Black Marlin

Kadavu island sees black, blue and striped marlin however the easiest marlin to target are the black marlin that are found close in to the Great Astrolabe barrier reef outer slopes.

Little is known about these blacks but it is speculated that they migrate past Kadavu island on their journey to and from the breeding grounds off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Bite Me holds the M-60 Fiji National Record with a fish of 320lbs but much larger fish have been seen by the resort's divers and a probable grander was briefly hooked by anglers aboard Offensive Tackle before throwing the hook. She was estimated to have been over 16 feet in length as she swam under the boat.
	So far, the best times for black marlin seem to support the Cairns/Lizard Island migration theory with blacks usually seen July to October and January to March however some fish have been seen outside these times so there may be a resident population.
When fishing for black marlin, as with Australia, the bite seems to be in the afternoons and we follow the traditional Cairns methods.
	We spend the morning inside the barrier reef catching and rigging bait, move outside the reef at lunch time with large lures and then switch to running two circle hook rigged baits off the outriggers for the afternoon bite.
Black marlin are extraordinary fish that jump like sails but fight like enraged bulls. They always put on a show for the cameras and will astound you as they charge across the ocean in a repeated series of spectaculor jumps.

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Black Marlin - Bite Me Gamefishing Charters - awesome Sailfish, Marlin and Wahoo Fishing in Kadavu, Fiji

GT Popper Casting Package

Offered by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort

Awesome GT Popper Casting Package 7 nights with 5 days Popper Casting for GT's aboard 'Offensive Tackle' 5 days of popper casting and deepwater jigging aboard 'Offensive Tackle'. Work monster poppers all morning over pristene barrier reef slopes and miles of inshore coral reef systems from our dedicated popper casting boat 'Offensive Tackle'. This is a GT hunter's dream fishing holiday. Lunch at the resort before heading out for another late afternoon bite popper casting session. Includes: * 7 Nights superior accommodation for two (Double or Twin) * All meals for two * Kadavu airport – Resort boat transfers * 5 days of specialist popper casting and deepwater jigging aboard 'Offensive Tackle' Package for 2 anglers F$2,999 per person Valid for any charters after 15th January 2009 and before 31st March 2009

Photos

AdventureUs.com | GT Popper Casting Package, offered by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort

We recently had a one week special charter to target black marlin and flew in a professional deckie and friend of mine, Glen Gardener to back-up Joeli, my full time deckie. Glen normally deckies aboard 'Bounty Hunter' a 35 Bertram charterboat based out of Sydney, Australia. More on that when I get a chance to sort through recent pictures of leaping marlin....

Its been a rather windy few months but that hasn't stopped us getting out aboard Bite Me and fisnding some nice fish. Thought I would post a couple of recent pics before I write the next gamefishing report.

Lynn Salvidge and her husband bruce spent a couple of days in June aboard Bite Me having some fun with the wahoo and Lynn honed her big fish fighting skills taking a W-10kg line class Fiji National Record Pacific Sailfish.
With that record under her belt and the record hunters bug firmly caught she recently decided to have a go at a fish that heavy tackle record hunters dream of landing. The Pacific Bluefin tuna (thunnus orientalis), a fishery recently discovered on the Hokitika Trench off the West side of New Zealands South Island.
Fishing for these monsters is not for the feint hearted. There are only a handful of game boats able to reach these waters. They have to cross dangerous bars outside harbours, make at least a 40 mile run offshore and he weather conditions are nearly always attrocious. Once out on the grounds, game boats find and closely follow one of the huge Hoki factory trwalers that the bluefin follow to scavenge on scraps thrown overboard.

Lyn's trip was no exception. With snow on the grounds, freezing 40-45 knot winds and 3-4 meter swells, the crew fought awful weather and skipper Lance fished within yards of a huge Russian trawler. After 27 hours of hard fishing and whilst the other anglers snoozed below decks, Lyn hooked up in the dark using a whole Hoki bait and began a 63 minute fight with a monster bluefin on 60kg tackle.

