Brad came to Vanuatu for the first time earlier in the year. He stayed at Iririki Island Resort with his wife Darleen and in his travel called in a said he would like to go for a fish. We got him into some wahoo and tuna action and this guys is now hooked. Brad and his wife have just completed their second trip this year and this time mahi-mahi, more tuna and a missed shot on a blue marlin rounded out the day. Brad is booked in for Feb 2011 to have another shot.
Hey Guys
Just a quick report on our Vanuatu trip which was just Awesome with some amazing new dive sites found and some great fish landed!
We had good weather, crew, food, fish and vis.
Some of the sites had an amazing amount of current running over them up to 4-5 Knots!
This made for some very good doggie country and a few big ones were seen in these areas but very hard to dive to with the currents like they were.
But in one spot Brandon managed a nice 36kg Dogtooth in 10m of water and no currents so you just never know where you might see one aye.
More Photos and trip reports here www.extremefreedom.co.nz
Thank You
Kane Grundy
Your spearfishing & Freediving supplier.
Email; kane@extremefreedom.co.nz
Website; www.extremefreedom.co.nz
“Selective fishing today for tomorrow.”
MAKE IT HAPPEN
Read More...These boys just cant get enough of fishing in Vanuatu. Mark, John Warren and Mike were here earlier in the year for the Vanuatu Marlin Classic fishing on Shogun and pulled off third place. The boys left the prize money with us the covered a fair chunk of their September trip. This time the only way to get ta domestic visa was to bring the wives and they opted for the Kakula Island stay.
While the boys where out on the high seas looking for the evening meal the girls were relaxing, swimming and snorkeling.
The Fishing was a little up and down however we turned up some great fish each day.
A lot of time was spent hunting dogtooth however the sharks were making it tough to get a bait down or a fish on a jig to the boat. Some of our usual hot spots just didn’t fire. Over all we ended up with a good fish tally. Each day there was plenty of wahoo and mahi-mahi up to 18kg and for the week we managed sail fish through to sharks. They must have had a good time as they are booing for next year as we speak.
Pete.
Read More...Legendary film producer Paul Mason has returned from L.A to spend a bit of rest time and get some fishing done again.In the last 4 year Paul has done in the vicinity of 60 days with me fishing the waters of Vanuatu. He was accompanied by his son Barry on this trip. Paul has caught who knows how many blue marlin, wahoo, mahi-mahi and yellowfin fishing on Shogun. Paul loves doing overnight trips to different destinations and having a good old fashioned B.B.Q in the cockpit of the boat at the end of the day. His favorite food is a sausage in a slice of bred amazingly enough. Good old Aussie style.
For this trip Paul made mention that Barry was keen to catch a dogtooth tuna and a G.T, both of which he has never caught before. My suggestion was a trip to Cooks Reef which is about 50nm north of Port Vila. We punched our way there in less than favorable conditions however we were well rewarded.
We spent the night in behind Emae Island and then back out to Cooks Reef early the next morning for some more fishing action before pushing our way home again with 3 meter seas giving a rough ride. Sometime you just got to do what you got to do.
Paul is returning in November to do another 3 days Game Fishing In Vanuatu. By then him will have finished his latest movie he has been shooting down in the swamps of Florida.
The Grand Hotel Vanuatu Marlin Classic has been run and won again, what a change from previous years. In the past we have seen 80 plus strikes 50 plus hookups and up to 20 fish tagged and released.
This year a whole new story. The economic times saw a lesser number of overseas teams registering however there was still 12 teams entered and keen to get amongst the action.
With conditions less than favorable on day one the only marlin hook up was on Shogun with the gun local team Rats Arse Fishing only to have the marlin turn back over the 15 kg line and cut itself off close to the boat. Most other boats had a story of seeing one in the gear but no hook up.
Day two saw the torrential rain and winds from the previous day abate leaving condition ideal however the fish were not playing the game with only a couple of marlin sited and non tagged. There were a few other species caught however it was still very slow.
Day three turned up a similar result with another no marlin tagged day however there was couple of stories about marlin sightings and V-Factor dropping one close to the boat.
On Wednesday which was day four Nevergiveup broke the drought with their Supreme Team getting a tag into a marlin at 12.55 which was captured on 15kg line. The angler was Grant Hall.
Thursday or day 5 had all the boats charging off from the daily 7.00am shotgun start in perfect condition with a light breeze blowing and flat seas. At 7.57 Shogun skipper Pete Phillipps was calling watchdog with a marlin hookup and the crew had a tag in the red hot fish in 3 minutes to put the New Zealand Fishing Council entrants on the board with a capture on 24kg line. The angler was Mike Skelly. No other fish were tagged for the day.
With competition still wide open Friday began in still ideal conditions and boats heading in all direction trying to get onto the marlin. The silent boat radios were interrupted with Cpt. Charles Wheeler on Nevergiveup calling a hookup at 12.20 and not long after announcing he had just tagged another blue marlin on 15kg line with Vanuatu resident Shaun Winslett doing the duty on the rod. This effectively put Nevergiveup teams first and second and Shogun in third however there was still only 2 fish in it and the comp was still wide open.
The last day proved to be just as slow as only one blue marlin was raised for the day and no fish tagged leaving the results as they were the day before. A great night was had by all at the presentation dinner at naming sponsors venue, The Grand Hotel in the heart of Port Vila with everyone sharing their stories of bad luck and slow fishing but already looking forward to next year to do battle again. Prize money for the comp was $10,000 for first, $5,000 for second and $3,000 for third place.
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