wacko Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 Hi everyone, Just got back from an amazing trip to Fiji. We fished and stayed on a relatively small island called ONO which sits just off Kandavu island. The place, the people, the lodge and the fishing was just spectacular! I will keep the report short and let the photos (I have many) do the talking. Many Gt's were caught with some of these fish pushing over 40kg!! The 'by-catch' was just as awesome with many Big Red Bass, Jobfish, Coral Trout, Bluefin Trevally, Sharks, dogtooth tuna all caught. We basically pushed our gear to the limit (Saltigas and Stellas) trying to stop some of these brutes from rampaging back to the shallow coral edges or bommies. If you have seen it on video......times the pressure and hurt by 30 and you will get a jist of what I'm talking about!!! (locked drags and someone grabbing your back just to stay in the boat!) The big Gt's pulled drag like there was no tomorrow! Pound for Pound, these are one nasty fish!! Plus....we did'nt have the best conditions for most of the trip.....high winds and big seas made for tough poppering...but we persisted and came up trumps with some horses! What a wicked place! Can't wait to get back!!! Cheers, Wacko Some reef system we flew over: The lodge, front view: more photos:: This was a big guy...pushing 40kg maybe more who knows!!! Another monster!! Dave's big fish....the video for this is awesome! Dave did really well pulling this fish from 3 feet of coral edge!! Bernard did fantastic holding on as this fish swam over a reef edge.....heavy drag and some solid work got the fish back over and in the boat!!! Another brute! Big jobfish ate big poppers worked in the shallow lagoon flats! These big Red bass are tough brutes! We found em' in the lagoon and on the reef edge. They love big poppers!! Another nice Gt.... Lots of Gt's in the 'fun bracket' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 3, 2010 Author Share Posted April 3, 2010 I have many, many more nice photos, but this post would be way to long if I put them up. I will post later on some video of the action. Some great bust-offs and some awesome fish landed! So there you have it! What a place, I can't recommend the lodge enough. These people would serve us fantastic brekfast, lunch and dinners every day.....they even washed and dried our clothes every day!!! It was basically David, Andrew, Bernard and myself and the lodge staff at the resort.....remote and secluded. Our skipper and resort owner, Piero, was just awesome. Really cool guy to hang-out with....he even caught some great fish as well! (and got dusted a couple of times by unstoppables!!) Our decky, Sim, was also a ledgend! I miss everyone there already! Going back really soon I hope! Wack' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunch Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 The stig fishes too? Looks sick Jack. been much the same around here, and you had a week off work! Catch ya soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooker435 Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 OMG Beutiful Fish!!!!!!! did you do any videos of these???? Regards, Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNAP-ER Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 Unreal pics Jack,looks like you had an awesome time,WELL DONE MATE!!will catch up soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 WOW awesome fish Would love to catch a GT, look forward to seeing the vid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 3, 2010 Author Share Posted April 3, 2010 Thanks for the replies guys! Heres a few more random shots... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 that's unreal mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 There are some impressive GT's amongst that lot Jack! What an awesome trip. The lodge, the scenery, the fishing ... an amazing package. No wonder everyone raves about their time in Fiji. Looking forward to the video, mate. Fantastic photos, especially the 'casting' shot. Congrats on a top trip Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbenny Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 Dream holiday!! Very jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangus Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 (edited) Great catch!and great report Jack Good on you! Cheers Bangus team AKA Rommel and Robin Edited April 3, 2010 by bangus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outfisher Posted April 4, 2010 Share Posted April 4, 2010 Some great fish wacko have you any pics of the doggies cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornets Posted April 4, 2010 Share Posted April 4, 2010 Great action over there. Do you mind me asking how long were you were there & how much coin the trip was as it look like it needs to be done . Hornets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 Thanks again for the replies fellas! Cheers, Wacko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunch Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 That becomes a pretty affordable trip when you think about it. Jack, it looks like you're fed up of holding big fish in that second last photo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Great trip & great fish Wacko. Well done. I have edited a couple of posts in this thread. Out of respect to our site sponsors, Golden Eagle, could anyone who would like details of Wacko's trip please p.m him & Wacko could you please keep the replies to these questions to direct p.m's to the interested members. Thanks. J.H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogtooth Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 Great GTs there wacko , Did you do any jigging ? as the island looks like it has lots of drop offs looking at that chart picture. Cheers Dogtooth..... John... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacko Posted April 7, 2010 Author Share Posted April 7, 2010 (edited) Hi Jewhunter- No worries about the post ......Golden Eagle looks the goods too, and he fishes some of those reefs off Kandavu (basically we were just north of there). Might look at booking a trip (I know, I'm addicted!) Dogtooth- Cheers mate, thanks. The Jigging was a bit hit and miss. We would jig reef edges and passages and although we did catch some nice fish (dogtooth and trevs plus a big whaler shark)....it was fairly slow on the jigging front. The jigging there certainly needs some more exploring. The ideal bit of structure would be a close-by seamount.....the closest good seamount was a good 2.5hours away. Jigging the passages was a little bit 'blind' but if there was a passing fish, you would normally catch it. We made the decision to Popper our hearts out instead on most days fishing! Cheers, Wack' Edited April 7, 2010 by wacko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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