With stunning photography blended with exciting features from the world’s leaders of the sport, we aim to deliver knowledge and inspiration that will make a real difference to the success and enjoyment of beginners and experts alike.

Issue 93 of BlueWater magazine out now – 29th Aug 2012

FISHING FEATURES

Tony ludovico – a life underwater

Driven by a fierce passion to capture the underwater realm on camera – particularly the large pelagic gamefish we love – Tony Ludovico has travelled the world and spent countless hours submerged. His stunning photography reveals a world hidden to most of us behind the surface veil.

riding the current edge

This issue marks BlueWater’s 15th birthday and there have been many extraordinary changes to our sport during that time.

tackle to tackle bigger fishSubstantial advances in reel and line technology have revolutionised gamefishing over the past 15 years.

game-changing rods

Tackle to tackle bigger fish

a day to remember

Swimming with torpedoes

Imagine being in the middle of a wide-open tuna feeding spree and then jumping in to watch the action.

Farewell jack erskine

The drag system on your reel, the line you fish with, perhaps even the tackle shop you bought it from may have been influenced by this man.

Prey species - Needlefishes

Flying fish, garfish, longtoms and sauries are all species of needlefish and favoured prey for gamefish.

Sydney’s diamond

Sydney Game Fishing Club has produced a significant list of leading anglers and record catches over its 60 year history.

Big fish small boats – Making your trailerboat user-friendly – Part 2

The set-up of your rodholders and outriggers will affect your success.

Lure lore

lure lore – Part 11: Jet lures – The hole truth

Jet-heads are popular lures, but do the holes help them to catch as many fish as they catch anglers?

classic tomes – Fishing the Atlantic – Offshore and on

A Kip Farrington classic detailing US and Canadian giant bluefin, marlin and swordfish during the 1930s

creatures of the deep – Snake mackerel

This fearsome tropical predator is active near the surface at night and is commonly caught by longliners.

smoke and mirrors – Meridian ‘Spectre’

This magnum-sized lure produces a sophisticated action that has grander marlin written all over it.

BOAT FEATURES

Gameboats for the new millennium

catch me – if you can – Cabo 52 Express

Calling all thrill-seekers … If you like the rush of being sucked into the back of your seat as you rocket out over the ocean waves towards your next marlin, this very serious although very fast gameboat is just what you need.

what a difference a decade makes

It’s staggering to see how far fish-finding and navigation electronics have progressed in just a few years.

gameboats for the new millennium

Cairns stalwart, Capt Bob Jones, tells how gameboats have evolved and improved over recent years.

With stunning photography blended with exciting features from the world’s leaders of the sport, we aim to deliver knowledge and inspiration that will make a real difference to the success and enjoyment of beginners and experts alike.

The GT goldmine part 2

Issue 92 of  BlueWater magazine out now – 27th June 2012

Content included in issue 92 of  BlueWater magazine

FISHING FEATURES

Dolphinfish – high-performance predator

These spectacular, tasty, and exciting gamefish are also fascinating creatures. Donald Hammond, the US marine fisheries biologist who runs the Dolphinfish Research Program, reveals just how fast they grow, how remarkably gluttonous they are, and how far they travel in their brief lives.

The GT Goldmine – Part 2 Battle Tactics for the World’s Largest Giant Trevally

Master GT angler, Brandon Khoo details the strategies, the mindset, the techniques, the tackle and the vital tips that will not only get you hooked-up to the biggest GTs in the world, but offer you a real chance of landing them!

NZ Bluefin – a day to remember

Book Review: BIG – The 50 Greatest World Record Catches

A stunningly-presented account of the story behind each record catch.

A Day to Remember: Night of the New Zealand BluefinStanding up to enormous Pacific bluefin tuna on a cold winter’s night.

Creatures of the Deep: Marlin ‘Lice’

These calanoid copepods look like space invaders and even camouflage themselves with ultraviolet light.

They Call the Shots: Capt Paul Mead – The Pioneer

After roaming the South Pacific, Paul chose Vava’u in Tonga as the perfect venue to run charters for blue marlin.

Prey Species: Herring – The Most Important Baitfish in the World

As vital prey, herring influence the lives of many gamefish.

Big Fish Small Boats: Making Your Trailerboat User-Friendly
How to organise your boat for less confusion and more success.

Lure Lore: Part 10 – Probe Deeper

Surface lures are great for billfish, but for other gamefish going down can produce even more results.

Smoke and Mirrors Scent Blazer ‘Slant Head’

What could be better than combining the visuals of a skirted lure with the attraction of real bait?

BOAT FEATURES

HIGH-PERFORMANCE OFFSHORE ROCKET: Boston Whaler 250 Outrage

Like a convertible sportscar for the bluewater, this surprisingly dry and very comfortable American-built centre-console sportfisher looks smokin’ and has the performance to get you to where you want to go sooner.

HIGH SEAS ACTION: Haines Hunter 760R Limited

Tuna-testing the flagship from a company renowned for outstanding fibreglass rough-water trailerboats.

