GT Popping

GT Popping & Jigging -January 2012 Fishing Report

2012-01-26T17:58:00.000-08:00

The 2012 Summer season of GT Popping started with a bit of a damp fizzle. Whether it was the excssive rainfall and freshwater run-off from the island or the often sizable swells and breezy days, the GTs were not especially helpful. Some days we would get a few, some days they would follow lures but not bite, some days they were just invisible. In 8 days of popping and jigging we managed to scrape together about 35 GTs of various sizes, the biggest of which was around 30kg (sorry, didn't get a pic of that one)

Angler Grant from South Africa with an unusual Black coloured GT

Sebile Stickshad in blue chrome

One thing was very clear though, right now the GTs are definitely much more interested in stickbaits than poppers. We did get some action on the Buffalo poppers but the stickbaits were outfishing all the poppers 5 to 1.
Top of the stickbait list - The Sebile stickshad. These lures in various sizes were just dynamite. Also worth a mention were the ASWB Reefs Edge floating Mamool stickbaits, Adhek Goby and Penipen (from Bali), the Bobara and dogtooth (Nomad or Heru) and working wery well, the Jai which our recent anglers sourced fom Elite Tackle. (I only mention that as I have heard nothing but good things about this store.)

Steve from Australia releases another nice GT

Brett from South Africa with a popper caught Mackerel

We caught a number of big Longnose Emperors

The ever present Red Bass

Conditions were often a bit um..challenging....
Our new guide Alex doing a great job...

The Yellowfin are here !!! (and a lot of fun on stickbaits !)

On the jigs we have been catching a nice range of species. No monsters yet but good variety.

Rosy Jobfish

Dogtooth Tuna

Almaco Jacks

Um.....Dunno....Snapper family ? Help me out here.....

BlueWater Magazine on Sale Today, 6th Jan 2012

2012-01-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

A BlueWater world scoop!

This issue is a dedicated GIANT BLUEFIN TUNA Special. See mind-blowing action with tuna to way over 1000-pounds. They are more than 10 feet long! It’s the hottest gamefishing news on the planet – and this issue has it all. Discover the history, join the new action, and learn from the scientists.

Do not miss this one!

Content included in issue 89 of BlueWater magazine

FISHING FEATURES

Techniques for multiple marlin
Why hook just one marlin when you could hook several at the same time? Once you’ve located the bait school there’s a good chance that there will be more than one marlin stalking them. With a little planning and the right strategy, you can capitalise on being in the right spot before they disappear.

what you need to know about polarised eyewear
Investment advice for that most essential of gamefishing equipment – your eyes.

Understanding south pacific cyclones

Knowing how cyclones form, and how they track across the ocean will help you to stay out of danger.

big fish –small boats
Sounders and sounder set-up
This guide will help you set up your sounder and transducer to see better images on screen.

make your own wind-on leaders
They are a fundamental piece of tackle and with this step-by-step guide you can be skilled at making your own reliable wind-on leaders.

creatures of the deep
Ray’s Bream
They are plentiful, they’re great to eat, and they are out there!
Dr Julian Pepperell explains all.

prey species – squid story
What has three hearts and blueish blood? Dr Pepperell reveals the alien-like biology and fascinating life story of these vital prey species.

small boat crew tactics
Your chances for success are greatly magnified when the team works together as a coordinated unit. Here’s how to make it happen.

lure lore – part 7
The 10 best lures for big blue marlin
Who better to judge the 10 best lures than a panel of 900lb-plus blue marlin off Kona, Hawaii?

smoke and mirrors
JB Lures ‘Chook’
Something specifically crafted to be snapped up by big marlin could hardly be called ‘chicken’.

BOAT FEATURES

PEDIGREE CAT
Noosa Cat 3000 Sportsman
Built on a proud history of quality offshore cats designed to break through treacherous river bars, Noosa Cat’s latest offering delivers refined design that will surprise with its rough-riding abilities, economy, and comforts.

TOP SHELF
Sailfish Shelf Runner
With expertise in tough, marine rescue cats, Sailfish have now refocused for the offshore angler.

AUSSIE MADE TO RIVAL THE WORLD
Cruise Craft Outsider 595
Patriotic Aussies will be more than proud after reading Warren Steptoe’s glowing review of this local hero.

BlueWater Magazine

BlueWater Magazine on Sale Today, 6th Jan 2012

Fame Anybody ?

2011-12-04T18:38:00.000-08:00

We are arranging an opportunity for World renown photographer Jon Schwartz to visit us and photograph GT Popping aboard Tease Me this summer. We need a couple of GT anglers willing to model !
You have probably seen many of Jon's photos gracing the covers of publications such as Marlin Magazine and BlueWater Magazine. You can see some of his work here www.bluewaterjon.com
Jon will be taking action stills of anglers fighting GTs, posing with their catch and releasing, some of which will be filmed from underwater......

We need to fit this in between the 18th and 25th February.

Matava Eco-Adventure Resort currently has a 'Special' on for February but it does not include Fishing Packages.
As this would not be a 'normal' fishing trip so we are offering to extend this Special Second Person Half Price deal for anbody who wants to GT Pop on Tease Me and be photographed all day long !
Our primary target will be GTs, the bigger the better but if we see an opportunity to pop for yellowfin, wahoo or jig for dogtooth tuna and film that as well, excllent !

This is a great opportunity to get a ridiculously cheap GT Popping trip for two on the Great Astroabe Barrier Reef, Kadavu and be presented with your own professional photos of the trip. Oh, and you might get famous as well.
Drop us an email if you are interested.....

Take a Friend to Fiji for 50% off Matava package: 2nd Person Half Price on Land and Air! | Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

2011-11-30T12:28:00.001-08:00

Matava Summer Special

2nd Person 50% off

Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the ***Second Person* stays *Half Price*** !

Valid for travel between 1st December 2011 – 29th February 2012

Details:

valid for double / twin share
ANY Matava Dive, Romance or Adventure Package
5 nights stay or longer
All meals and airport transfers included
Complimentary Snorkelling on Critter Junction
Waterfall hike and village afternoon
Lovo feast and kava ceremony

Additions:

Extra night – 2nd person half price (based on double occupancy)
Extra days diving – 2nd person half price
Single Supplement – Waived
Based on published package and add on rates
Excludes gamefishing and kayaking packages
Travel through 29th February 2011 subject to availability
Blackout period: travel Between 23rd December 2011 and 29th December 2011 excluded

Air Pacific Special

Take a Friend to Fiji for Half Price Air special.

Discover the wonders of Matava in Fiji and save money on the second person.

For a limited time, 2nd passenger gets 50 % off airfare from Los Angeles on Air Pacific.

From now until March 31, 2012 travel to fabulous Fiji and the second passenger travels for 50% off airfare!

TRAVEL DATES: valid 1 Oct 2011 through 31 March 2012
Sale ends Dec. 31

(No travel on the special airfare permitted during the blackout of 15-Dec-11 to 15-Jan-12)

—

Book your Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the Second Person stays Half Price !

Click here to book your private haven in a Honeymoon Bure today and see the panoramas and vista for yourself from your own private deck in Kadavu, Fiji!!

Book Now by Contacting Us!

Take a Friend to Fiji for 50% off Matava package: 2nd Person Half Price on Land and Air!

Take a Friend to Fiji for 50% off Matava package: 2nd Person Half Price on Land and Air! | Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

2011-11-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Matava Summer Special

2nd Person 50% off

Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the ***Second Person* stays *Half Price*** !

Valid for travel between 1st December 2011 – 29th February 2012

Details:

valid for double / twin share
ANY Matava Dive, Romance or Adventure Package
5 nights stay or longer
All meals and airport transfers included
Complimentary Snorkelling on Critter Junction
Waterfall hike and village afternoon
Lovo feast and kava ceremony

Additions:

Extra night – 2nd person half price (based on double occupancy)
Extra days diving – 2nd person half price
Single Supplement – Waived
Based on published package and add on rates
Excludes gamefishing and kayaking packages
Travel through 29th February 2011 subject to availability
Blackout period: travel Between 23rd December 2011 and 29th December 2011 excluded

Air Pacific Special

Take a Friend to Fiji for Half Price Air special.

Discover the wonders of Matava in Fiji and save money on the second person.

For a limited time, 2nd passenger gets 50 % off airfare from Los Angeles on Air Pacific.

From now until March 31, 2012 travel to fabulous Fiji and the second passenger travels for 50% off airfare!

TRAVEL DATES: valid 1 Oct 2011 through 31 March 2012
Sale ends Dec. 31

(No travel on the special airfare permitted during the blackout of 15-Dec-11 to 15-Jan-12)

—

Book your Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the Second Person stays Half Price !

Click here to book your private haven in a Honeymoon Bure today and see the panoramas and vista for yourself from your own private deck in Kadavu, Fiji!!

Book Now by Contacting Us!