Back on the dock the fish weighed in at 223kg and should earn Lyn a New Zealand and World Record.

Awsome fish Lyn - Rather you than me though. Think i'll stick to my nice warm Fiji waters.....

Well, its official. Somebody up there likes to have a laugh at my expense every winter. Each year Tim Simpson, Editor of BlueWater magazine (www.bluewatermag.com.au) and I take a 'busman's holiday' and get together for a week of fishing 4kg line class. 

Each year we discuss at length, plan and meticulously prepare tackle, rods, reels and tactics to target the run of big wahoo packs that gather along Kadavu island's Great Astrolabe barrier reef and each year the powers above select a suitably sized spanner and chuck it in the works.

This year's spanner was a straight run of 30 knot winds that began the day Tim arrived and eased the day Tim left.

If we didn't have to wait another year before trying again it would almost be funny.

Fortunately this year we were joined by world renown biologist, photographer, writer and TV show presenter and producer Bill Boyce and his partner in crime Diana Woods. (See some of Bill's hugely entertaining gamefishing TV shows for free at IGFA Angler's Digest www.IgfaAnglersDigest.com).

I have to say that having such knowledgeable fishermen together in the same cockpit was more than just instructional, it was down right entertaining as West Coast USA took on East coast Australia and the ensuing realms of fishing stories that drifted up to the bridge could have filled a novel. A very funny novel, all be it with an '18 - not for sale to minors' certification !

We looked hard for the wahoo but could only find the occasional juvenile fish of about 10lbs sheltering from the rough weather. With the big wahoo packs stubbornly staying on the unfishable wild side of the barrier reef, we turned our attention to the yellowfin and sailfish.

Whilst we trolled teasers and special Bill Boyce kawakawa belly flap circle rigged baits for the sails, (forever known now aboard Bite Me as 'BB Specials') Diana took the opportunity to turn herself from beginner to pro-light tackle angler with every strike and some world class advice and encouragement from the two pros.

By day two she had taken the W-04 Kawakawa and yellowfin tuna Fiji National Records. On day 4 she set the womens 4kg wahoo record and finally, on our last day together she displayed all her new found ultra-light tackle skills by taking the W-04 Giant Trevally Fiji National record. Anyone familiar with GTs will appreciate the skill envolved in taking one of these fish on 4kg (8lb) line class.

One day we were joined by Mike Thomas, angler from California and member of the Tuna Club of Avalon for the light tackle fun. He proceeded to smash the existing M-04 Barracuda Fiji record which was previously held by....er, Tim actually. Ooops !

As to the sails, we found quite a good bite. Bill had a sail hooked up for over an hour and we were getting close to the leader when the hook pulled. Tim fought a lively sail to the transom several times after some hard backing down in nasty chop that sent spray clear over the bridge. (yes I got very wet) We could have tagged several times but the record beckoned.

Just as Bill went in for yet another possible gaff shot the circle hook pulled. We had doubles and tripples but the most entertaining moments were when Tim hooked up to a dancing sail, Bill cranked in a minnow at full drag to clear it and just before it reached the transom, another sail raced in, gobbled the lure and sped away. 'Crack' went the line. The look on his face was just priceless, not to mention the ensuing colourful Californian West Coast string of verbal observations. It was a whole lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again.

See some of Bill's awesome underwater photographs at www.boyceimage.com

That is why I carry a cast net and a good supply of Sabiki rigs on my boat. The cast net I use for the bait that is inshore in relatively shallow water. The Sabiki rigs are for the bait we catch offshore.

In the summer, baitfish normally can be found in or close to the surf break along the beaches. They include menhaden shad and mullet, and when they are present, they are easy to catch with a good eight to ten foot radius cast net. In the Intracoastal Waterway or the creeks, a smaller cast net is required, and we catch smaller mullet, mud minnows, and shrimp.