HOW TO BUY A SECOND-HAND FIBREGLASS BOAT

A marine surveyor’s invaluable guide to evaluating used boats so you don’t get caught with a lemon.

Subscribe for two years and save

Subscribe for two years for just $139.95 and we’ll give you bonus gifts valued at $154.85 FREE!

and Deepwater Jigging aboard ‘BITE ME’

Specialist long range remote reef popper casting and deepwater jigging aboard ‘BITE ME’.

From F$3,230 per person

This is a GT hunter’s dream fishing holiday.

Be the first to search and cast poppers to 75 miles of Kadavu island’s remote, unexplored Great Astrolabe barrier reef . Drop jigs for Dogtooth Tuna, Almaco Jacks, Jobfish, Groupers and and array of different deepwater species.

Fish barrier reef breakers and reef systems never before seen or fished by anglers from our 31ft flybridge game boat ‘‘BITE ME‘.

Includes:

• 7 nights in Oceanview Traditional Bure(s)
• 2 days of  specialist  remote reef popper casting & jigging on ‘‘BITE ME‘ with Bite Me Gamefishing Charters
• Traditional Lovo Feast and Kava ceremony
• All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, unlimited tea/coffee)
• Boat transfers to/from Kadavu airport
• All taxes

Price per person (2 people / 1 bure)

Package for 2 anglers/ 1 bure
F$4,400
per person

Package Code :

GT-Pand-12

from F$3,775 per person

Available for 2 or 4 people

Pick the best weather days for your 3 days of big game fishing aboard Bite Me. Mix and match your gamefishing with all your other adventure activities. Fish hard, play hard, do what you want, when you want.

Includes:

• Bite Me All over (2 or 4 people)
• 7 nights in Oceanview Traditional Bure(s)
• 3 days Mixed Gamefishing on ‘BITE ME’ with Bite Me Gamefishing Charters
• Traditional Lovo Feast and Kava ceremony
• All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, unlimited tea/coffee)
• Boat transfers to/from Kadavu airport
• All taxes

Price per person
2 people / 1 bure

F$ 5,485.00

Price per person
4 people / 2 bures

F$ 3,775.00

Package Code : BMAA12

From F$4,265 per person

This package is for full on fishermen who want to fish hard and make the most of their Kadavu Island  experience. Fish the famous Kadavu Seamount, Solo Attol, Kadavu Trench or 100km of Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef.  With 5 days to play with you can target your fish of a lifetime whether its a trophy Blue Marlin, back-breaking Dogtooth Tuna or 50kg popper smashing GT.

Includes:

• 7 nights in Oceanview Traditional Bure(s)
• 4 days Unlimited Gamefishing on ‘BITE ME‘ with Bite Me Gamefishing Charters
• Traditional Lovo Feast and Kava ceremony
• All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, unlimited tea/coffee)
• Boat transfers to/from Kadavu airport
• All taxes

Package for 2 anglers
F$6,465
per person

Package for 4 anglers
F$4,265
per person

Conditions:

• Prices quoted are for based on double / twin share in a Oceanview Bure .
• Offer based on Matava’s standard F$ cash discount pricelist
• Valid for any charters before 31st March 2014

Book your Gamefishing Trip Now!

Click here to book your Game Fishing trip to the Fiji Islands today and see what all the pro’s are raving about in the fishing magazines about Kadavu, Fiji!!

Book Now!

This of course gave my deckie Joeli and I the perfect excuse to jump in the inshore fishing boat on a quiet day with a fist full of new lures to have some fun….Sort of busman’s holiday you might say.

Over several months, we tried out everything from GT poppers to blue water skirted lures and a few of the lures impressed us sufficiently that they are now firmly part of our Gamefishing vessels available onboard lure rolls.

YahooWahoo

This blue water skirted lure was first run at the onset of our winter wahoo season when large packs of wahoo gather along the Great Astrolabe barrier reef. The lure is a sliced face heavy resin head with pearl inserts and a fairly large leader hole. It came to us from the factory with what looked like a rather mediocre quality 7 inch skirt but these are now being upgraded buy the manufacturer. Actually, it’s a marketing / cosmetic thing. Its common knowledge that half of all lures in tackle shops are designed to catch anglers not fish! We found the original test skirts worked rather well on the wahoo and we run these lures as they come until it needs replacing.

The test lures had brass tube inserts for the leader which can chafe mono however the manufacturer is changing this to a softer plastic lining.

The weight of the head makes this a higher speed lure and one that copes well with rough weather. At low speeds (4-6kts) it sits quietly and you are wasting your time for anything but tuna. Rig it on wire however and up the speed past 6kts and this lure comes alive in a big way. The narrow diameter wire through the large bore leader hole allows the head to shake violently causing the lure to duck, dive and headshake a huge erratic bubble trail. It’s a total wahoo magnet and during the wahoo season, we don’t leave home without it.

Position: Long Rigger

Rigging: Two hook 8/0 60 degree Semi-stiff rig.

