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.

Related Blogs

To cut a long story short the first fish for the day was an 80 kg blue marlin and the second was a 120kg blue caught by our new gun angler, harness on upside down and all. It was a pretty impressive effort for his first attempt on standup as well. The next day at a secret sea-mound I fish, on the first drop on his first attempt at jigging he hooks and boats a 25kg dogtooth tuna and hauls in a couple of good sized yellow fin, all on jigs. For the week we were away we caught a heap of fish and every angler caught personal bests. By the time we had got home our gun had out fished everyone with a 17.5 kg mahi- mahi, 25kg wahoo and numerous other fish of note leaving everyone shaking their heads. To my amazement his angling skills had improved out of site as well. Thank goodness for lucky anglers.

Capt. Pete Phillipps

Wild Blue Fishing Charters.

http://GameFishingVanuatu.com

http://www.Nautilus.com.vu

Carl from HardNFast Cycles in Sydney http://www.hardnfast.com/ did a 4 hour share charter  on Wild Blue while they were here in Port Vila. Vanuatu. He took his young fella “Pete” out for a fish as well. Pete is 4 years old and was thrilled to pieces with the mack tuna he caught while dad got himself a mahi-mahi. Wild Blue Fishing Charters are able to organise shared charters in most cases.

Craig Bellgrove and his mates came in to fish Vanuatu for the third time. They took the Kakoola option this trip and caught heaps. Day one we raised three marlin and tagged two. We also picked up a mahi-mahi at the Mosso Fad  that made the dinner table that evening.

Day two had us off to the Eastern Seamound for a blinder. On arrival we were greeted by multiple strikes of yellowfin. The jigging proved just a little slow except for the first drop when Steve caught his first dogtooth at 25kg. We had a lot of fun catching wahoo on jigs close to the surface which was a first for the boys. We spent 3 hour fishing the area and headed home when we were unable to fit any more fish in the storage areas in the boat.

Day three the team opted to only do 1/2 a day as the boys had some business to conduct so we spent a bit of time a Nguna Island with no result. The score for the day was 1 x 20kg wahoo in Undine Bay.

Craig finally caught a dogtooth that he has been chasing for some time on day 4 at Monument Rock near Mataso Island however there wasn’t much else happening there. The Mataso Seamount turned up a few more yellowfin and a wahoo.

Day 5 we headed back to the Eastern Seamound again hoping to repeat the day earlier in the trip in less than favorable conditions. On arrival we found a few birds moving around but we couldn’t get a bite. After getting beaten up in the conditions for some time we decided to shorten the day and hear home. Just to ad insult to injury we had a marlin jump on and off on the way back to Kakoola.

Day six was head home day so we gave the Mosso F.A.D a good work out and caught a heap of good mah-mahi then headed further south. As the day unfolded we picked up another couple of good size mahi-mahi with one at 17kg for Steve. There was plenty of birds working however they were just following the schools of skipjack that were passing through. We picked up a couple around the 10kg mark. A good sized rainbow runner gumped on at Pango Seamound to round out our day and complete the trip. I spit of a couple of rough day the fishing once again in Vanuatu proved to be very good.

Ross and his yellowfin

Day 2 saw us out to a seamount east of Mataso Island where Maurie had the good fortune of tagging another blue, this one was the second smallest marlin I have ever seen at about 30kg. We raised another 2 however not caught. We also had a good day there on yellow fin both on lures and jigs. Ross nailed his first wahoo at a respectable 22kg.

Day 3 had us off to Mataso Island for some more action and run across some more yellow fin at Mataso Seamount.  It was then on the Monument Rock for a couple of wahoo and a double of yellow fin then back to Pela Island for some popping for G.T,s with no result.

Day 4 we started our way home from Kakoola Island toward Port Vila. We had a great time at Mosso Fad. on mahi-mahi on light tackle and put 5 in the boat along with a good wahoo. The rest of the day was a little quite with lots of birds and the odd yellow fin jumping however no more fish.

The guys are even threatening to come again next year.

A little marlin about to be released.

Day one saw us head out of town towards Kakoola via the fads in search of action. Twenty min into it a blue marlin climbed on the shotgun which Sabrina battled for 20 min which suddenly ended with a pulled hook. Mosso fad turned up a mahi-mahi then it was on to Nguna for some jigging.

The action was steady there with the boys getting smoked on 3 good sized dogtooth. Doggies three- anglers zero.

After a great night at Kakoola it was on to a sea mound 25nm S.E of for more jigging. On arrival we had a triple hook-up of yellow fin that get everyone back into action.

The jigging proved to be a little slower than it usually is at this spot however the boy managed to get smoked no less than 4 more times. Big doggies can destroy tackle. The rest of the day was very slow as we fished our way to Epi.

Wednesday saw us head to Maskelyne Islands where we had a ripper. The doggies were a little reluctant to play however the G.T action was thick and fast. Three good sized fish were caught, photographed and released while casting poppers along the eastern side of the island and another 2 caught and released on the southern point of Maskelyne island. Finally Mike nailed a 20kg doggy to break our doggy voodoo

Thursday we headed to DeChauliac Bank for some Jigging where the action was good however we were smoked on a few doggies with only small ones coming on board. Next stop was the Maskelyne Islands again for some more G.T popping. Tony was of fire again with another 25kg G.T captured and released.

The trip home on the last day was rough and slow with only one Mahi-mahi being caught. The day was rounded of with a big night at the Friday night B.B.Q and everyone leaving for the airport at midnight for a trip home to New Zealand.

For Carl’s Full Report and Photo’s  click here: Game Fishing in Vanuatu