Once we head out and the water is deeper than fifteen or twenty feet, a cast net is essentially useless. It can’t sink fast enough to capture the bait before they swim out from under it. I have watched many a novice throw a five-foot cast net over a school of bait swimming in ninety feet of water. It simply will not work!

In the deeper water we use a Sabiki rig. Made by a number of companies, they consist of a six-foot length of monofilament to which is tied six to eight branches of line with a very small hook on the end. These hooks, from a number 4 to a number 10, have a small piece of tough Mylar tied to them and they do well imitating small shrimp or fish.

As I said, a number of tackle companies offer these rigs. The one I have been most successful with over the last year has been the Daiichi “Bleeding Hook” brand. It is made the same as other brands, except it uses their trademark red hooks. Even as small as they are, these hooks are extremely sharp, and the red color catches more bait than other rigs. I proved it myself several times over this past year.

While two of us catch the bait, the third and fourth angler removes the bait from the hooks and tosses them into the live well or if a bit too damaged into the bait box. It is a well-orchestrated affair that consumes less time than all four anglers catching bait. With the Daiichi Bleeding Hook rigs I would invariably come up with six or baitfish – on eon every hook – while my partner brought up two or three. We even traded rods to see if it was the Daiichi rigs or me. Much as I want to say it was me – it was not. Those red hooks won out. In fact, I have even moved to the bleeding hooks for most all of my terminal tackle. Simply put - they work.

Cast nets can run well over a hundred dollars for a large one, and around fifty for a small one. Bait rigs run around three bucks apiece. While the cast nets can be used for years if you care for them properly, the bait rigs are only good for one trip. The hassle of trying to wind up eight very small, very sharp hooks without tangling them is not worth the fight in my book. Someone needs to come up with a way to store them for use again another day!
Even with the initial costs, if you fish a lot, catching your own bait is far more cost effective in the long run. If you only fish occasionally, buying your bait is obviously cheaper. The problem is a lot of the bait we catch is unavailable in tackle shops.

Heck, it’s actually fun to catch your own bait. On a recent trip that netted only a handful of fish, my party told his wife we had caught over a hundred fish. I was puzzled until I realized he was including the bait! He had as much fun catching the bait as he did anything else!

The Right Bait By Ron Brooks, on Saltfishing.About.com

New Squidoo Page by Adrian...

Information on the great sport of game fishing. Including salt water fishing, fly fishing, game fishing, sport fishing and popping.

Info on Gamefishing

Clues:
This mystery guest hails from the sunny West Coast of California with a sunny disposition to match.

A world renown photographer, his underwater and gamefish pictures are eagerly sought by magazines around the world.

Marine bilologist, writer, expert angler and now award winning TV show presenter and producer, you have probably seen him on TV.




Check out Bill's extraordinary photographs at www.boyceimage.com (you will be blown away by his pictures). Read his entertaining ramblings in the pages of BlueWater magazine www.bluewatermag.com.au or see him in action presenting one of his award winning shows at www.igfaanglersdigest.com

Matava was the recent star on one of IGFA Angler's Digest who won a couple of Telly Awardsfor the episodes!

The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web.

29th Annual Telly Awards Winners Announced
Telly again proudly honors the very best commercials, videos, films and internet work
www.tellyawards.com

The 29th Annual TELLY Awards | Press Release

IGFA ANGLER'S DIGEST

Just thought you might want to know that the two episodes filmed with Bite Me at Matava are going to broadcast starting on July 19th on Fox Sports Net.

The channel is carried on both DISH Network (channel 423) and DirecTV (channel 654).

