin than me! We have already been talking about the next trip
and where she is going to get her monster fish. Fiji is an incredible country
and we were truly lucky to get to experience some of its finer points!
- Trevor
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