Take a Friend to Fiji for 50% off Matava package: 2nd Person Half Price on Land and Air!

Sea Save Foundation - Auction Home Page - BiddingForGood Fundraising Auction

2011-11-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

The Sea Save Foundation Holiday Auction is now open!

The proceeds will go to Sea Save Foundation in order to support ocean conservation.

Auction items range from exotic diving vacation getaways, diving equipment and gear, underwater photography courses by noted oceanographers, and incredible hand crafted works of art guaranteed to delight and surprise.

So, tell your friends, family, and community. Let the bidding begin!

Sea Save Foundation - Auction Home Page - BiddingForGood Fundraising Auction

Prime Slot opens up for Anglers

2011-11-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

Matava Eco-Adventure Resort was totally fully booked with divers for early January however it has just had a cancellation from the 1st to the 10th January 2012 opening up some accommodation space.
This means that Bite Me Gamefishing Charters now has a slot available for any anglers who might wish to charter Bite Me or Tease Me between the 1-10th January 2012

During our summer season we so some offshore heavy tackle gamefishing but mainly we focus on heavy tackle popping for GTs and deepwater jigging for Dogtooth Tuna.

You might want to hit the Gym before you come...

Joe likes to work out using Doggies....

We get a summer run of yellowfin tuna and the conditions are often ideal to pop for yellowfin

Yellowfin boiling on glassy seas....a typical summer sight

Weather conditions are usually hot, humid and calm, ideal for working outer barrier reef slopes with poppers for huge GTs and deepwater jigging.

If anybody is interested, please drop me a line at adrian@GameFishingFiji.com

Pre-2012 Season GT Popping Report

2011-11-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

Its still early days yet with the summer Popping and Jigging season starting in December but a couple of anglers from Australia caught a break with the Spring weather and got some great GT Popping in.

Justin's pretty pleased with this 45 inch short length GT

Red Bass

Double Hook-upfor Brendan & Justin

Another nice GT pushing 40kg for Justin

Last season the Pacific Ocean experienced a strong La Nina event. This meant that higher than normal sea surface temperatures were experienced in the West Pacific, particularily the Coral Sea. Tropical cyclones derive their energy from the warm oceans so most cyclones developed to the West of Fiji and tracked away from us. For us this meant good weather but frequent large ground swells from the South West as cyclones track south to the West of Fiji. The weather patterns stalled the normal oceanic currents that sweep along the Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef and the water clarity was poor compared to a normal season. We countered this by switching primarily from poppers to stickbaits as the GTs tended to sit out in deeper waters rather than their usual whitewater breakers zone.
The NOAA weather gurus are forecasting another La Nina event this year but it is expected to be much weaker than last year and shorter lived.

The above chart from NOAA shows current sea surface temperature anomolies. You can see the La Nina effects with a big slug of warmer than normal water in the SW Pacific and cooler than normal sea surface temperatures off the Americas.
So, all in all, we are expecting fewer than average cyclones for Fiji this summer and a better GT Popping season than last year.
Not such good news for Queenslanders....Expect above average numbers of cyclones this summer....

Kadavu GT Popping Update

2011-06-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

We had an unusual summer of popper casting for GTs with the La Nina weather paterns making for unfavourable conditions and sometimes a very poor bite by our standards.
On a normal summer season day with a couple of anglers popping we expect around a 10 GT average and 15-20 on a hot bite day. This season we averaged about 5....

One after another, summer tropical depressions came by to the West of the Fiji Islands on their way South. Normally they sink by us to the East. These tropical lows sent some sizable South Westerly swells that churned up the inner lagoon water...which emptied out of the passageways. They also stalled the current that normally sweeps along the outer barrier reef bring clear oceanic waters. So coloured water emptied out of the lagoons...and just stayed there with little or no current to clear it away.
The solution aboard Bite Me - Stickbaits !
In a normal year we generally catch 75% of our GTs on poppers...This year we landed at least half the GTs on stickbaits.

The Nomad Wahho & Dogtooth stickbaits were very effective

Also the Orion Bigfoot in Fusilear colour

The best poppers this season were still the Cuberas, Craftbaits, Buffalo , Orions and of course if you have the cash..FCL and Hammerheads...

Cubera / El Toro still produced

Even so, some late summer season anglers did get some reasonably good GT fishing with most fish averaging 15-20kg and a few bigger ones around the 25-30kg.

Now that's a seriously long pencil for a Bluefin Trevally !

March 2011 GT Popping - More Pics

2011-04-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Some more pictures from Mario, Allan and Marinco's GT Popping trip to Matava Eco-Adventure Resort on Kadavu Island. Fishing aboard Bite Me Gamefishing Charter's inshore popping boat Tease Me. Pics courtesy of Mario. All fish released of course after a quick photo.

Best fish of the trip for Allan

Marinco, Joe and Mario

The weather was sometimes a bit choppy but that didn't bother the boys

The best lures that week seemed to be the black Buffalo D or the Hammerhead in purple / Silver

Late March GT Popping Report

2011-04-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Returning regular popper casting angler Le returns for another crack at the Kadavu GTs. This time with fellow fisho Matt from Australia.

Matt with a nice Kadavu GT

The weather was a bit average, some swell, a day or two of thundery rain showers...

Made an interesting back-drop view from the outer barrier reef slopes

The bite in general was a bit slow on some days with some unusual current directions and coloured water closing down some of our favourite stretches of reef but an improvement in the weather meant access to some rarely fished areas. (Joe's secret spots) At the right tide time the bite was good.

Matt leads in a GT aboard Tease Me

Le with a darker colouration GT

Just some of the boy's weaponry

Best fish of the week was this nice GT over 30kg for Matt

GT Popping madness fishing, Kadavu in Fiji Islands

2011-04-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Fun Day on Bite Me

2011-02-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

Claudia & Ben's first double hook-up

Claudia & Ben and Dang & Mary recently had a fun day of gamefishing aboard Bite Me. We fished the North Astrolabe Barrier Reef with 15kg trolling gear and soon found some nice Yellowfin Tuna.
They were holding deep not feeding on the surface so we couldn't throw poppers at them but the deep diving Halco Laser-Pros proved deadly.

Mary's first Yellowfin

On the way home we stopped off at one of my little GT spots so that Ben & Dang could throw some poppers.....

Ben released this nice GT over 20kg

Dang then landed and released this lovely GT well over 25kg caught on a Buffalo Popper

Everyone caught lots of fish and had a great day out....and to top it off we were all very popular with the other resort guests when we presented fresh yellowfin for dinner that night !

Matava wins Environment/Local Sustainability Award at AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards 2010

2011-02-25T22:40:00.000-08:00

Matava wins AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Award 2010

Matava has been awarded the Environment/Local Sustainability Award at the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards

KADAVU, FIJI ISLANDS – 26th February 2011 – Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco-Adventure Resort is proud to be announced as the winner of the Environment/Local Sustainability Award at the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards 2010 for its policies on environmental sustainability and the environment.

The annual Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards night sponsored by AON was held at the The Warwick Resort and Spa on the Coral Coast on Friday 26th February 2011, and attended by Matava Director, Stuart Gow. Many local tourism operators and business people attended the evening presentations. This year there were over a thousand nominees in the 12 categories. This glamourous event was Red Sea Rig & Cocktail theme, welcoming guests with a 3 course dinner, an awards ceremony & fantastic live entertainment with a turn out of over 400 guests.

The Environment/Local Sustainability Award recognises efforts to preserve the environment & local communities for the benefits of locals & visitors alike in developing & fostering both environmental & national conservation. It also assesses efforts to support cultural initiatives and promote public awareness and education in support of “Fiji Made” products by reducing their carbon footprint.

Matava was proud to be nominated in 3 categories, and was chosen as a finalist in all nominated categories at this year’s AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards. Bite Me Gamefishing Charters and Mad Fish Dive Centre were recognised as finalist in the Fiji Experience Award, and Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort was a finalist in the Quality Accommodation Award as well as winning the Environment/Local Sustainability Award.

“We are extremely proud to win this award. We have been lucky to win overseas and global awards for our environmental policy in the past year, but it is especially gratifying to be recognised at home by our colleagues in Fiji.” said Mr Stuart Gow, one of Matava’s Directors.

Richard Akhtar, Managing Director of Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort said “At Matava, we are of course both happy and proud to receive this prestigious award. We find it even more important that the industry, by rewarding environmental efforts, choose to take a stand for the environment we depend on. We also see it as an important continuing signal to the community which at the same time can serve to inspire the numerous individuals and companies who have been doing so much, and continue to do even more in the field of environmental enlightenment and conservation. This award has highlighted Fiji’s leading role and efforts in this regard especially.”

About Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort:

Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort, is an eco adventure getaway offering you a fun and unique blend of cultural experiences and adventure activities in the environmentally pristine and remote island of Kadavu in the Fiji Islands. Matava – Fiji Premier Eco Adventure Resort is a PADI 5 Star Dive Resort as well as a Project AWARE GoEco Operator. With more than 14 years experience in the Fiji Islands, Matava is recognized as a leading educational dive centre. Matava offers accommodation for up to 22 guests in lush tropical surroundings in traditional thatched Fijian ‘bures’ with hardwood polished floors, louvre windows and private decks offering privacy, comfort and superb ocean views.

About AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards:

The awards which have been in existence for 14 years, honour those who have made a significant input to Fiji’s most important industry. The prestigious awards are given to individuals, groups and companies in a broad range of categories; covering accommodation, restaurant and dining, tours and transportation, environmental and local sustainability. Winners were chosen as part of a nomination process which began late last year and closed in January. Recipients of the various awards have proven dedication, active participation and innovation in their fields of speciality, and have thus merited the esteem of the industry. Over the years, the AON Excellence in Tourism Awards has grown in prestige and now not only bestows recognition but serves as an incentive for individuals and companies to aspire to greatness in the sector.

www.Matava.com

# # #

Matava wins Environment/Local Sustainability Award at AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards 2010

GT Popping on Tease Me

2011-02-25T16:31:00.001-08:00

A few pics taken GT Popping aboard Tease Me sent to my by Jayson. Along for the ride, Steve from Florida.

Jayson's best fish which would have been well over 35kg

Wild Fishing Anglers: Fiji Kadavu

2011-02-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

L'arcipelago delle Fiji nel mezzo dell'oceano pacifico davvero l'altra parte del mondo

Il lungo volo intercontinentale che collega L'Italia alle isole Fiji ci trasporta in una realtà entusiasmante sotto molti aspetti, un oceano pacifico ancora vergine che si infrange sulle enormi barriere coralline delle isole, il colore verde intenso della vegetazione in molti tratti impenetrabile, lagune coralline brulicanti di vita autoctona; non si può fare a meno, a primo sguardo, di notare l'intensità dei colori di una terra così lontana un impatto che difficilmente si dimenticherà.

Il piccolo volo interno che ci proietta in poco più di un'ora di volo nella più meridionale delle isole Fijiane Kadavu

Decidiamo di formare una spedizione di 4 pescatori appassionati di tropico per testare questi mari con le moderne tecniche del vertical jigging, popping tropicale, e spinning blue water, sarà l'isola di Kadavu, la più meridionale dell'arcipelago, a ospitarci per l'intero arco del soggiorno, il nostro punto base il Matava ecoresort, immerso nella fitta vegetazione fijiana che da qualche anno è anche importante charter di riferimento per la pesca tropicale nel Pacifico avendo ottenuto ottimi risultati.

Il nostro Bite me la barca di Adrian che ci accompagnerà per tutto il viaggio

Avendo scelto l'inizio di giugno come periodo di pesca, sapevamo di essere alla fine dell'estate australe e all'inizio della stagione invernale e dei venti che da sudest interessano questa parte di pacifico molto esposta, l'abilità dello skipper ci ha comunque permesso di pescare sempre in grande sicurezza e di provare tutte le tecniche di pesca che ci eravamo prefissati prima di partire.

Andrea Prende una cernia su un fondale di 60 mt vicino al nostro Matava resort

L'immensittà degli spot non ha disatteso le nostre aspettative, forse un po' più di clemenza del tempo ci avrebbe fatto comodo, ma col senno di poi ci ha permesso i vedere l'intera potenzialità del luogo.

Anto fa subito un bel Gt a vertical sull'astroble great reef di Kadavu

Gli spot di pesca:
Il Great Astroble reef, un enorme banco corallino che circonda la metà a sud l'isola di kadavu e di Ono, è dimora dei grandi predatori tropicali come Giant trevally, red snapper, dog tooth tuna, squali di barriera; imponenti sono i suoi drop off che nell'arco di poche decine di metri sprofondano negli abissi del Pacifico, è facile intuire che lungo queste vertiginose cadute si possano trovare pesci di taglia considerevole.

Il big a popper della Vacanza fatto da antonello in alcuni spot del sud.

Caratteristica di questa barriera è il continuo frastuono dell'infrangersi delle lunghe onde oceaniche, anche più di tre metri di altezza, spesso causate dai forti venti che si scatenano nella vicina Nuova Zelanda; proprio in questi frangenti, dove spesso il reef affiora a pelo dell'acqua, sostano i caranx ignobilis per ossigenarsi pronti a tendere agguati ai pesci fucilieri loro preda preferita.

Spesso i predatori diventano prede come questo rusty job fish catturato a Jigging.

Non essendoci fortissime correnti la scelta degli spot di pesca sia per il popping e del jigging, cade molto spesso sulle spalle di reef e sui corner, altrove abbiamo riscontrato attività; molto più importanti invece le fasi di marea specialmente quelle ascendenti che abbiamo quasi sempre dedicato alla pesca in superficie sia con rumorosi boccalarga che con adescanti stick bait che in alcuni casi hanno fatto la differenza, soprattutto in risacca.

Persino i pesci trombetta attaccano i jigs da 200 g

Lo skipper ha, quando si pesca vicino al reef con la tecnica del popping un compito assai difficile, per non finire sulla barriera è costretto a compiere delle serpentine longitudinali sempre scrutando l'orizzonte per la sicurezza, in allerta nella ricerca dell'onda più alta che potrebbe causare il danno, e in caso di avvenuto attacco posizionare l'imbarcazione di poppa al corallo cercando di portare il prima possibile il predatore lontano dalle numerose insidie dell'acqua bassa.
Il pesce verrà salpato quasi sempre in tutta sicurezza in profondità superiori ai 50 mt

Raffaele cattura a jigging la cernia più grande della settimana

Continua.............

Wild Fishing Anglers: Fiji Kadavu

Gamefishing Fiji: Bluewater Magazine Issue 84 On sale 2nd March 2011

2011-02-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

Issue 84
On sale 2nd March 2011

Features:

Capt Marlin Marker’s marlin-fighting techniques - It’s one thing to find and then hook a marlin, but once that’s accomplished, then what? How the battle is conducted – from strategic considerations even before the hook-up, to the positioning of the boat – can have a huge bearing on the outcome. Jon Schwartz quizzes one of the masters of the game for the secrets to his success.

Surface blasting for yellowfin: Yellowfin tuna are exciting on any tackle, but catching them by casting poppers will add a whole new level to the thrill of tackling these powerful speedsters.

They call the shots - Capt Ross Newton - The rich waters of Australia’s northwest have inspired a productive career for this adventurous captain.

Lure lore: Part 2 – Meet your match - When selecting your lure colour, should you try to match the prevalent prey, or pick a colour to stand out among them?

Product review - Van Staal spinning reels - These extraordinary reels were created to perform under conditions that destroy lesser casting and jigging reels.

BOATS

Riviera 51 Enclosed Flybridge Series II
Bar Crusher 670HT
Yellowfin 6700 centre console

Gamefishing Fiji: Bluewater Magazine Issue 84 On sale 2nd March 2011

OTHER FISH, OTHER GAMES : On The Water

2011-02-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

As previously mentioned, yellowfin do frequent these waters year round with the majority of their run appearing in April thru August. The average size yellowfin are the schoolie 15 to 30 lb. class fish, but the resort’s “bragging board” had several recent photos of yellowfin over the “Ben Franklin Line”, 100 pounds plus. Another brute scombrid species found in Fiji are the dog tooth tuna. These are insane fighters, and sport a set of chompers that would make a Doberman pincher proud. They come into Kadavu from June thru October, but we caught none. Adrian simply said, “You’ll just have to come back”. They too can reach the BFL.

Large dolphin are also a year round resident, and can reach 60 + pounds in these waters. A fish that can be a pest almost anywhere in the world it is found, but must be respected, is the great barracuda. No un-suspecting lure in the pattern is ever safe from these devious critters, and our trip was no exception. We caught several that went to 50 lbs.

Another fish with a dental enriched mouth is the barred Spanish mackerel. Not any resemblance of a Spanish mackerel we might find in U.S. waters, these “mackies” look more similar to our kingfish, with their steely blue coloration, but these fish have more pronounced vertical banding prevalent along their sides. They can reach upwards of 50 + pounds and their teeth make a wahoo’s look like flat gums..!!! They are a highly prized food fish and few, if any are ever released.

While these pelagics can keep you busy for an entire vacation. Don’t cut yourself short of the inshore experience of surface plugging for bluefin trevally and giant trevally (GTs). We did this for less than an hour one day, and caught two respectable 30 lb.GTs. We had a 70 lb. GT take the plug and follow it to the exhaust ports on the BITE ME..!! In hind site, I am glad we didn’t hook it as it would have no doubt found the coral below and been stuck with a treble hooked hood ornament on it face for awhile. You could however come prepared with tackle to handle this fishery, and spent countless hours pursuing these reef warriors. Adrian informed us that the Oct. thru March time slot is when the weather calms on the front side of the reef, thus allowing the Bite Me to fish in tighter to the reef patrol zone.