Here's the schedule:

Date	Time
July 19th	10:00am EST
July 24th	2:00pm EST
July 26th	10:00am EST
July 31st	2:00pm EST

Bite Me on IGFA Angler's Digest TV

If you think that big game fishing is a battle of brute force over monster fish, think again. A bit of technique and a 'can do' attitude goes a long way. When 16 year old Melissa Baxter Mackay and 12 year old Mason Court from Auckland, New Zealand came aboard Bite Me with their fathers Sherriden and Owen for a couple of days fishing, I expected the dads to be handling the big ones. Not a bit of it. Melissa and Mason were the anglers on strike and I was amazed and delighted when Mason stepped up to a screaming Penn International 30, yanked it out of the rod holder, planted the butt in the butt pad and began to fight a 60lb wahoo without the slightest assistance save for some verbal encouragement from dad.15 minutes later after some tough battling by Mason, deckie Joe gaffed the fish and Mason was delighted with his first ever Kadavu wahoo. Pretty damn good if you ask me.

Average Winds - 20kts,

The expected wahoo and Pacific sailfish action fired up in June with good wahoo packs all along the Kadavu island barrier reef and medium sized sailfish to 75lbs forming small packs in the usual hot spots. Bite Me took the womens W-10kg Line Class Fiji National Record with a good sail of over 100lbs and single fish over this size are fairly common right now.The windy weather so far in July has made for difficult light tackle fishing but with Kadavu island's big lee shore, nobody has gone home disappointed with a number of other light and ultra-light tackle Fiji National Records on wahoo, GTs and Yellowfin tuna falling to visiting anglers.

The hungry wahoo and sailfish packs will stay well into September with the best sail bites either side of the full moons. August should see the start of some nice black marlin migrating through Fiji waters passing exposed barrier reef and offshore seamounts on their way to Australia's Great Barrier Reef spawning grounds.

The blue marlin are being virtually ignored at the moment as charter boats make the most of the fired up wahoo and sailfish packs but there are plenty of school tuna around holding marlin and offering fresh live or skip-baits for the heavy tackle enthusiasts.

Popper casting suffered from the wild early July weather but the bite remains strong with the GTs loving the pounding surf with GTs to 50lbs common and much bigger fish hitting the popper specialists using heavy tackle and super-sized custom gear.

Aboard 'Bite Me' we will continue to target the wahoo and sails on light tackle from 12lb to 20lb line class as well as some specialised ultra-light tackle fishing on the 8lb (4kg) custom gear.

Summary
Wahoo – Here now in big packs
Sailfish – Here now in packs of 3 to 6 with pairs of larger fish nearby
Yellowfin - Plenty of small inshore fish around 20lbs, larger fish to 75lbs farther offshore
Mahi Mahi – Bit thin on the ground with just the occasional pair here and there
Mackerel – Good sized fish around hitting skip-baits
Blue marlin – Largely being ignored because of the hot wahoo & sailfish bite
GTs –  Excellent fishing when the weather allows, particularily around the full moons

Cpt Adrian Watt
Director,
Matava Resort Gamefishing,
Tel: + (679) 333 6222 or 333 6098

Another Pacific Sailfish Record fell to Bite Me last week and New Zealand angler Lyn Salvidge. Lyn and her husband Bruce spent two days aboard Bite Me having some fun with the wahoo and looking to take a ladies National Record back home to Auckland.
Happy to oblige, we introduced Bruce to his first ever wahoo and after a 15 minute fight on 30lb line class, Joe sank the gaff into a nice 60lb fish. Not a bad start for your first ever wahoo.

We decided Lyn should target the W-10kg Pacific Sailfish record. Normally we tag and release all billfish but a National or World Record are sometimes the exception. Working one of Bite Me's favourite sail spots with a pair of 10kg outfits on the riggers, we hooked up a nice sail on a Hollowpoint Mahi Sniper in white and pink with one of our special light tackle hook rigs.
With some careful backing down early on, we had the sail in close after 20 minutes but using only 5lbs of drag on the Shimano TLD20, the fight was anything but over. Lyn applied steady pressure using her Black Magic stand-up fighting harness as we began to slowly chase the sail down in reverse. 55 minutes later with the sail tiring we upped the drag and Lyn guided the 130lb leader into deckie Joe's hands. Using special light tackle Pakula Katana hooks, this was no time for brute force so Joe gently eased the sail into gaff range and the fight was over.
Weighing in at 47.8kg, ( 105 lbs ) and almost five times line class weight, this was a very respectable fish and earned Lyn the new W-10kg Fiji National Record.

