Vanuatu birthday bash
Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 11:25 pm
What do you do when 4 old school mates turn 50? You plan a big fishing trip, what else
And so it was, over many beers several years ago, that myself and 3 other old Darwin High mates decided we were going to celebrate in style. Fishing of course would be a central theme along with a bit of international travel so a plan was hatched for our Boys Own adventure. First step was stashing some cash away on a regular basis, the next was to pick a destination. After much surfing of the web and emails back and forth Trees & Fishes resort in Vanuatu was chosen as the final destination fishing with the crew from Ocean Blue Fishing Adventures. Good call From the time we arrived at the airport at Port Vila till the time we were dropped to our resort for a few days follow up R&R nothing was too much trouble. The setting, nestled into the protected waters of Havannah Harbour was spectacular , the 32ft Edgewater boats we fished out of were awesome craft and the skipper, deckie and gear were top shelf. Accommodation, meals and everything else was also first class. High praise indeed but really, it was very hard to find fault. Maybe some better coffee...... At least we left our mark on the tree Darwin style. Most chose to leave a lure, we donated a stubby cooler..... The important stuff, ie the fishing, didn’t disappoint either. With FADs deployed at regular intervals along the coast it was only a short run from the lodge before lines were in and if one FADs not firing its only a short run or casual troll to the next. Big Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi are mainstay on the FADs and we had a ball knocking over quality examples of both. The tuna were taken trolling big poppers which was a workout in its own right. With the poppers set back 70 - 80mt, they were worked with short jabs that became quite a chore after 20 or 30 minutes which was invariably when you took the massive surface strike........... Cannot tell a lie, we did tag out on several occasions . Fishing in 800m+ when they decided they didn’t like the sight of the boat it was nothing to lose 150m in the blink of an eye and it was back to the start all over again. Most of the Dollies were taken on stickbaits tossed at the FAD or baits of Skipjack strips tossed back at fish teased up on a skipping bait. Amazing looking fish, big neon blue bars slicing through the waves and crazy action when you hook up. Didn’t seem to be any small ones amongst them either. One I caught came on board and displayed colours like I’ve never seen before, the shades of blue were mad. Cookie Cutter Sharks must be in plague proportions there as not too many Tuna or Dollies came over the side without having been tagged by one of those snipers. We struggled with the weather for a couple of days but managed to catch quality fish each day. The variety is endless and we did everything from trolling tiny (2.5cm) soft plastics for flying fish to use as live bait to downrigging big live Mack Tuna for Doggies and GTs. We ended up with a few small Doggies jigging but the big ones eluded us. I did end up with a quality GT and a solid Bronze Whaler for my efforts however ..... There were times when the sounder would be lit up like a Christmas tree but you couldn’t buy a bite, pretty sure we’ve all been there before We had a semi serious crack at trolling up some Billies a couple of times but it was not to be for us however several were caught on the days prior to and after our trip and a small Blue was caught on one of the other boats while we were there.
Dropping lighter jigs in shallower water saw all sorts come onboard including Rainbow Runners, Blue Trevally, Coral Trout and Pike. All in all it was an amazing trip to an amazing fishery. The 5 days afterwards just kicking around the island was a great way to wind down. Necking a few Tuskers and retelling tales tall and true with good mates, reckon I’m nearly ready to go again
Melv
And so it was, over many beers several years ago, that myself and 3 other old Darwin High mates decided we were going to celebrate in style. Fishing of course would be a central theme along with a bit of international travel so a plan was hatched for our Boys Own adventure. First step was stashing some cash away on a regular basis, the next was to pick a destination. After much surfing of the web and emails back and forth Trees & Fishes resort in Vanuatu was chosen as the final destination fishing with the crew from Ocean Blue Fishing Adventures. Good call From the time we arrived at the airport at Port Vila till the time we were dropped to our resort for a few days follow up R&R nothing was too much trouble. The setting, nestled into the protected waters of Havannah Harbour was spectacular , the 32ft Edgewater boats we fished out of were awesome craft and the skipper, deckie and gear were top shelf. Accommodation, meals and everything else was also first class. High praise indeed but really, it was very hard to find fault. Maybe some better coffee...... At least we left our mark on the tree Darwin style. Most chose to leave a lure, we donated a stubby cooler..... The important stuff, ie the fishing, didn’t disappoint either. With FADs deployed at regular intervals along the coast it was only a short run from the lodge before lines were in and if one FADs not firing its only a short run or casual troll to the next. Big Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi are mainstay on the FADs and we had a ball knocking over quality examples of both. The tuna were taken trolling big poppers which was a workout in its own right. With the poppers set back 70 - 80mt, they were worked with short jabs that became quite a chore after 20 or 30 minutes which was invariably when you took the massive surface strike........... Cannot tell a lie, we did tag out on several occasions . Fishing in 800m+ when they decided they didn’t like the sight of the boat it was nothing to lose 150m in the blink of an eye and it was back to the start all over again. Most of the Dollies were taken on stickbaits tossed at the FAD or baits of Skipjack strips tossed back at fish teased up on a skipping bait. Amazing looking fish, big neon blue bars slicing through the waves and crazy action when you hook up. Didn’t seem to be any small ones amongst them either. One I caught came on board and displayed colours like I’ve never seen before, the shades of blue were mad. Cookie Cutter Sharks must be in plague proportions there as not too many Tuna or Dollies came over the side without having been tagged by one of those snipers. We struggled with the weather for a couple of days but managed to catch quality fish each day. The variety is endless and we did everything from trolling tiny (2.5cm) soft plastics for flying fish to use as live bait to downrigging big live Mack Tuna for Doggies and GTs. We ended up with a few small Doggies jigging but the big ones eluded us. I did end up with a quality GT and a solid Bronze Whaler for my efforts however ..... There were times when the sounder would be lit up like a Christmas tree but you couldn’t buy a bite, pretty sure we’ve all been there before We had a semi serious crack at trolling up some Billies a couple of times but it was not to be for us however several were caught on the days prior to and after our trip and a small Blue was caught on one of the other boats while we were there.
Dropping lighter jigs in shallower water saw all sorts come onboard including Rainbow Runners, Blue Trevally, Coral Trout and Pike. All in all it was an amazing trip to an amazing fishery. The 5 days afterwards just kicking around the island was a great way to wind down. Necking a few Tuskers and retelling tales tall and true with good mates, reckon I’m nearly ready to go again
Melv