Dogtooth tuna double hook up part 2

more doggies!

Dogtooth tuna double hook up part 1

Some great vid!

Magic - Review of Matava - TripAdvisor

Spent a week fishing at Matava with some friends. Although in some respects 'basic' I found the facilities to be more modern/adequate than their website indicated, which meant I was pleasantly surprised.

The real magic of the place is the location and service. All of the staff couldn't have been more welcoming, helpful or friendly. Add to this a pristine and amazing location, great food and a nice atmosphere and you have the ingredients for a perfect holiday destination.

We had great weather and Adrian and Joe (the fishing crew) really know their trade and are a great pleasure to fish with. Each of the 3 of us caught new personal bests, some of us in multiple species. I still can't wipe the smile off my face.

We were sharing the resort at the time with a group of 18 divers, and they were absolutely loving it as well.

If you are into diving, fishing, other water activities like snorkeling and kayaking, or just in to relaxing without the need to be pampered in a 5 star resort, this is a place you should visit. I am already planning my return.

Magic - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

Fantastic - Fishing Trip of A Lifetime - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

Two friends and I stayed here for a week whilst fishing with Adrian, one of the owners of the resort. The fishing was world class, and we all agreed it was the best fishing trip we have done.

Fantastic - Fishing Trip of A Lifetime - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

New Fishing Boat for Bite Me Charters @ Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Dive Resort

"TEASE ME" delivered to Matava's the newest custom designed Popper Casting boat in the Fiji Islands!

Tease Me is an Islander 23 fiberglass Skiff custom designed for the Fiji Islands to best suit the shallow coral reef lagoons whilst still being more than capable of handling outer reef chop and ocean swells.

Built by the Fiberglass Shop in Fiji, this highly successful hull design is used extensively by many resorts and private owners all over the Fiji Islands. The vessel has proved itself as a versatile all-round skiff and Matava Resort even operates a custom adapted version as a 6 person dive boat.

With a self draining floor, low freeboard for handling fish boatside, walk-around centre console, raised side-rails for anglers fighting fish, ice chests, extensive safety equipment, T-Top shade and bow casting platform for inshore work such as fly fishing.

Tease Me is the perfect platform for popper casting for GTs and jigging for dogtooth tuna around Kadavu island's coral reef systems and barrier reef slopes.

With a top speed of about 25kts, she will have you fishing within minutes of departure from the resort.

A normal day aboard Tease Me consists of an early breakfast and a morning fishing session. She then usually returns to the resort for lunch, followed by an afternoon of further fishing, returning to the resort aroud 5.00pm.

She has a crew of one and can take up to three guest anglers.

On board are fish finder, GPS, VHF radio, EPIRB and full safety gear.

Tease Me offers guests a complete range of fishing including trolling lures along the miles of reef systems and outer barrier reef slopes, casting in the mangroves, deep water jigging, casting poppers for GTs and trolling the blue water for sailfish, tuna, mahi mahi and monster wahoo.

The Gear

Shimano Penn Pakula Wellsys Halco Rapala

Tease Me carries 30lb Class Shimano TLD25s on Excaliber custom built rods and Penn Powersticks.

These lever drag reels are easy enough to use for the first time angler but capable of handling the hard fighting reef predators and sport fish found all around the island.

In addition we can carry casting rods for the popper crunching GTs as well as deep water jig outfits to find those deeper reef dwellers such as dog tooth tuna, coral trout and GTs .

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The Praise

"it has been well documented in fishing magazines that these islands not only produce an amazing variety of tropical gamefish, but also that the fish seem to come in exceptionally large sizes"

"...it seems the wahoo only come in two sizes - big and bigger !"

"Our overnight stay at the pretty Matava Resort was a wonderful experience and here traditional thatched Fijian bures set among the lush hilly rainforest offer magnificent views of the lagoon and fringing reef": BlueWater Magazine

Monster Dogtooth Tuna Day on Bite Me

We have just had a monster day jigging aboard Bite Me for Dogtooth Tuna....
Scott, Dave and Tim from Australia didn't know what they had let themselves in for when they broke out their jig outfits and asked "Do you get Dogtooth Tuna here ?"
"Er...Yes" I said..."Want to catch one ?"

We landed a few amberjack, small grouper and several small doggies from 5 to 25 kg then at at 11.45 we found the big ones..... Scott and Tim loaded up with fish that just melted line off their Stellas like they were attached to a couple of freight trains. As Bite Me moved ahead to keep pace with the unstoppable fish, Dave brought his jig up shallow and got nailed by a 25kg wahoo....
Now we have a tripple hook-up with a wahoo steaming around on the surface and two big dogtooth making for New Zealand down at 200m..... This just got interesting....