We didn't go home empty handed. Stan soon found the wahoo to be quite a handful and we put two wahoo of about 60lbs each on deck for the resort guest's dinner.


Together with a narrow barred (Spanish) mackerel for sashimi starter, we had all the fish we needed so when Stan hooked up a little baby wahoo of only about 15lbs, we elected to release it unharmed.


Stan declared it was the best days fishing he had ever had. Pleasure to have you aboard Stan and glad you had fun. See you next year !

Now and again, the hard working Directors of Matava Resort get the chance to take a day off and go play with toys normally reserved for guest activities. Sometimes we go explore diving along the mile upon mile of outer slopes of the Great Astrolabe Barrier Reef. Sometimes we go heavy tackle marlin fishing or chase a National or World line class gamefish Record.

Sometimes we just do something crazy.

In March we elected to do someithing nutty and geared up Bite Me with medium to heavy tackle, deep drop jig rods, underwater camera - and snorkeling gear.

About an hour and a half offshore from the resort is a seamount that rises from depths of about 9,000ft to a shallow peak at 400ft. Its a very fishy place to go and Bite Me often fishes there for marlin, yellowfin, wahoo and mahi mahi. We also find sharks there, much to the distress of livebaits set for marlin and it is normal to see the occasional hammerhead, tiger or oceanic white tip cruising around. The largest shark we have ever seen aboard Bite Me was a huge tiger shark out on the seamount that followed a hooked fish right up to the transom.

On arrival, we drifted gently over the seamount with a freshly caught yellowfin tuna head on the end of a rope off the back. We then dropped a deep drop jig rod to the sea floor with a couple of small hooks baited with fresh yellowfin tuna . In no time we were bringing up a big fat large eyed bream. Delicious to eat but this fish was meant for something else. We brought it up to just below the surface and then waited for its distressed actions to call in the nearest shark. Cameraman Richard and his 'watch my back' man Stuart geared up.

After about a minute I spotted a shark coming in and gave the signal for the baits to be pulled in and the snorkelers to enter the water. Stuart dipped his head in to check the sharks species and behavior and then off they went.

This shark was cautious and circled the snorkelers in a wary fashion before cruising off into the depths. Richard fired off some amazing photographs and we are now in the process of asking several shark experts to help us identify her. So far our research indicates a species of oceanic whaler but her unusually thick caudal penduncal (tail wrist) and keel is causing some debate.

Whatever she was, she was majestic and a thrill to swim with in open water.

Personally, I prefer to keep my feet high and dry on the bridge....

There are two slots available aboard Bite Me for the 2008 Pacific Harbour International Gamefishing Tournament. The tournament will be held over three fishing days - 26th, 27th and 28th June this year with Registration and briefing on the afternoon of the 25th June and prize-giving on Sunday the 29th June.

Bite Me has earned her anglers thousands of dollars in prizes over the previous three tournaments and taken several new Fiji National Records in the process.
Any anglers wishing to compete aboard Bite Me should contact me at Matava Resort for more information.

Adrian Watt
IGFA Certified Captain
www.matava.com

Recent picture of a nice mackerel caught by Jeff from Hawaii aboard Bite Me.
The Fijian name for this species is 'Walu' and it is considered by the locals to be an excellent food fish.
There is a special Fijian dish called Kokoda (pronounced kokonda) which is absolutely delicious. If you ever get the chance to try it, I heartily recommend that you do.
The walu is chopped into small pieces and marinated for several hours in fresh lemon juice, fresh coconut milk, chopped onions and chopped chilli from the resorts organic garden. The lemon juice 'cooks' the fish and I consider it even better than the yellowfin sashimi that we often serve to guests as a started dish at dinner.

