Fishimg in FIJI

[liamoi]

Hello, i'm off on holiday to Fiji in september and fancied having a go at fishing from the beach. Nothing too serious, just wanna see what i can get!! I have experience of carp and course fishing but very little sea fishing experience, so i have no idea what i'd need!? I need to know everything from what reel and rod(teloscopic I'm afraid) to go for to what main line and terminal tackle i need! Any advice or suggested reading would be greatly appreciated!
Liam

[PanamaJack]

It's many years since any of our Club members fished Fiji and then it was all offshore.

Could I perhaps suggest that you try posting to one of the Australian based forums for specific advice. Here's the url of one that you could use as a starting point - http://www.fishnet.com.au/forums/. Fiji's a fairly extensive archipelago, but one of the specific references I found to shore fishing was this - http://www.fishnet.com.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46434&highlight=fiji.

Following on from that thread from the shore you'll going to encounter Jacks. They, especially the GTs - Giant Trevallies - they're refering to are extremely powerful and will agressively strike at fast cranked surface lures, things like the Yo-Zuri Surface Bulls. In terms of the tackle that you might have could I suggest you take a heavy Pike Spinning rod, preferably something for fishing jerk baits. But let me assure you the GTs are going to be nothing like you've ever encountered in this country!

Anyway I hope that at least gives you a starting point.
Dave

[marktheshark]

Hullo matey
I've not fished Fiji but I was in French Polynesia a few years ago, and some of what's good there will be good in Fiji.
If you're in a resort that's part of an atoll, try to get to one of the passes. It's usually deep water flowing fast, and holds lots of fish, some of them huge. Lots of trevallies hunt around these: they'll take poppers, shallow plugs and I took a 14lb one on a simple 5in silver muppet with a 1oz weight in the nose ripped back just under the surface. Pacific barracuda, which are a bit weedy looking and don't fight like Caribbean cudas, will also take spinners and if you're fishing light, you'll get good sport off needlefish (garfish), especially if you hook one of the five-footers; and there are as many reef sharks as you want to catch on livebait (take small hooks and use bread for mullet). Plenty of snappers, blue jacks, and grouper lower in the water; in the Tuamotos a 500lb grouper swum up to see what all the fuss was about! If you're on a deepwater atoll, sometimes pelagics such as tuna and kingfish wander within casting range of the outer reef. You'll need strong wire traces.
Inshore, the shallow reef waters are good for trevallies (giant, blue and golden); needlefish; and around rocks and coral outcrops, small grouper and snapper. Most of these will take lures and the groupers are territorial and will snap at plugs almost as big as themselves. Fish strip or squid will take them, and other reef dwellers such as triggerfish, peacock flounder, and sometimes parrotfish. There are reef sharks up to 50lb everywhere too. If your hotel has floodlights shining on the sea at night, it will attract baitfish - and the predators will be waiting just outside the light.
I would not bring a telescopic. I had one explode on me in Tahiti when I was fighting a shark and it's put me off them for life. I'd bring the heaviest multipart predator or heavy spinning rod you can buy. Even then it will be tough. Trevallies are brutal fighters, grouper and snapper head straight for coral holes, even parrotfish and triggerfish will break you; and there's not much point being too sporting anyway, since any protracted fight will only attract sharks. I also found braid to be a liability around coral. Heavy mono, hooks in sizes from 14 to 10/0, wire, and a reel with a good drag are essential.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Mark

[BigAl]

Now thats what I call advice!!!!!!!!!

Brilliant

[jimjam]

Greetings,

That post by Mark was really helpful.
I am going to be spending a month in French Polynesia in August and September this year. I shall be visiting Moorea, Bora Bora and Huahine.
I intend to fish from the shore, but I haven't fished for about 25 years! The last time was fishing for wrasse in Cornwall.
I need to buy all new gear (cost- not important). It would really help if anyone could specify exactly what I need. (treat me like a novice please!)
I am looking at the Shakespear Salt Travel Beach Rod.
I don't know what Multiplier to buy. Line, etc. Please help pack my bag!

Much thanks,
Jeremy

[marktheshark]

Hi Jeremy
Um ... that's a pretty broad brush! What sort of fishing did you do then, and what sort do you want to do now?
I've not been to BB or Huahine but did fish Moorea. It's surrounded mostly by shallow inshore sandy beaches, with some patches of coral, inside a barrier reef (with a few breaks) about half a mile offshore. Inside the reef there are jacks, lots of sharks, snapper, grouper and the usual small reef species. Offshore, the usual pelagics I mentioned previously. Moorea has a good tourist infrastructure and if you want to do blue water fishing, the bigger hotels run game boats.
Inshore, the daytime shore fishing isn't great off the beaches. I did hire a small tin bathtub with a 4hp outboard from the beach and went trolling a bit farther out, towards the reef, and had a few jacks like that on small silver muppets.
At night, though, it hots up. Look for anywhere there's floodlights on the water; that'll bring in small baitfish, and the edges will be teeming with predators. Small poppers, Toby-syle spinners and silvery muppets will get you jacks and snapper; live or deadbait will get you sharks, some over 50lb.
I'd not take a beachcaster; I'd take something a bit stronger and more compact that won't fold up if you hook a larger fish. A very heavy spinning rod, popper rod, catfish rod or uptider (you can get a lot of these specialist travel rods on the net now) is what I'd take. Don't fish light, and don't think too sporting, as sharks will nail anything small that you allow to splash around ... think of bullying wrasse out of rocks!
Let me know more.
Mark