Full article here: On The Water - OTHER FISH, OTHER GAMES

Jan 2011 Popping & Jigging - Latest

2011-02-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Marcio with his first Doggy

Randy Chin from JDM Tackle was here last week with Brazilian angler Marcio and photographer Christian for a bit of GT popping and deepwater jigging.
I tried not to get in the way of all the photography but managed to elbow in a few shots...

Randy quickly knocks off a small one

A morning on the Kadavu Seamount produced a few dogtooth tuna but no monster fish that day.

Marcio poses for the camera...not my camera !

The GT bite was decidedly average, possibly because of a nearby tropical depression (later to become Cat 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi and devestate parts of Queensland).

A nice Grouper for Randy on a Craftbait popper

Marcio's best GT

Grouper on a jig

GT on a Stickbait

Joe drops a jig and gets nailed by this huge Malabar Grouper

As with all Groupers, we do our best to catch & release

Randy with one of those long GTs that confuse weight formulas

If you would like to know more about the new type of stickbait lures used or the new rods tested out this week, drop Randy a line at JDM Tackle

New Buffalo Prototype Stickbait

2011-01-28T20:17:00.002-08:00

Tried out a new prototype stickbait from Buffalo Lures recently. It looked good in the water and as soon as we handed it to angler Brendan, it got smashed on the second cast.
Might get a few more of those....

Popping and Jigging for Yellowfin Tuna

2011-01-27T16:53:00.000-08:00

Acres of boiling tuna all around Bite Me

Scott, Tim and Jim on a trip out to the Kadavu Seamount aboard Bite Me. Clear skies, glassy seas, Yellowfin and skipjack tuna boiling everywhere !
The boys didn't know whether to drop a jig, throw a popper or stickbait or just jump in and grab fish !

Tim gets a stickbait smashed

Fortunately everybody quickly changed their minds about a swim when the first sharks were spotted circling the boat.....

A Whaler shark follows a stickbait right to the transom

This little shark was just waiting to pounce

With small tuna to 10kg boiling all around us Scott made the mistake of dropping a jig on a light tackle outfit.....and promptly nearly got pulled overboard as 300m of braid screamed off his small Stella.

Scott in trouble with a 40kg+ Yellowfin on a light tackle outfit

Tim loaded up on his lighter gear

Landing a 20kg Yellowfin - A lot of fun on light tackle casting gear !

Jim jigs up an Almaco Jack

We release a couple of small dogtooth tuna

Scott fights a 20kg+ Yellowfin hooked on a popper

Scott's Orion Cono Cono popper tempted this nice Yellowfin

GT Popping Season Update

2011-01-26T17:30:00.001-08:00

Bite Me Newbie Jim starts with a nice yellowfin tuna

Scott and Tim stayed here at Matava Eco-Adventure Resort last year and landed some monster dogtooth tuna aboard Bite Me but this time round they brought Jim...who missed the trip last year.
Jim had heard all the stories and was keen to get in on the action this time around..

Jim's first Kadavu GT....Pretty good start !

Red Bass too

Tim warms up

Scott's best GT of the trip

Another GT destined to be released aboard Bite Me

Groupers like this Brown Marbled Grouper love poppers !

Tim retrieves his Craftbait after losing a Barracuda encounter

The weather was a bit 'interesting' for a day or two

Even a funnel cloud to keep us on our toes

Didn't bother the GTs though...

A bit of cleaning up for deckie Joeli

Popper casting at Kadavu Fiji

2011-01-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Pescaria de GT em FIJI

2011-01-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Paradise! -Review of Matava - TripAdvisor

2011-01-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

We researched the Matava resort extensively and communicated with the staff many times before our trip. They were always happy to answer any questions. It made our decision easier to come to Kadavu.

Our Fiji trip felt like a dream. There is so many things to do around the resort. Perfect for a couple to experience in such a beautiful destination. We came to Fiji interested in doing some Fishing, Trekking, and snorkeling during our stay. Every activity was amazing. We stayed in the Honeymoon Bure during our vacation and it was quite comfortable and had the most amazing views. The dining options were steller too. Lots of dishes with different touches of different cultures. I also became fond of the coconut ice cream and fresh Pinapple. The staff was was very welcoming it all started with Maggie. He was very helpful in so many aspects.

When we did our Trek, Sami was our tour guide and he also did a spectacular job. He brought us to a few waterfalls and guided us through a few local villages. All along the way we had incredible views and took a ton of great pictures.

We also did a day on a remote island. Maggie dropped us of on a beautiful remote island after starting a fire for us to cook food on from the resort. We spent the day relaxing, snorkeling, and trekking around the island while taking photos.

We did 4 days fishing and that went great as well. I brought my own Jigging and Popping tackle as this is a hobby of mine. Adrian recommended several Poppers and Stickbaits in which I brought too. We were really impressed with how Adrian and Joe worked together to make sure you have the best experience possible. Fishing with Joe was also a blast. He is absolutely hilarious! These guys really work well together. We ended up catching Giant Trevally up to about 35kg, Dogtooth Tuna, Bluefin Trevally, and Redbass. The conditions weren't perfect weather wise for fishing but we were certainly happy with the action. One day I was able to boat 11 GT's, Bluefin Trevally, and some Redbass. That's certainly not a bad day fishing anywhere! Adrian tells me it can get even better!

I strongly recommend Matava to anyone that wants to experience Fiji away from the bigger cities and see more of the remote beautiful areas that Fiji is known for. We are already thinking of another trip back!

Welcome to Paradise! - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

Kadavu GTs and Doggies Report

2011-01-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

Derek & Danielle spent their NYE vacation with us at Matava Eco-Adventure Resort. Aside from some beach picnics, snorkeling and adventure stuff, Derek wanted to have a go at the legendary GTs and Dogtooth Tuna found here. Two new species for Derek to add to his comprehansive list...

Derek is soon loaded up !

That's a beauty Derek !

With some decent weather Bite Me was able to access some of the best popping and deepwater jigging spots. A big NYE party and Jan 1st lay day just meant a much needed rest before fishing resumed.

We Tagged this fish before release

Danielle gets in on the action

and releases her first GT

Derek's first Doggie

Loading up on Doggie #2

Another nice Doggie.....Hope you guys had fun !

Latest Kadavu Fishing Report

2011-01-01T20:09:00.000-08:00

A tough few days fishing for Grant from Australia. Pretty mediocre weather meant churned up water and a slow GT bite on the poppers. Offshore the blues that were around have moved off, as have the first of the summer run of yellowfin. My friends fishing off Nadi however tell me the summer run of yellowfin and marlin is now well into their area and heading this way so we should see plenty of action soon...

This black Buffalo popper was picking up all bites

Grant's best GT

Recent GT Pics from Tease Me

2010-12-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

Henrik from Germany had a couple of half day popper casting session with Joe aboard Tease Me.

Weather was pretty ordinary but he managed some nice fish on his German made poppers and stickbaits. Made by Thomas Heidhoff and called X-Hoff he had most success with stickbaits in the choppy water.

Henrik's larges fish taken on an XHoff Stickbait

December 2010 GT Popping Fishing Report

2010-12-15T18:01:00.003-08:00

Nick & Craig

Australian anglers Craig & Nick spent their second last day here aboard Bite Me checking out the Ono Drop for yellowfin and popping a few of the patch reefs there. Sadly no yellowfin but a few small GTs on the patch reefs.

The GT Popping & Jigging weaponry

Trolling for yellowfin between popper spots

The weather was 'interesting' to say the least......

Joe takes a dip to warm up !

Their last day however was spent aboard 'Tease Me' to concentrate on the GT Popping. Skippered by Joe, they broke out the heavy tackle and spent the whole day popping the Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef out front of Matava Eco-Adventure Resort.

They had great weather and a hot bite landing 17 GTs. The smallest was around 15kg and the biggest, of which there were several around 40kg.

The hot lure on the day was the Hammerhead I Cup in pink/white or orange/white or purple/silver.

A pretty good day's fishing by any standards...

FREE BURE UPGRADE ON ALL 10 DAY FISHING PACKAGES

2010-12-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

FREE HONEYMOON BURE UPGRADE ON ALL 10 DAY FISHING PACKAGES!

Book any of our packages to go GT Popping with Bite Me gamfishing Charters at Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort during the whole month of January and get upgraded to our exclusive Honeymoon Bure free!

Email us and ask for the
“10 DAY
HONEYMOON UPGRADE!”

Recognition for Matava at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2010 | Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

2010-12-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

MEDIA RELEASE: 29^th November 2010

Recognition for Matava at the
Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2010

Matava has won in the Best in the Marine Environment category at this year’s Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2010 organised by responsibletravel.com.

