I take a lot of people fishing in a year and I find my job as a game boat skipper very satisfying. I get to know some fantastic people and hear some great stories and peoples philosophies on life. One of the yearly trips is the annual visit by Grant Dixon the editor of Fishing News New Zealand. Grant and his mates has been fishing with me for about 4 years now and I always feel just a bit intimidated as this guy travels the world fishing on some of the best boats and with the best operators in the world.

Grant, Pete, Dave and Trolley flew in from N.Z with the usual amount of tackle that jigging, popping and big game fisherman carry on a trip into the tropics. Our boat is full of tackle as it is so some of that had to come off.

After the usual amount of mental preparation (cold beers) the gear was rigged and we were off to dinner for some more laughs and preparation.

Day one was a run up the edge of the marlin highway and past the F.A.D’s for a quite day, only 2 mahi-mahi and a good doggy on a jig at Nguna Island.

The day ended at Kakula island which is fast becoming one of the favorite stopovers for our stay-away anglers.

Day 2 had us hearing N/E to a sea mound that gets rarely fished. Within an hour of having the gear in the water nice 120kg aprox blue marlin jumper on and put on a great display. Within about 20min it had been successfully tagged and released leaving Dave a happy man. With 20min we had another much bigger blue on and this one put on even a better display. About half an hour into the battle the fish was at the boat however just out of reach of the tag pole. On closer inspection it was discovered the fish was tail wrapped so a decision was made to break it off or break the line to release the fish so as not to kill it. Another was seen not long after free jumping in front of us however we didn’t catch that one.

On arrival at the sea mound we managed to hook a wahoo straight up followed by a triple of yellowfin. We pulled the trolling gear out of the water and started with some jigging and Trolley nailed a great doggy and the other boys were getting bites but getting busted off. We were running low on time to stay there as we were to start heading to Epi which was our next port of call which was still 60nm away. I asked to boys if they wanted to stay on the mound and stay at Kakula again for the night and it was unanimous that it wasn’t wise to drive away from fish. The day turned out well with another four doggies landed and the boat was getting lighter by the hour with the amount of year getting lost.

Our biggest was 37kg and the rest were not too far off that mark.

A couple of hour later we headed for home with a pass over Scotts Rock and on into Undine Bay with nothing else being caught for the day. Not a bad day though.

Day 3 saw us take a run to Erromango Seamound for one of the slowest days I have ever had done there. A heap of tiny mack tuna was it for the day.

Day 4 we decided to head back to our sea mound to the north east which was a couple of hours steam from port. The day was nothing like our previous visit with a few smaller doggies turning up and some reasonable yellow fin being caught on jigs in midwinter on top of the 170meter deep mound. We trolled all the way back to Kakula for no further acting.

Day5 was head home day with a run down past the F.A.D’s again for some small yellow fin and not a lot else.

All in all we had a reasonable trip, a couple of tough days however the good ones help you forget the others. For all you Kiwi’s the article will be in Fishing News due out in April.

The tasty flounder is a great sport fish you can target in Rhode Island waters. Every day during the summer hundreds of boats are out there targeting this great fish. By following a few tips you can become a better flounder fisherman. Summer flounder are a funny-looking brownish fish with a totally white underside. They have two eyes on one side of their head and swim with the eyes upward, tending to cruise along the bottom, not moving to far away from it. They cruise about 1-3 feet off the bottom looking for something to eat, usually using the current from the tides to cover ground. Often they will spook some small life form as they approach, and a small puff of mud or motion is sent into the water which attracts the flounder to that area and he will pounce on the poor creature. This habit is the one we exploit when fishing for them.

Ok, so you want to find some flounder. Well, they aren’t always in the same place. As the season progresses, you have to go deeper and deeper to find them. Sometimes they move east or west with the tide. They prefer sandy bottoms, so these are where you want to be and you always drift for them. Never spend more than 15 minutes on a drift when searching, that is the point many anglers don’t understand, keep moving until you find a good drift where you catch 4 or more fish. Then keep doing that drift until it no longer produces well. Sometimes I may move 10 times before finding them. If the drift is slow, the flounder fishing will be slow. If the drift is too fast, either slow the boat down with a drift sock or sea anchor, or give it up.

Onward to rigs and methods. A typical flounder rig uses a 3-way swivel with sinker snap and a 30″ leader with some kind of fluke rig attached. It can be as simple as a bare hook, or very elaborate with spinners, small squids and beads, etc. The sinker is important, as you need to have your rig on the bottom to catch these fish. The rig itself, well usually a simple green squid and a spinner blade works pretty well. Catching colors can change, and size of the spinner blade. But a bare hook doesn’t always work that well. Of course, we always put bait on the hook. It might be squid, smelts, peanut bunker, or strips of flounder belly. Depends on what is working that day. Squid is usually a good bet to bring. Cut it into long strips and hook it a couple times before putting it down. Now, as for sinker weight, use the smallest sinker that will keep your rig on the bottom, so you can jig it. The rig should always be jigged, never let it drag on the bottom. A gentle jigging, lifting the rod tip no more than 12″ and back down till you feel the sinker hit the bottom. Down below, what happens is your rig is moving as the boat moves along, and each time the sinker hits the bottom, it makes a noise and a puff of sand or mud. This noise and puff of mud attracts the attention of the flounder, and the bait on the hook tastes good. This is what brings them in.

Now, on to hooking the fish. The big mistake I see here is everyone wants to haul back quickly as soon as they feel a hit. This is a bad idea, as the flounder typically grabs the end of the bait away from the hook. So when you jerk the rod, it pulls the bait out of his mouth, or off the hook. The trick is to lift the rod tip slowly until he is hooked or lets go of the bait. Once he is hooked, then you can proceed with reeling him in. Use a light tip rod, a rod with a heavy tip makes it hard to feel the hits and hard to tell when you’ve hooked the fish. Put two anglers side-by-side, one with with a heavy rod, and the other with a light rod. The angler with the light rod will outfish the one with the heavier rod every time, given the same level of skill.

If you want to catch big ones, put on a big bait and be patient. If you follow some of these points you’ll be rewarded with more flounder in the boat.

Earl Bell is a fishing guide and has been fishing for over 40 years. He guides Rhode Island fishing charters on the Aces Wild from Jim’s Dock in Jerusalem.

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