[jimjam]

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the reply.
I don't intend to do any big game fishing off a boat outside of the reef, on account of maybe getting a bit sea sick.
But I would like to try my hand at any of the action I can get from the shore. I have been reading a bit about GT's and they sound great sport.
I do have 8 days at the Intercontinental Resort and Spa Moorea, as well as Bora Bora and Huahine, so with a bit of exploring I'm sure I can find some good spots.
If the SHAKESPEARE SALT TRAVEL BEACH ROD is not strong enough, how about the SHAKESPEARE SALT TRAVEL BOAT 30-50lb? or any other suggestions.
I'm also looking to pair it with a good multiplier and saw an Abu Ambassadeur BG 7000 HS on ebay recently. I missed the bidding on it, but would this be right? Not being familiar with multipliers I want to get my kit early, so I can get to field and practice casting before I go.
For GT's I understand that you need big poppers, and I've been having trouble finding them from UK stores.
I'll also need some long pliers and maybe a mesh glove for hook removal? etc.
Thanks,
Jeremy

[marktheshark]

Hi Jeremy
Still a bit confused about what sort of fishing you want to do: I don't think an 7000 multi, coupled with a 30-50lb boat rod, is going to be much use for casting poppers! You're right about one thing though: it would be a good idea to practice with whatever you're going to use. I personally would not get a multi for long-casting unless I was sure I could use it and cast as far as with a big fixed spool. I won't tell you what to get, but I'll tell you what I'd use. Whatever you get, I'd not be tempted to go cheap: a lot of my gear sounds expensive but it's also lasted more than a decade, and many trips, and it's a long way to go to find that the bargain rod you've snapped up has done just that.
First up, the rod needs to be long enough and stiff enough to cast heavy lures (up to 100g), sturdy enough to fish livebait for big fish, sensitive enough to try for lighter stuff too - plus compact enough to travel, so I'd take a 9-10ft multipart heavy lure rod. If you can get an old Greys Missionary 4pc 30-100g, they're a superb rod, but no longer made; it's been replaced by a 6pc costing twice as much - £230. Snowbee do two 9ft 4pc travel rods, one rated at 60-100g (£135) and the other a 5lb t/c (£165) which also look good, especially the lighter one. I think Greys have introduced two rods specifically for poppering, but haven't seen them yet - initial feedback suggests they're for very heavy use.
For a reel, only one choice for me: Shimano Big Baitrunner. Big, clunky, but a good line-lay, huge capacity, very strong and brilliant running system (much easier than the new fiddle-with-the-front versions). I take a spare spool, 20lb mono for spinning on the first, 30lb for baitfishing on the other. I don't use braid around coral/structure. If you're OK with multipliers then a 7000 size is fine but I'm not touching new Abus - I bought one last year that broke after one trip, and I was surprised at how flimsy they feel compared to the old Swedish-made ones I've got.
For lures: there are some very expensive poppers around, especially the huge Yozuris (£22), but have a look at the online shops below. You can also buy Ocean Smart poppers at £2 a pop (thefriendlyfisherman), and big, budget poppers at around £5 each (I forget who makes these, but a lot of shops stock them now; if you're in London, Farlows of Pall Mall is a bit intimidating, but it's got a good variety incl these; so has Simpsons of Turnford, near Enfield in Herts). Veals has a good selection.
I'd browse at the following online shops: sportfish, veals, rokmax, tacklebargains, harrissportsmail, and thefriendlyfisherman for an idea of what's around.
Finally, if you're staying at the Beachcomber (you lucky man!) it's on Hauru Point, with has a pass in the barrier reef in front of it. That's not much use if you're shore fishing, as you'll be restricted to the beach, and I remember a long wooden jetty next to hotel Les Tipaniers from which you could fish too. So poppers and surface lures for trevallies at dusk would be first up, I'd say, and hence, the ability to cast at least 60-80 yards and retrieve lures very fast. Second up would be livebait or deadbait for sharks, snappers, and groupers. The other possibility, bearing in mind what I've said about fish and lights, would be fishing at night into floodlights, so a few plastic sardine/anchovy type Storm lures, in 9-14cm sizes, might be wise too.
Let us know if you need any more. As I've said before: when in doubt go heavy, and don't confuse trevallies with any fish you've caught from these shores! They're brutes.
Mark

[jimjam]

Thanks Mark,
that is just the information that I need. Really helpful.
I know where to come for some good advice.
Jeremy.