Spinning in Rodrigues.

**tupsyr** · 08-01-2007, 17:27

Rodrigues is a small island off Mauritius where my dad is currently working. Only about 30 thousand people and half of them are fishermen, traditional ones with handlines and small wooden boats like the one in ''old man and the sea.''

While we were there we went for a boat ride to one of the islands. Not boat fishing. Just picnic. Took my spinning rod just in case. On the way to the island i asked the skipper for his handline so we can have some fun. Caught nothing and skipper was having fun at my expense asking if i prayed that morning. We did manage so spot this massive fish though about a metre in length just cruising along for a few seconds. It was only a few meters from the boat. Later came to know it was a Wahoo, checked it out on the internet. Maybe it's a good thing i did not catch that one. Would have just taken off like a rocket and handlining a wahoo would probably have ended up with me losing a finger or two.

Got to the island and asked skipper about where i could fish. He was not very impressed with my selection of lures and spinners and pointed to some distant corner of the island and says maybe a chance of some small fish. First one i caught was a couple of pounds. Then the small ones he was referring to then my dad came along to see how we were doing. At that very moment i caught something and thought it would be a good idea to let my dad play this one. Forgot to say that first fish took about five minutes to land. Trevallies though they don't look like they're built for speed they can run and man when you hook one of these babies you will know it straight away, no mistaking for anything else.So gave rod to my dad and two minutes later he's struggling and the fish keeps pulling line out. Jumped in to help my dad and the fish that was caught a few meters from the beach was now about 50m out. 15-20 minutes later the fish was on the beach. Did not have a weighing scale but after gutting and cleaning it weighed 8 and a quarter pounds. Man i wish i had taken the fly rod that day. Big mistake. But at least now i know what to expect. Next time am down there, trevallies will be first on my list. That day we caught about 15lbs of fish in two hours. Marvellous.

**groomyd** · 08-01-2007, 19:54

Not jealous at all. Nope not a bit.

**Cascars** · 21-01-2007, 14:11

I'd be happy just to be on that beach right now. To have a rod in my hand would be the icing on the cake

**Jamie Donnelly** · 21-01-2007, 16:56

that looks amazing!!

what sort of lure were you using, im off to cuba in august, and im not sure what lure to take.

Jamie

**tupsyr** · 22-01-2007, 13:57

I was using a small orange spoon with black dots. I failed to realise at the time that the spoon was a bit too small. Should have upgraded to something a bit bigger for the better fish.

If it's GT you're after, then for the big fish anything up to about 20cm is good. These fish fight hard so be prepared for a good long fight and make sure your takle is up for it. A 50lbs fish is quite normal if you're fishing the reef.

**Jamie Donnelly** · 22-01-2007, 16:47

what is a GT??

what sort of tackle would i need to fight a 50lber? what type of spinning rod?

Jamie

**dc101** · 22-01-2007, 17:38

Jamie,

A giant trevally I think: http://www.amonline.net.au/FISHES/fi...ish/cignob.htm

**PanamaJack** · 22-01-2007, 17:39

Originally Posted by Jamie Donnelly

what is a GT??

what sort of tackle would i need to fight a 50lber? what type of spinning rod?

Jamie

Jamie
A GT's a Giant Trevally. Here's a picture of well ....... a 'Giant' GT - http://www.noreast.com/discussion/Vi...topic_ID=81358. Sorry about the tautology!

Any rate no need to worry, they're encountered in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, not the Atlantic.

In terms of tackle though for your trip to Cuba have you read this post - http://www.worldseafishing.com/forum...highlight=Cuba - yet? It's well worth in particular reading MarktheShark's comments on page 2.
Dave

**marktheshark** · 22-01-2007, 23:18

Dave The Moderator
This Rodrigues info is far too good for this forum alone ... can you copy a version to the Africa overseas site?
Mark

**fish force** · 23-01-2007, 02:52

I've fished there many a time but, unfortunatly, like Mauritius, the fishing is getting poorer and poorer.
They made the place a tax free Island a few years ago and increased the size of the airport to attract more tourists. This is going to ruin the place. Already there were schemies / Neds or whatever the French version is, coming in for cheap holidays from Reunion, (where they were using live dogs for bait!!).
Have they started to build along the front, between Port M' and English bay yet?
Where were you staying?