Richard and Bonnie Lorenzin have just completed their 6th trip to come fishing in Vanuatu.
These guys love the adventure of going to new destinations and exploring uncharted territory and in that I do mean uncharted. Richard and Bonnie opted this year to mix up the action and accommodation a little this trip with a stay at Kakula at the start of the trip and again at the end and spend a few nights on the boat through the middle of the trip.
Day one started with a leisurely departure and a steam out toward the F.A.D out off Devils Point. On arrival there was an obvious lack of life and activity however deck hand Sammy spotted some birds off in the distance. As we got close to the activity a floating log was detected on the surface. The first pass saw a school of mahi-mahi invade the lure spread however no hook-ups (Bugger). Not too far from the log the reels start wailing as a good sized wahoo decided to become the first victims for the trip. There was an abundance of fish at
The First Wahoo of the Trip
this spot so some light tackle and strip baits were deployed to keep things interesting. After 4 wahoo and 3 mahi-mahi were put on ice for dinner and we released the rest.
Bonnies Wahoo
Time was of essence as we had to keep heading north to get to Kakula for the first night to be spent with Fabby and Andy. The evening meal as always was top notch as with the comforts and hospitality.
Day two had us heading further north to the eastern sea-mound out from Mataso Island. Forty five minutes after deploying the lures a blue marlin jumped on and went ballistic. An hour later it was at the side of the boat to receive a tag and sent on its way, a nice fish at an estimated 170kg. Shortly after the reset we had a multiple hook-up on short billed spearfish however one fell off leaving Bonnie to do battle with the second and get a tag into it about ten minutes late. This fish would have been good enough for it to be a Vanuatu record however we were heading the opposite direction to the weigh station. On ya Bonnie.
The sea mound was full of birds on arrival and within minutes the reels were screaming again with yellow fin jumping on in numbers, great fun. On about the forth pass another blue marlin hit a lure however fell off. Shortly after another blue screams in and takes off with the lure from the short corner and tore off into the distance with the lure hanging out of the side of its mouth. Thirty minutes later it received a tag, had its photo taken and was off for another day.
Richard's 2nd Marlin For The Day
This one was around the 130kg mark. Time was getting on so we headed further north toward the Sheppard Islands where we intended to stay for the night.
Our wet season has been late in arriving this year however it is here with vengeance at the moment with a lot of humidity and thunder storms. The afternoon heading to the Sheppard’s was spent passing through torrential rain and thunder storms. Just as we entered the Island group we were in the middle of an amazing electrical storm with lightning hitting the water all round us and thunder that would wake the dead. Bonnie made mention of one of he trip highlights was standing on the back deck in a rain coat with Richard in torrential rain, lightning and little visibility fighting a couple of very decent wahoo that jumped onto a couple of lures at the same time.
2 wahoo in a storm
I reckon it was pretty awesome myself Bonnie. We had an abundance of fish by this stage so a stop was made at a nearby village and gave the all the fish to the locals there except for enough for sashimi and some fillets for the B.B.Q we were going to have that night in the back of the boat. As we headed from the village to Lakia Island that was to be our mooring for the night a small bronze whaler shark grabbed a swimmer and sped off into the distance which was retrieved and released to live another day.
Laiki Island. Vanuatu
Laiki Island is a volcanic island sticking out of the water a couple of mile off shore from Tongoa Island and is a renowned dogtooth tuna hangout. We anchored up in the lee of the night and enjoyed a couple of cool beers and a big feed. Just a fortnight before Samantha Vale set a new world record in these waters on 10kg line class with a 45kg doggy so we were expecting big thing the next morning.
After a good night’s rest and breakfast the anchor was raised and baits deployed. Several minutes into it one of the skip baits was smashed and the reel announced the action only to have the fish fall off a few seconds later. Our next couple of baits were taken by sharks. Time was getting away so we headed to the other side of Tongoa Island to fish some volcanic outcrops that jut out of the depths in search of these elusive doggies. We fished the walls, edges in close and out deep however no joy. A lot of these small volcanic structures aren’t charted so you certainly wouldn’t want to be trying to navigate these areas at night. Some more time was spent flicking some poppers around some of these outcrops however still no luck. The wind had changed during the day so it we decided to anchor of the coast of Tongoa out from the village we had given the fish to the previous day. Another good B.B.Q and cool beer.
Day four we were away at 6.30 am for a day heading back south towards Mataso Island. A short while into is a barracouta jumped and was released at the boat. On arrival at Monument Rock just east of Mataso a yellow fin sacrificed itself for our evening dinner but the rock was dead as a dead thing. We tried baits, lures and jigs however no one home. It was as if someone had turned off the fish switch compared to the earlier two days. We fished Mataso Island and sea mount but still very slow. We then trekked across toward Nguna Island and a very respectable wahoo livened up the day a little.
On arrival at Nguna island we manager to catch a couple of fresh bonito to deploy and have another shot at a doggy. In moments line was smoking of a 37kg stand up rig with Richard grinning from ear to ear only to have the fish fall off. I reckon Richard is a lucky angler with the amount of marlin he has caught with me over the years he fished with me however he has had no luck on doggies. Another live bait was deployed and this got his fairly quickly as well. This time the bait and whatever had eaten it were heading for the surface which is defiantly not a dogtooth tactic. Then a heap more line was lost then everything stopped. Richard retrieved his bait to find the remains of a wahoo attached that had been eaten by sharks.
Shark Attack
The remains of the wahoo indicated that this had been a big fish, in the vicinity of 30kg. From there it was on to Kakula and just another wahoo strike but no cigar.
Another great night a Kakula and we were then off towards home. We decided to have another shot at the end of Nguna in a last ditched attempt to nail Richard his tuna. The wash up of it all was just more sharks being caught and released.
The rest of the day was spent heading south toward the F.A.D where we had started 5 days earlier. There was a lot of bird activity with the odd yellow fin popping up here and there however on action. The F.A.D was also quite with only a bonito and a small yellowfin being caught there. From there it was home to the regular Friday night B.B.Q and a couple more cold drinks before Bonnie and Richard headed to Fatumaru Lodge to spend the rest of their holiday relaxing before e heading back to busy Sydney, such a contrast to sitting in the back of the boat in the islands of Vanuatu.
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