Yes, its that time of year again when a game fishing charter boat captain turns into a grease monkey and spends a week splattered in anti-fouling, grease, engine oil and wax polish.
Its not all glamour you know.
Bite Me hauled out on Friday at the Royal Suva Yacht Club and began her annual service as well as her three inspections by FIMSA,the Fiji Islands Maritine Safety Authority. (out of water pre-inspection, out of water post inspection and in water inspection)
Whilst out of water she has been scraped down and new coats of anti-foul applied. Her rudders have been dropped and steering system inspected, props and running gear cleaned and polished, all inlets and outlets cleaned and lower hull waxed and polished.
She goes back in the water tomorrow and then the real work begins.
Her engines will get a thorough going over including turbo's servicing, oil change, raw water impellor change, fuel lines inspection, fresh water cooling system flush, engine valve clearance check and oil,air and fuel filter changes.
The superstructure will be wax polished, the teak cockpit will be cleaned and oiled, the anchor chain cleaned and last but not least, the final in water FIMSA survey by marine inspectors to ensure that all mechanical and electronic equipment works, all necessary safety equipment is carried and if applicable 'in date' such as flares / life raft etc and that the vessel if fit to carry passengers safely for another 6 months befor the next FIMSA survey.
Six months ! Hell it will probably take me that long to get the greasy oil stains out of this Bite Me T shirt. Like I say, its not all glamour being a game fishing boat skipper.....

Fiji Saltwater Fishing Report - April-May 2008 - Bloodydecks.com

"Adrian, sweet ride and sweet location. I don't know if you read my reply yesterday but I had the opportunity to work on Kadavu Island three times about 15 years ago guiding multi-day 5, 7 and (1) 10 day kayak trips for South Pacific Kayaks sponsored by the Dive Kadavu Resort. Once we had set camp each afternoon I would gather our Fijian Crew led by a really nice guy named Tom jump in the support boat and going fishing with the only gear I had, namely salmon fishing gear brought from Oregon. We had some epic days fishing mainly around the Nagagia Island area. There wasn't any charter operations or boats down there then, but I thought what a great place to bring a boat and set up shop. You are truly a very fortunate person in a great place. I will definitely try to come visit you sometime. What a treat it would be to fish those waters in a boat that can get you further from shore in a comfortable boat. Boys you better go visit this area while it remains pristine."

Charter Operator : Matava Resort Gamefishing
Boat Names : Bite Me (Offshore) and Offensive Tackle (Inshore)
Average Water Temp : 28.5
Average Sea State : 50% light breeze / 50% wind chop 2ft ground swell to 4ft
Average Winds : 50% 10 - 15kts
Water Clarity : Variable inshore after tropical rain, good offshore

The Fiji water temp is now starting to ease back from its summer peak of 30 degrees and the relatively quiet month of April actually turned out to be quite good, especially for the popper casting fanatics hunting the big GTs and Bluefin trevally when the bite just went berserk a week either side of the full moon.
Game boats reported a generally mixed bag in April and early May with mahi mahi, yellowfin and recently, wahoo being the main species caught. Boats should start to pick up black marlin from mid May and the blue marlin will really fire up again by the start of June when the water temp hits 27.
Sails are being tagged on most day trips but the big packs should form from June onwards.

The hot news however is that an unusual event occured recently. There was a huge run of whale sharks accompanied by good sized yellowfin tuna through the Kadavu passage, the stretch of water that seperates Fiji's main island of Viti Levu and Kadavu island, 50nm to the South.

The last time this occured was prior to the start of the 2005 winter wahoo and sailfish season. That season was one of the best on record with large wahoo packs everywhere. The wahoo averaged 50lbs with fish to 80lbs being common and many fish over 100lb landed. The sailfish packs were also in plague numbers along Kadavu Island's Great Astrolabe barrier reef with the pack average being about 6 fish ranging from 60lbs to 120lbs.
The wahoo are here already, unusually early in the season but with packs found recently on the Kadavu seamount and off Beqa's 'Golden Mile'and every boat in the recent Suva Game Fishing Club 2 day Tournament coming home each day with wahoo , it is clear that the oceanic currents this year are bringing in the start of what should be a spectaculor 2008 season.

