GT Popping & Jigging -January 2012 Fishing Report

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.....

Prime Slot opens up for Anglers

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

Kadavu GT Popping Update

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 !

GT Popping on Tease Me

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

Jan 2011 Popping & Jigging - Latest

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

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

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