Leader: At least 4 feet of 124lb Stainless Steel 49 strand wire

Best Colour: Green over Red as supplied or Lumo green

Tips:

Make sure your leader is significantly smaller than the lure leader tube bore. If you suspend the lure by holding the leader, the head should be able to wobble about. Consider using a short piece of plastic tubing to protect the head where the leader exits the front end. The action can be so violent that the head will eventually chip with no protection.

Run this lure as far back as you can and watch the wahoo come porpoising in from 50 yards away.

Maker – Lurestreet

Distributor – Palm Fishing Australiawww.palmfishing.com.au

Tim Simpson tries for a light tackle record on sialfish and wahoo on Bite Me at Matava in Kadavu, Fiji.

For the Record

Bluewater Magazine – November 2007

We recommend Foxit Reader for pdf reading.

• International

“Lots of bait on the finder, get ready,” were the words spoken by Captain Adrian just moments before the chaos broke out. Both trolled baits on the left side went down in whitewater explosions and a 60-pound torpedo vaulted into the air completely across the spread to take the long bait on the right side. As the boat went out of gear and everyone scrambled for rods, I cast my fly behind the boat and started stripping only to find that the short right rod was bending double and everyone else occupied.

Putting the fly rod between my knees, I grabbed the bait rod and set the hook hard. That’s when that sinking feeling set in. In my peripheral vision another projectile appeared from the skies and took the fly at the end of its arc and raced for parts unknown. Somehow I managed to grab the fly rod from between my knees before the fly line came tight and I watched as backing disappeared from the reel. As I yelled “I’m bit!,” a strong, calloused ebony hand appeared from behind and relieved me of the bait rod.

Variations on this theme would appear throughout the rest of the day and ones following. The wahoo had packed up on Great Astrolabe Reef.

Friend Bill Boyce, a camera crew and I had somehow been blessed to arrive in this paradise at the right time in early August. The common Fijian word “Vinaka” means thank you. We found our voices easily flowing into this term even with inflection from the minute we arrived in Fiji . I can speak it now and immediately feel the warmth generate through me.

There are those places that you do not often find and that will stick with you forever, and we had found one. Those special places are due in small part by the fishing , the scenery and accommodations . But what truly makes these places special are the people. Matava resort on the island of Kadavu Fiji is one of them.

Capt. Adrian Watt a displaced Englishman and co-owner of Matava resort is passionate about his fishing and his Deep V 31 Bite Me. He and his mate Joe Tuku do not miss a trick and know the waters of the Astralabe Reef like the backyard that it is to them.

Adrian could tell us just about when we would get bit and Joe was always their ever helpful with quick hands and quick wit. You do not often find a captain, mate and anglers that instantly fish well together, but we all found it was like fishing with old friends .

We had luckily hit when the wahoo first packed up on the reef for the year. Trolling the reefs edge a mile or so from land where depths drop to a mind numbing 4,000 feet in places was awesome. When a bait went down we were not sure what might be hitting it. We had rods go down with sails on the left and wahoo on the right .

We were interrupted by 40-pound mackerel and 60-pound barracuda. Casting a popper to the reefs edge could put you into a battle with a GT that you could seat 3 people on? Trolling east between Kandavu and Oni Island put us on schools of yellowfin and though we did not see any marlin of which all 3 species can be found .,they are their and typically bigger than you want on a fly unless you have stock in a fly line company.

Fishing is year round here depending on species you are pursuing. It also a place you can pursue many of these on fly and it wont hurt you to invite a friend who is a conventional fisherman to hook and hold some of these critters and keep his buddies near the boat .

You will need fly rods from 10 weight on up to whatever you can throw. I would suggest 12 and 14 weights. You will need floating lines and some heavy quick sinking ones. Large and small poppers . Big subsurface flies suck as Flashy Profiles and Capt Hook flies, big Deceivers ect.; and lots of them. You will need wire!

Whether it be single strand or multiple bring lots. With all of the wahoo, mackerel and cudas its a must even when targeting other species. Extra fly lines and backing. You will also most likely be the only boat on the reef fishing.

Accommodations are rustic and comfortable with breathtaking views. Food is great with often your catch of the day on the menu. Matava is an eco-friendly resort using lantern light after dark. It does have phone and Internet capability if you really need to contact the outside world.

The local flora and fauna is amazing. Their are numerous species that are found only in Fiji and some only on Kadavu . The Fijian people are always smiling and carefree. (I think they know something we don’t in this modern world.) And they still live in small villages in a tribal governed system. If you want to fish inside the reef you will probably have to meet the chief who’s village governs that bay and pay a small fee for the privilege.

If you or your spouse and kids snorkel and or fish you will keep busy daily. This is also a world class diving destination and Matava is set up with all the equipment and staff needed. Where else can fish or snorkel all day and then sit back with a cold one and watch the fruit bats head back to roost over a vast expanse of reef. You might even get an offer from a grin bearing Fijian to head over to his village for a little Kava drinking and dinner. Just ask whats on the menu first!

If you wan to go contact the resort at matava @connect .com.fj. You might even see a crazy american their with a long wand. Most likely it will be me as I will be back.

Cammy Sigler lives on an island outside of Seattle.

Fiji Fly-Fishing | Fly Rod & Reel