Aboard 'Bite Me' we will be focusing on fishing the light tackle from 12lb to 20lb line class for the wahoo and sailfish as well as some specialised ultra-light tackle fishing on the 8lb (4kg) custom gear. Looks like my bait catching guy is going to be busy.


Summary:
Blue marlin : Quiet but will fire up again end of May
Black marlin - First few tagged recently
Yellowfin - The first few fish of the winter run starting to show, mostly aroud 30-60lbs
Sailfish : First few of the season starting to turn up but not in packs yet
Wahoo : Here early and the big backs will form soon
Mahi Mahi : Bit thin on the ground with just the occasional pair here and there
Mackerel : Good sized fish around hitting skip-baits
GTs : Crazy bite around the full moons

Cpt Adrian Watt
Director, Matava Resort Gamefishing,
Tel: + (679) 3337 222 or 3336 098
www.matava.com

Its not common but occasionally I have the pleasure of taking a guest marlin fishing who's aim is not so much to catch a marlin, but to catch a BIG marlin. Some guests have been marlin fishing all around the world and are more interested in achieving a catch of note, rather than just another notch on the tag stick. To exclusively target that fish of a lifetime and by-pass all others takes dedication and an appreciation of all aspects of going out big game fishing, from planning and preparation to just plain enjoying being out at sea searching for that elusive monster.

I have yet to clap eyes on a grander in my spread though a colleague of mine of great experience tagged a blue last year in Kadavu waters. To quote him directly ' It was the biggest blue I have ever seen. Frightened the ******* life out of the crew when they saw her size. I recon she went 900lbs at least'. She was tagged and released. On a trip to the Kadavu seamount in November last year we saw an angry blue jump that would have easily gone 700lbs and a couple of years ago a colleague of mine tagged and released a black marlin on the Kadavu seamount that was estimated by the then editor of BlueWater magazine as being just shy of a grander. The Fiji All Tackle National Record for blue marlin is 447kg (983lbs) which was caught in 1997 on 80lb class gear.

It is clear that Fiji's elusive grander is out there but with very few charter boats with good quality heavy gear out looking for her, the landmark Fiji grander has yet to be caught.

When we do get that rare opportunity to exclusively target a monster, these are the lures we most commonly use:Top ' BFG ' 22 inch - MBT Lures
Left to right
Mouldcraft - Wide Range ' 12 inch
Marlin Magic - Mirror Big Dog ' 14 inch
John Lau - Linda ' 14inch - John Lau
John Lau - GoodHead ' 14 inch
Pakula - Smokin' Joe ' 14 inch

These are our main 'go to' lures for targeting the super-sized marlin. I should add that aboard Bite Me, we have a selection of some 40 odd lures of 12 inches or more. Guests sometimes ask us to run a full spread of Pakula lures such as the big Smokin Joe, Sprocket, Wombat etc or we sometimes run a full spread of 14 inch John Lau lures. A couple of other lures should get a mention. We often reach for the smaller but extremely effective Joe Yee Apollo but this does draw strikes from all sizes of marlin and worringly, a fair few wahoo as well. The big Top Gun ball bearing Nightmare has accounted for a number of large fish in other countries including an 800lb blue off Bimini in the Bahamas in 1999. The John Lau 12 inch Talibung in black / red / yellow is also very effective and has accounted for a number of very large blue marlin in Hawaii.

I have mixed feelings about targeting a trophy marlin. I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to try, but know that I will be saddened if we ever have to weigh such a magnificent fish. One of my guests will catch that grander of a lifetime, set the Fiji National Record and I'll leave it at that. Having done so, I will be firmly back in the tag & release corner. Until that day, I intend on thoroughly enjoying seeing my anglers tag and releas all those 'nearly the one's.....