The Judges said “Matava is a beacon for responsible tourism and an example to other dive sites. They maintain a strong commitment to both the conservation of the marine environment and the development of the local Fijian community. All staff and dive guides are from local villages, they have signed an agreement with local villages designating 3 established marine reserves as 100% no-take zones, across large geographic areas, and even succeeded in assisted in getting marine conservation on to the Fijian National Curriculum.”

At a ceremony hosted at World Travel Market (WTM), Docklands, London, on Wednesday 10^thresponsibletravel.com, organisers and founders of the Awards, and Amanda Wills, managing director of Virgin Holidays, headline sponsor of the Awards.

November, the Awards were handed out by Justin Francis, managing director of

Justin Francis, founder of The Responsible Tourism Awards and managing director, responsibletravel.com, organisers of the Awards said:

“This year I have been heartened by the depth of commitment and connection our winners have shown to the local communities in their destinations. Their successes and pioneering spirits are remarkable and the very real and authentic experiences they have created, set responsible tourism apart. They also remind us that holidays can be both luxurious for visitor and enhancing for local people – helping build schools, water pumps, clinics and conserving cultural and natural heritage.”

Lorna Young accepting Matava’s Award at WTM 2010

Richard Akhtar, Director of Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort said:

“At Matava, we are of course both happy and proud to receive this prestigious global award. We find it even more important that the industry, by rewarding similar efforts, choose to take a stand for the environment we depend on. We also see it as an important continuing signal to the community which at the same time can serve to inspire the numerous individuals and companies who have been doing so much, and continue to do even more in the field of environmental enlightenment and conservation. This award has highlighted Fiji’s leading role and efforts in this regard especially.”

Amanda Wills, managing director, Virgin Holidays, headline sponsor of the Awards said:

“I’m once again humbled by the commitment, drive and ingenuity of today’s winners. They have shown us all what can be achieved by the people and places seeking to benefit from tourism, even when the economic climate continues to challenge us all. Their’s is truly an example for the rest of the industry to follow, and I’m delighted that Virgin Holidays is again able to be a part of this celebration.”

Launched in 2004, the Awards are run in association with partners World Travel Market, Metro Newspaper and Geographical

Over the years the Awards have celebrated the best in responsible tourism, and attracted some of the best celebrity supporters, including Michael Palin and Paul Theroux!

In 2010 Simon Reeve, best-selling author, presenter and broadcaster launched the Awards with an exclusive interview in Metro Newspaper:

“The Responsible Tourism Awards focus attention on travel firms that are providing us all with amazing trips that make a difference to a local community while still protecting the environment and our planet. And they remind us that responsible travel is not only better for our world, it’s also more interesting and memorable. Responsible tourism is the future of travel.”

Liz Bonin, Wild Animal biologist, biochemist and presenter of ‘Bang Goes the Theory’ on BBC1 also lent her support to the Awards with an exclusive interview on wildlife and responsible tourism in Metro Newspaper:

“If we make the effort to respect our holiday destinations and contribute responsibly to the local economy by staying in local farms or homestays and exploring the local wildlife through eco-tourism, we benefit by getting a real sense of local culture and discovering hidden treasures we could never get from a faceless resort holiday, all the while knowing that we have our done our bit to keep this planet happy and healthy. The Responsible Tourism Awards are doing a fantastic job at reminding us of our duty to travel in this responsible way.”

For a full list of finalists, see www.responsibletourismawards.com

- Ends -

Notes to editors

About Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort

For interviews, images or further information please contact Stuart Gow, Stuart@Matava.com, t: 679-997-5416

About The Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards

The Awards are the most prestigious and competitive of their kind in the world and are a collaboration between online travel directory responsibletravel.com; UK media partners Metro Newspaper and Geographical Magazine and World Travel Market who host the ceremony. The central tenet of the Awards is that all types of tourism – from niche to mainstream – can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people.

About responsibletravel.com:

responsibletravel.com is the world’s leading travel agent for responsible holidays. The site offers over 3,500 richer, deeper and more locally distinctive travel experiences that are better for destinations and local communities.

Whether you’re after an action-packed adventure, a relaxing beach escape or a charming countryside getaway closer to home, there’s something to suit all tastes and budgets.

Co-founder, Justin Francis had the original idea for the website on his travels through Africa having completed his MSc in Responsible Tourism. He launched the site with backing from Dame Anita Roddick in 2001 and since then has been included in Courvoisier’s The Future 500, Thames and Hudson’s 60 Innovators Shaping Our Creative Future and taken his place on the Advisory Board of The International Centre for Responsible Tourism at Leeds Metropolitan University. Based in Brighton, England responsibletravel.com also campaigns for positive change in the travel and tourism industry.

Contact:

Stuart Gow
Stuart@Matava.com
+679 603 0685

Alex Lyons
press@responsibletravel.com
+44 (0)1273 648 519

Recognition for Matava at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2010 | Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

Early GT Popping Season Results

2010-11-16T18:23:00.000-08:00

Le makes do with just the bare essentials.....

Regular GT Popping angler Le from Australia came out last week with his wife Catherine and baby Tang for a few days of R&R and a very early pre-season look with the poppers on heavy tackle aboard Tease Me.

Not long before Le is into the GTs

Mas hauls in a nice GT for Le

Catherine demonstrates that the whole thing is really quite easy (What's all the fuss about ?)

Pretty good first GT

Le on Bite Me one day hooked into a good fish but unfortunately the hooks pulled out in the deep water. We were mostly trolling that day but Le did land a PB Barracuda on the popper.

On the last day the weather cooperated and Le and Joe headed out on Tease Me to some new virgin reefs. Le named this reef Stella Reef.

Le's new PE12 Ripplefisher loads up on a nice GT

GTs coming thick and fast

Stella Reef produces some great fish

Le's best fish of the day measured 45' Short Length and 36' Girth so estimated to be around 32-34kg. On that last day Le landed 14GTs, a new boat record for a single angler.

GT Popping & Jigging - Late September Update

2010-10-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

Pretty dodgey weather for popping & jigging

Even though we are well out of the normal summer season for GT Popping and deepwater jigging, some hardy folks still brave the winter weather and get stuck in....
The weather gods were not very kind to Wayne, Kerry, Steve, Peter and their expert guide Paul Lennon from Australian tackle store - Got One
Never-the-less the guys (and gal) worked hard and found some nice GTs as well as several species on jigs.

Nice GT for Wayne

Peter had to work hard for this one

Another good GT about to have its photo taken before release

Expert Paul lands a nice Malabar Grouper

River 2 Sea Dumbell scores again...

Green Jobfish on the jig

Peter with a nice Red Bass

Somebody needs an extra Wheatabix for breakfast....
(Photo by Paul Lennon - www.gotone.com.au )

September GT Popping

2010-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

John and Angela from Manchester England recently stayed with us at Matava Eco- Adventure Resort. The reason for their stay ? To get married on holiday. The REAL reason for their stay - to fish !

Even though we are out of the normal GT Popping season, we managed to find some nice GTs. They were both very experienced fly fishers with many tarpon, bonefish and Pompano under their belts but this was their first proper go at GT popping.

Big bruiser head on this fella

The weather was a bit ordinary and the wahoo were thinning out so we spent most of our time popping. Big waves outside the barrier reef made the best GT spots a little tricky but the seas were beautiful inside the reef.

Tricky casting conditions

GT Heaven

Anybody fancy a swim ?

Nope.... Too busy catching these...

25kg Narrow Barred Mackerel on a Heru Cubera popper

A smaller GT showing black colouration

Even the grouper were hitting poppers

Congratulations to John and Angela !
(oh, and the wedding thing as well.....)

New telephone numbers for Matava!

2010-08-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort has installed a new Satellite Communications System with new telephone numbers. We have new methods of contacting Matava in the Fiji Islands including new telephone and fax numbers and a new Skype name! All running off the in-house solar power!

Our new permanent contact numbers are:

TELEPHONE: +679 603 0685

FAX: +679 603 0684

SKYPE: MatavaFiji

"And so what does this mean to you?" I hear you ask? Well one of the big step forwards is that we now have a 24 hour contact via Skype technology and voice-mail there-in on site at the resort. This will revolutionise our online reservations and booking system.

Matava Resort is proud to install this communications solution purely using the alternative power already available at the resort.

We will maintain our current CDMA/Easytel phone (+679 368 0080) until the end of August 2010, at which point they it be disconnected.

The new system runs on the Gilat SkyEdge System which supports telephony, broadband data and video communications via satellite. It is optimized for transaction-oriented applications, business continuity needs, legacy protocols, rural telephony deployments and multi-topology networks with mesh, star and multi-star topologies.

The system has an uplink speed of 64kbps where the service and support are provided by Connect Fiji.