Three jig outfits loaded up

So...we knock off the wahoo first whilst keeping pace with the big dogtooth tunas...

Dave's nice Wahoo on the jig

After about 20 minutes Tim's Doggie starts to tire and Tim steadily works his fish to the surface...and what a cracker doggie it is....around 55kg..

Tim's first monster Doggie

Then after half an hour Scott's fish begins to tire under relentless pressure and Scott manages to haul his fish out of the depths. This doggie is even bigger, later weighing in at 63kg (around 138lbs)

Fish of a lifetime for Scott on the right...

We try to revive the fish for a release but to no avail...its just too tired. Its not suffering from barotrauma so we don't want to drop the fish down with a release weight, release, and not know if its ok.

Swimming a big dogtooth can be tricky

Keep you hands and fingers well clear !

That's quite a haul for a tripple hook-up !

But we were not done yet...the day was young....we had not even had lunch yet !
Down go the jigs again and Wham ! Scott is straight into another small doggie around 25kg (later released) but Tim is bent over the gunwhale desperately clinging onto his rod as line peels off his reel again...muttering "oh no...oh no..." whilst Dave takes pictures of Tim's look of horror as he watches his spool empty.

Tim's second big Doggie

After a 20 minute figh we beat the fish and Tim now has a 65kg (143lbs) Dogtooth Tuna on his list of angling achievements.

The sheer width and bulk of a big Dogtooth Tuna is mindblowing

It was at this point ( I am very happy to say) that the guys decided enough is enough... Three huge doggies on deck is enough fish for anybody. We didn't want to risk not being able to release any more fish. We ended our couple of hours jigging session with 10 Dogtooth Tuna and managed to release 4 of them. We pulled up sticks and went back to the GT popper casting....

What did you do today ?

The GTs Just Keep Coming

Another good day for Scott, Tim and Dave. Perfect popper casting weather...

Scott ponders the next GT target for his FCL Labo popper

No Dinosaurs today but plenty of GTs to keep backs hurting and everyone busy...

Tim loads up his HOTS Gipang 79XH

Dave set to release yet another GT

2 GTs on One Popper !

Anthony & Doug from Australia had some fun with Kadavu Island's big GTs but topped the fishing off with something that not many people have done. Doug had several GTs fighting over the same popper and managed to hook up two on the same popper....at the same time....


Doug fought them to the boat and presented deckie Joe with a tricky problem....how to slide in two GTs through the transom door at the same time whilst Doug pondered on how he was going to hold up two GTs at the same time !



Unfortunately, or fortunately, one GT flipped off the hooks just as Joe hauled them gently in...

Doug with one of two we did manage to get aboard before release

A relatively rare catch of a Long Nosed Emperor on a 130g Buffalo Popper

Anthony with one of many Kadavu GTs

A not so rare catch of a Barracuda on a 115g Buffalo Popper

A healthy looking Red Bass

We even ended the last day tagging a beautiful little sailfish....

Today's Best GTs

Just finished our first day of poppering with Scott Maybury, Dave and Tim from Australia. Bit of a quiet morning but we got some nice GTs after the tide turned.

Scott landed the best GT of the day of at least 35kg on a black Hammerhead popper.

Scott with the best fish of the day - not easy to hold 35+kg after a big fight !

Tim with a healthy GT

Dave and Tim not far behind with some nice 25+kg fish

Dave's best fish today

Greenfish - By Anglers - For Fish

Introducing Greenfish - By Anglers | For Fish

We are a group of passionate saltwater and freshwater anglers who promote conservation and are concerned about the sustainability of our fisheries and the future of our sport. We are pro-fishing, but against over killing and we know we are not alone.

While many recreational anglers practice some form of catch and release and promote conservation today, we still feel there is much more action needed. By influencing other groups to conserve, raising awareness about declining fish stocks and bringing more attention to the conservation efforts that the fishing community is involved with, we can make a difference. We at Greenfish believe that fishing and conservation can go hand in hand and the Greenfish brand represents this intersection.

The Greenfish Mission & Pledge to Our Planet

It is our mission to be the premier lifestyle brand which helps improve our marine environments and reduces over-fishing while promoting and protecting the sport of recreational fishing. Greenfish will create the movement and drive a cultural shift to becoming more responsible stewards of our waters and fisheries.

Greenfish - By Anglers - For Fish