south pacific fishing

[zeypher]

Hi raiders,

i am going on a cruise next year to New Caledonia and i am wondering if anyone has fished the islands over there (isle of pines) etc.

any advise would be appreciated.

cheers. 

[Houdini]

don't eat the yellow snow

[mrsswordfisherman]

What ship?

[Houdini]

take the drinks package

[zeypher]

19 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

What ship?

carnival spirit

[dogbox]

Yes i did

Fished Vanuatu and Mystery island  caught nothing

What i learn t was Mystery Island has great fishing but you need to supply your own fishing gear. The locals don't have access to the type of gear you need to catch quality fish. In Vanuatu you need a whole day on a charter because the best fishing grounds are a few hours south of Port Villa by boat. Don't book anything on the boat its twice as expensive. The charter operators are aware of when the cruises ship arrive, so all you need to do is book them directly telling them that you are arrive by ship, time and date and your in.

On Mystery island get off first you'll have to get to the guys that take you fishing before anyone else, there was no pre-booking. $100 will get you a boat and driver for the day. All things are negotiable with the islanders.

One thing i would like to do is to fly to Mystery island and stay for a few weeks. when i was there i hang out with a guy called Josephus, he said i could come back and stay with him and his family. He would show me the island life, its pretty basic there. No roads all travel is by foot or boat.

 

dogbox 

   

 

 

[big Neil]

On 11/9/2016 at 3:14 PM, zeypher said:

Hi raiders,

i am going on a cruise next year to New Caledonia and i am wondering if anyone has fished the islands over there (isle of pines) etc.

any advise would be appreciated.

cheers. 

Hi zeypher, I went fishing with a couple of locals at either Isle of Pines or Mystery Island and it has to rank as one of the strangest "charters" ever. Got to the island by tender and saw a chalkboard sign for fishing $40. "Wow, that's cheap" I thought and found these 2 locals in a 14 ft tinnie with a 50HP outboard. Anyway this other guy and I jumped on and the motor wouldn't start. Great start I thought as he finally got it to run...albeit a bit rough. He headed off at high speed towards the reef which surrounded the island. Large waves were breaking over the reef which appeared to encircle the island and I wondered how he was going to get to the seaward side of the reef. All became clear as he hurtled, flat out, through a small gap in the reef. He gunned it along the front of a breaking wave, surfing along it till he was in the clear. We went out a bit and he pulled up. "Where's the rods?" I thought and his mate produced some handlines with rusty hooks and a 9 inch rusty bolt for a sinker. He then pulled a couple of small fish from his pocket and cut one up into small pieces. We ended up catching these things with red throats and about a few kilos, for about an hour and then hurtled back through the gap in the reef. It was a bit unusual but hey, we caught plenty of fish and had a hair raising boat ride thrown in. Not sure if this is helpful so when you get on board ask the crew. Most of them are in the know and will tell you things which may not be readily advertised. Cheers,BN.

[Mojo4fishin]

how long are you off the boat for?

[zeypher]

thanks for the advise guys, i will take a rod and see how it goes. might even try flicking some lures on the sand banks

 

[dogbox]

I for got to add

When i was on Mystery Island the deal included that i had to bail the water out of the leaky boat.

 

[mrsswordfisherman]

A friend just did a cruise and showed me the Daily Activities sheets. Most cruises have these.

You will see the fishing charters they use. Might be a bit safer and a better experience? 

[Ocean Addiction]

I've fished out of Noumea with Le Poisson Banane (LPB) a number of years ago.  I think they have since gone out of business.

The fishing was pretty good.  Usual tropical affair with casting poppers at the reef and jigging in the channels.  We encountered several unstoppables.  I found the reefs in New Cal to be a bit more unforgiving than those in Fiji.  I think they have a bit more structure to them which makes it easier for the fish to bust you off.

The scenery in New Cal is pretty outstanding (once outside of Noumea).  I also saw my first Whale Shark on this trip which was pretty awesome. 

I do recall it was quite expensive as the exchange rate was TERRIBLE at the time!!!  Might be worth checking this out.

I imagine Isle of Pines would be pretty for a fishing charter as it is a bit more remote.  We had to go a fair bit out of Noumea to get to some of the less fished areas.  Hope this helps.