Not only does the new service out perform its predecessors, the satellite network is designed to perform even under the heavy tropical rain.

The equipment installed at Matava is called a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal). It consists of a 1.8m dish (situated hidden away behind the resort office) and outdoor electronics for communicating with the satellite and an indoor unit to which our standard telephone /fax lines and laptops are connected. The intelligence within the indoor unit processes the calls and distributes them to assigned telephone lines.

Power for the terminal is purely 12V DC and is supplied by our own in-house solar panels and batteries in our Main Bure complex.

Watch this space for the next phase in the program which is to make WiFi available directly to guests laptops in the Main Bure (shhhhh... this is currently top secret info!)

Once again, here are our new permanent contact numbers:

TELEPHONE: +679 603 0685

FAX: +679 603 0684

SKYPE: MatavaFiji

New telephone numbers for Matava!

Big Fish, Broken Tackle

2010-08-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

One of my Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500s finally packed up the other day. Interestingly, it wasn't the gear or drag system or shaft that went....it was the reel foot. Still, its done pretty well for the light / medium tackle popping for GTs here.
Time to go shopping for some new popping gear for Bite Me and Tease Me !

Gamefishing Fiji: August Starts With Mixed Weather....Mixed Bag....

2010-08-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

The past week the weather has been somewhat challenging. A strong Tradewind with frequent rain squalls gusting to 30kts..... Didn't stop us fishing of course but ruled out jigging and limited our popping options to the calm side of the island and barrier reef.
We are fortunate enought to always have a lee shore, no matter what the weather brings but water temps rule in the winter season and sometimes the biggest fish prove elusive.
Oh well...that's fishing...

Rain squalls not a problem on the lee side

Mind you...even in the lee of the barrier reef it got choppy....

Great weather for Mackerel

A few Yellowfin around

Dave Christens his new Stella & Hots Gipang 75XXH

This big Barracuda loved his Cubera

Some very good bull Mahi Mahi around

Adam with a nice GT on the popper

August Starts With Mixed Weather....Mixed Bag....

August Starts with Mixed Weather...and a Mixed Bag

2010-08-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

The past week the weather has been somewhat challenging. A strong Tradewind with frequent rain squalls gusting to 30kts..... Didn't stop us fishing of course but virtually ruled out jigging and limited our popping options to the calm side of the island and barrier reef.
We are fortunate enought to always have a lee shore, no matter what the weather brings but sometimes the winter weather just makes popping and jigging tough.
This is why we tell all our popping and jigging gusts to come in the summer time.....

Rain squalls not a problem on the lee side

Mind you...even in the lee of the barrier reef it got choppy....

Great weather for Mackerel

A few Yellowfin around

Dave Christens his new Stella & Hots Gipang 75XXH

This big Barracuda loved his Cubera

Some very good bull Mahi Mahi around

Adam with a nice GT on the popper

Big Dogtooth Tuna Records Fall

2010-08-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

Just heard from pro fishing guide George Trinkler aboard Suva based charterboat Golden Eagle that they have smashed a couple of Fiji Islands ladies dogtooth tuna records. I asked him for the low down. He writes :
"During day 2 of our trip the boys caught some nice fish jigging and
livebaiting so the girls decided it was ther turn in the morning. We were
drifting over the Kadavu seamount with the girls both harnessed up with the reels
set on strike drag and a drop back to the baits via the rigger when Kim
Gilbert hooked up on 24kg line, shane also hooked up on a jig at the same
time but was cut of when his fish bolted for the bottom. We left Sheridan
Purvis bait out and as we got colour on Kims fish Sheridan hooked up on
37kg. Fight time was around 20 minutes each and Kim Gilbert's fish was 42kg
on 24kg and Sheridans 64kg on 37kg, Sheridan fought another dogtooth for 40
minutes on 15kg only to have the hook fall out and both girls were stoked at
catching bigger dogtooth than there partners."

Awsome doggies mate, that's a fun day on the seamount !

To top that off, Golden Eagle also won the recent Denarau Sport & Gamefishing Club Tournament.

Very well done to the angling team and crew.

GT Popping 2010 Season Summary

2010-07-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

"Mine's bigger than yours "

Its been a tough season weather-wise, the worst I can recall in 8 years of gamefishing around Kadavu Island waters. January was great but the next 4 months were a mixture of cyclones, big swells and out of season tradewinds. Not what you need when you are trying to park a 7 ton gamefishing boat 30 yards from the outer barrier reef breakers... Even so, we managed a lot of nice GTs nudging 100lbs and a fair few doggies aboard Bite Me and Tease Me, the best of which were around 65kg.

Here are the Top Ten GTs on poppers this season (at least the ones I got a half decent photo of)
Not in any particular order....
Congrats guys, you popped hard and saw the best fish.

Tri (Australia)

Tim (Australia)

Scott (Australia)

Margaret (England)

Jin (Brazil)

Dave (Australia)

Dan (Oz / South Africa)

Christian (France)

Bruno (France)

Brendan (Australia)

As for the hot poppers this season, the popper that accounted for the most fish was the Cubera. 150 or 180, they are relatively easy to work, pop well in all conditions and proved themselves over and over again.
Also fishing well were the usual top suspects - the FCL Labo EBIPOP, the Craftbait Megamouth, the Hammer Heads, the Halco Haymakers and the River 2 Sea Dumbell 200 poppers.
Full Scale was a newcomer this year with some Australian anglers and proved very tough and effective.
Buffalo lures were on test on Bite Me. Some early models had paintwork issues and have been changed but all proved themselves tough enough for the GTs here and have caught many fish. Not had one single failure.

Cubera 150 The all round winner

The Craftbait Megamouth in this clown triggerfish colour was deadly

Buffalo Lures on test - Very effective and good value for money

FCL Labo EBI POP

Newcomer Full Scale was very effective

River 2 Sea Dumbell Cheap but very effective

Funkey Hammerhead

FCL Panic Trout, pretty damn good actually....

Whackiest Newcomer ?

This Patriot Fizzer

Best Stickbait ?

The Orion Bigfoot

Most unusual catch ?
A Diamond Trevally (Alectis indicus) caught on a Buffalo popper

Ashley (USA)

Last Popping Week of the Season

2010-07-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Some pics of the last popping & jigging week of the Fiji summer season. These guys came all the way from Italy organised by an Italian specialist fishing agency - Fishmania Travel
Vincenzo Caccico from Fishmania takes specialist anglers to some of the best remote popping and jigging spots around the world. You can see his blog here.
One of the anglers, Antonello, came last year but this time nailed his personal Best GT over 40kg.
We jigged the seamount but the big doggies were absent so the guys had some fun popping for wahoo that schooled all around Bite Me.

A small GT in black spawning colouration

Blackfin Barracuda with an apetite bigger than its mouth

Vincenzo contemplates a big Great Barracuda and how much damage it's done to his Craftbait popper !

Popping for wahoo on the seamount

One of several wahoo taken on poppers

Some nice Grouper on the jigs

A very unusual catch - a Coronet Fish

Rosy Jobfish

Anto knocks off another mid-sized GT

GT Popping in Fiji

2010-07-16T15:48:00.001-07:00

GT Popping in Fiji
Originally uploaded by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort

Nice fish from BIll!

Hats the way to Popper in Style

2010-06-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

There have been a great many technological advances in popper casting and jigging fishing gear in the past few years. Nowadays a popping and jigging expedition with a few mates to some far flung tropical destination requires more than a few Stellas on Hots Gipangs and a bag full of expensive lures that would qualify for a wall space in a museum of modern art.
The sun. Nice though it is to bask in its warming rays, the damn things can kill you. Pretty much everybody knows now about the sun's harmfull UVB radiation that at best will cook you to wrinkled bronze colour and at worst, can cause malignant melanoma that if not caught quickly will absolutely terminate your fishing activities and probably you.
Fortunately a range of products are now available to keep anglers popping like Englishmen in the mid-day sun.
Here are some examples seen recently aboard Bite Me :

The good old original Baseball cap and PFG / Colombia spf shirt

The Panama Look

Masau displays the traditional Fijian T-Shirt on the head trick

The just cover everything and try not to die from heat exhaustion option

The wouldn't be seen dead in that (good job it covers my face) accessory

and last but not least, the I don't give a stuff, I'm on holiday look

I just had a solar keratosis burnt off my nose by a doc wielding a 20,000v zapper thingy. (that's a technical term by the way). The sun needs to be taken seriously.
If you can see the sky.......you are getting a dose of UV radiation.

This Week's Tally

2010-05-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

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

Some Pics from this week

2010-04-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

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 !

Don't Fancy one of these on a Jig !

2010-04-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

We just made our first attempt at a daytime broadbill swordfish aboard Bite Me yesterday afternoon.
Fishing a deep bait on the outer barrier reef drop-off we had considered a possible by-catch of bigeye tuna or better still on of Kadavu Island's big Dogtooth Tuna....

But we didn't count on this awsome fella dropping in.... a 400lb Shortfin Mako shark....
Full story on my gamefishing blog.

Thank goodness we were not jigging !

Shy Blue Marlin but More GTs Tagged

2010-04-02T15:06:00.001-07:00

Tim and Paul Wedlock came with their father John to treat themselves to a boys fishing get-away and have a go for some marlin with the heavy tackle aboard Bite Me. Unfortunately the marlin bite was very quiet this week. In three days of offshore fishing in some pretty ordinary weather, the boys raised just one nice blue marlin around 400lbs that smashed a rigger, jumped around the spread and managed to throw the hook. There were plenty of school yellowfin around and catching dinner at least was easy. With the weather starting to improve on their last day the guys decided to have a go at Kadavu Islands famous GTs....

Tim tagged and released this excellent fish of around 30kg measuring 44" short length, 32" girth using a pink/white R2S Dumbell 200 Popper

Paul weighed in first with his first GT around 12kg...

Then upped his PB with this healthy 40" fish of about 25kg on a red/gold Buffalo Popper

All three GTs were tagged and released quickly and in good condition. Lets hope we see them again next season and get some new measurements.

Dogtooth Tuna and GT Tagging Programme

2010-03-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

With the kind assistance of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) we have started a programme here around Kadavu Island to Tag and Release primarily Dogtooth Tuna but also some Giant Trevally caught and released aboard our gamefishing boats Bite Me and Tease Me.

Our first Tagged GT measured 37" Short Length and weighed 16kg

Our second GT Tagged measured 46" Short Length and was estimated to weigh 35kg

Tag placement

We also tagged our first Dogtooth Tuna of 15kg but no photos - a quick release...

Although it is believed that GTs and to a certain extent Dogtooth Tuna are terratorial and spend much of their adult lives staking out their particular patch of reef, relatively little is known about them. We hope to shed light on the following grey areas :
1. Release mortality rates - GTs seem to be very hardy fish but how well do they really release ?
Dogtooth tuna are monsterous brutes but do they survive a fight ? Does invisible barotrauma affect release mortality rates ? Do release weights improve the chances of a healthy release ?
2. Movements - Do these species move significant distances ?
3. Growth rates.

It will take a while to get recapture information but we are optimistic...
Last month we caught the same GT two days running, in the same place, on the same lure....
Obviously its first days encounter with anglers didn't seem to cause the fish any great disruption.

Latest GT Popping News

2010-03-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

The gang

Some highlights of a 6 day GT Popping trip to Matava Eco-Adventure Resort by Dan, Andy, JT and James, fishing aboard Bite Me.

Dan knocked over a few nice GTs like this one

Weather for the first few days was decidedly unfriendly...

Even when we did get access to the best GT spots we had to put up with some annoying chop but it was usually worth it. Best GT of the week measured 46" SL with several around the 40-45" mark. We tagged and released two GTs, the best of which measured 46" SL as well as a Dogtooth Tuna around 15kg.

JT with his biggest fish that measured 45" Short Length (close to 40kg) taken on a Stickbait

JT also fought a big doggie to the boat but all aboard were dismayed to see it pounced on by three whaler sharks just below the transom. The head alone weighed in at 20kg....

Lunch time and JT demonstrates his preferred water entry method

Double hook-ups

Dan with a nice GT caught off the bow on a Buffalo Popper

Some real chunky Red Bass around....

Brazil takes on the Kadavu GTs

2010-03-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Team Brazil

A first for Bite Me as 4 anglers from Brazil travel a very very long way to visit the Fiji Islands and take on the Kadavu Island GTs.

Weather was a bit ordinary but we did get a few reasonable days and got stuck into some nice fish.Jin's best fish of the trip

We had a few Double-Headers

Jr's first GT

and of course plenty of chunky red bass....

Mr Craftbait Fishes aboard Bite Me

2010-03-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

We recently had the honour and privilige to have Mr Tomohide Kashiwagi fish aboard Bite Me with some of his angling friends from Japan. Tomo is one of the two owners of Craft Bait and together with Mr Takeshi Taniguchi are the men behind their superb range of Poppers and stickbaits.

The unseasonal ropey weather made for some tough GT popping conditions but we still managed some reasonable fish. Tomo took the opportunity to test out some new prototype rod designs as well as a couple of new design Craft Bait Stickbaits. One will go home for more developement but the other proved to be dynamite on the GTs and the mackerel too !

A nice 20kg+ Mackerel for Tomo

We hooked a few monster fish on the jigs, almost certainly big dogtooth tuna, but with bite-offs and bust-offs, no big doggies released this time. Pleanty of coral trout and groupers for dinner though !

Matava is fully operational after Cyclone TOMAS

2010-03-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort is 100% fully open after the cyclone passed Fiji on Tuesday 16th March 2010

KADAVU, FIJI ISLANDS - 17 December 2009 - On Monday 15th March 2010 Fiji was hit by a Category 4 Tropical Cyclone, TC TOMAS. The cyclone passed over the northern islands and well to the East of Kadavu Island.

Although the resort experienced high winds and heavy rain, no damage was done to the resort at all, apart from the loss of some thatch from the corner of the roof of the dive centre.

The guests and staff spent the whole day playing cards, board games and reading books safely in the Main Bure while Maggie served breakfast, lunch and dinner as normal. We even had some divers toughen up and go shore diving in the 'teeth' of the bad weather on Monday and Tuesday and get some great pics of critters on The Critter Junction dive site!

By Tuesday 16th March we were once again fishing, diving and trekking as normal, in glorious sunshine with not even a slight breeze!

The cyclone passed well east of Kadavu and was over in a couple of days of strong winds and grey weather.

Due to flight safety reasons, Pacific Sun did postpone its flights for a couple of days, but have now fully resumed services to Kadavu from Nadi. All flights to and from Kadavu from Nadi International Airport are currently fully resumed and we have have had clients fly in and out of Kadavu today (Wednesday 18th March 2010).

We appreciate your patience in these matters, and rest assured that we are all fine and 100% fully operational at Matava - Fiji's premier Eco Adventure Resort.

Here is a pic taken by Adrian this morning from the deck of Mango, one of our Honeymoon Bures:

Richard, Adrian, Jeanie, Stuart & The Team @ Matava

Tropical Cyclone Tomas Gone

2010-03-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

The weather today is....... Glorious..

Tropical Cyclone Tomas Gone

Fancy a Job as a Deckie ?

2010-02-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

Jordan gets some expert advice from Joe

Jordan Whittaker has been spending the past month gaining some gamefishing boat deck experience aboard Bite Me and Tease Me. Jordan is no stranger to Kadavu Island waters. He and his father Brett have fished the area many times aboard their 25ft Blackwatch and Jordan is no slouch when it comes to fighting some of Kadavu's monster wahoo.
This time though it was all about popper casting for GTs and jigging the outer barrier reef slopes.
This type of fishing requires a whole new skill set and a broad knowledge of heavy duty GT tackle, complex leader knots that cast through guides and the ability to carefully handle big GTs so that they can be released unharmed.

New species on jigs

Assessing a hook-up before sliding in a GT

Advising anglers on likely GT haunts

Getting ready to gently boat another GT

or Red Bass...

Jordan's toughest challange.... carefully releasing a 40-50kg Grey Reef Shark that was accidentally hooked on a jig.
I am delighted to say Jordan slid the hook out perfectly with a hook release pole and the shark was swam away unharmed.

It wasn't all fun though....Jordan's time was also spent stripping the cooling system on one of Bite Me's Iveco 280HP marine diesel engines, scrubbing the hull and running gear and of course...cleaning the head... Its not all glamour being a deckie...

Gamefishing Seasons Go Nuts

2010-02-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

Thorsten recently had a few days popper casting aboard 'Tease Me' and despite some early ordinary weather, managed to rack up a few nice GTs.

One of Thorsten's best GTs around 30kg

One day Skipper Joe spotted some birds working off the reef and they headed over to have a go at some yellowfin tuna on a popper or stickbait. First couple of casts and Thorsten had a little yellowfin hooked up but before Joe could whip out his sashimi knife, it was 'sharked'.
Undaunted, Thorsten cast again and was quickly connected to something that screamed off across the surface.....Another shark ?
No ! a Wahoo !!

We are way out of wahoo season here but it just goes to show, you never know what you are going to hook up next.

Yesterday anglers aboard Bite Me were jigging the outer reef slopes for doggies and we hooked up something fairly big... It was a bit of a surprise when our doggie hook-up came screaming up to the surface right behind Bite Me and transformed into an airbourne Pacific sailfish that cavorted about for 10 seconds right in our laps before throwing the hook...
Wahoo and sails in the middle of summer ??? The seasons have gone nuts...

Past few days Species

2010-02-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

The decidedly unseasonal and rather 'ordinary' weather has led to us picking up all sorts of species as we work inner lagoons, barrier reef passageways and more sheltered drop-offs on the other side of Kadavu Island. Anglers Joseph, Ande and Jonathan from Singapore were unlucky with the weather but made the best of a few bad weather days...

Barracuda on a Popper

Rosy Jobfish on a jig

one of the better GTs on a Popper

Mangrove Jack on a jig

Bigeye Trevally on a jig

Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010

2010-02-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well I just typed a report and added all my photos and lost it for some reason so here is the abridged version

Mates Tim Dave and I fished with Adrian Watt and his awesome deckie Joe out of Matava Resort on the above dates. We had such good weather we fished all 6 days we were there instead of the planned 5.

GT action was consistent to hot. We landed 55 GT to 40kg odd in 6 days, but a big chunk of one day was dedicated to jigging at the sea mount, and we spent part of most days during the low tide jigging the reef edges. We also prob saw and either missed or dropped as many fish again as we landed so the action was good.

Most fish were in the 10-25kg range but I got one that would have nudged 40kg which I was stoked with, Dave got one that would have been just over 40kg and Tim got one in the mid 30's, so we were all really happy. We also lost a couple of good ones

The day we jigged at the sea mount was crazy. We got a few 3-5kg doggies on arrival, plus a reasonabel amberjack. Then Tim got a nicer doggie, then I got one about 25kg. After that all hell broke loose when Tim and I both connected to good fish, his around 45kg mine later weighed at 63kg (I weigh 66kg!). We spent 15 minutes trying to revive mine to no avail, but it did not go to waste with plenty of happy resort guests and local villagers. Whilst that was happening David had hooked up to a 25kg Wahoo which snapped his jig in half, mental stuff.

Next drop Tim and I again hooked up with me landing a solid 25-30kg fish. Tim's went mental and later was weighed at 64kg. Again, it was bleeding badly and obviously suffering from barotrauma. It didn't release.

Given the hot bite, we then made the tough but we thought right decision to go throw poppers as we didn't want to kill any more big doggies and they clearly were not releasing well.

GT highlight for me, apart from my biggest fish, was Dave's. He had a decent red bass on and we saw a GT following it, and Tim was about to put in a cast behind it when the GT just destroyed the whole patch of water where the bass had been, and Dave was on tight to a big GT. He landed it but Tim and I spent the first few minutes of the fight in fits of laughter as it was so awesome, and Dave's shock and pain, on Day 6, were quite funny to us....

Here are some pics

Kadavu Island, Fiji, 11-16 Jan 2010

Latest Pictures from the APS Jigging & Popping Trip

2010-02-07T21:55:00.000-08:00

Some of the latest pics from a trip to Kadavu aboard Bite Me organised by (ex) Anglers Pro Shop.....

Margaret hooks into a big doggie (unfortunately the hooks pulled just 20 meters from the boat)

The weather was decidedly 'ordinary' for some of the days..... very unusual for this time of year. Made our life rather difficult but we still managed some decent GTs.

Colin with a nice GT

Margaret showing the boys how its done...

Colin with a little doggie

Edwin's first GT Popping trip

For those of you interested, Randy I believe is now JDM Tackle and Sami has set up his own shop in New York - www.saltywatertackle.com.

Release Your GTs

2010-02-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

Whilst out poppering last week we landed an average sized GT which had some rather nasty looking gashes on its back. Possibly picked a fight with a shark or big barracuda...hard to say. Whatever caused them, the cuts didn't seem to deter the GT actively feeding on our popper !
We snapped off a hasty pic and released this fish as quickly as possible and it swam away seemingly as happy as Larry.

Distinctive gashes on the back

The next day we happened to be passing the same area in Bite Me and having seen a pack of GTs there the previous day we decided to toss a few poppers in the same area. We hooked a GT in exactly the same spot as the previous day. In fact, it turned out to be exactly the same GT !

Same fish !

We have long suspected that we sometimes recapture fish but the distinctive marks on this fish left little doubt. It is, I believe, widely accepted that GTs arenot only slow growing but territorial and stake their claim to a particular bommie or stretch of the reef, fending off others who might wander in.
It follows therefore, if you go out, catch GTs and don't release them, you can wipe out a population in an area.

Release the GT !

Fishing Update

2010-02-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

The bite for anglers Bruno and Christian visiting from France was reasonably good but the weather gave us a few decidedly average days. Even so, we managed to find some good GTs as well as a bunch of by-catch oddities such as bluefin trevally, red bass, green jobfish and even a crocodile longtom !

The best GT of the week for Bruno - a 40kg fish

Christian with a 'black' GT

One of the better weather days

Plenty of GTs around 20-25kg

A by-catch Bluefin Trevally

Bruno with a very unusual by-catch - A Crocadile Longtom

Busted Cubera Popper

2010-02-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

Here is something you don't see every day. A Nomad Cubera 150 Popper (also sold in the Far East as an ' El Toro" ) with a centre swivel letting go on a big GT.
To be fair, This popper took a battering all week aboard Bite Me and Tease Me, it did let go on a very big GT and its the first time I have ever seen it happen.....
Just goes to show, the big GTs here can break anything !

Gamefishing Fiji: The Penalty for Barracuda

2010-02-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

Generally speaking, barracuda are not all that popular aboard Bite Me. They tend to make a complete mess of carefully rigged baits and wreck expensive skirts on trolling lures.

They can also make quite a mess of an expensive popper....

Consequently, if Joe identifies your popper or stickbait as a "Cuda Catcher" and you go ahead any use it anyway...and you then present deckie Joe with 10 kilos of writhing snapping teeth gnashing cuda on the end of your leader.....the penalty is a quick dump in the ocean....

Ozzie angler Tim pays the price

Joe has a bit of extra fun bawling "Shark !"

Gamefishing Fiji: The Penalty for Barracuda

GT Popping

GT Popping & Jigging -January 2012 Fishing Report

BlueWater Magazine on Sale Today, 6th Jan 2012

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Matava Summer Special

2nd Person 50% off

Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the Second Person stays Half Price !

Valid for travel between 1st December 2011 – 29th February 2012

Additions:

Air Pacific Special

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Sea Save Foundation - Auction Home Page - BiddingForGood Fundraising Auction

Prime Slot opens up for Anglers

Pre-2012 Season GT Popping Report

Kadavu GT Popping Update

March 2011 GT Popping - More Pics

Late March GT Popping Report

GT Popping madness fishing, Kadavu in Fiji Islands

Fun Day on Bite Me

Matava wins Environment/Local Sustainability Award at AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards 2010

Matava wins AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Award 2010

Matava has been awarded the Environment/Local Sustainability Award at the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards

About Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort:

About AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards:

www.Matava.com

GT Popping on Tease Me

Wild Fishing Anglers: Fiji Kadavu

Gamefishing Fiji: Bluewater Magazine Issue 84 On sale 2nd March 2011

Features:

BOATS

OTHER FISH, OTHER GAMES : On The Water

Jan 2011 Popping & Jigging - Latest

New Buffalo Prototype Stickbait

Popping and Jigging for Yellowfin Tuna

GT Popping Season Update

Popper casting at Kadavu Fiji

Pescaria de GT em FIJI

Welcome to Paradise! -Review of Matava - TripAdvisor

Kadavu GTs and Doggies Report

Latest Kadavu Fishing Report

Recent GT Pics from Tease Me

December 2010 GT Popping Fishing Report

FREE BURE UPGRADE ON ALL 10 DAY FISHING PACKAGES

Recognition for Matava at the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2010 | Matava - Fijis Premier Eco Adventure Resort

Early GT Popping Season Results

GT Popping & Jigging - Late September Update

September GT Popping

New telephone numbers for Matava!

Big Fish, Broken Tackle

Gamefishing Fiji: August Starts With Mixed Weather....Mixed Bag....

August Starts with Mixed Weather...and a Mixed Bag

Big Dogtooth Tuna Records Fall

GT Popping 2010 Season Summary

Last Popping Week of the Season

GT Popping in Fiji

Hats the way to Popper in Style

This Week's Tally

Latest Popping & Jigging Pics

Some Pics from this week

African Pompano on a Popper

Don't Fancy one of these on a Jig !

Shy Blue Marlin but More GTs Tagged

Dogtooth Tuna and GT Tagging Programme

Latest GT Popping News

Brazil takes on the Kadavu GTs

Mr Craftbait Fishes aboard Bite Me

Matava is fully operational after Cyclone TOMAS

Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the ***Second Person* stays *Half Price*** !

TRAVEL DATES: valid 1 Oct 2011 through 31 March 2012
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Escape to Fiji to Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and the ***Second Person* stays *Half Price*** !

TRAVEL DATES: valid 1 Oct 2011 through 31 March 2012
Sale ends Dec. 31