Story & Photos: DAVID GRANVILLE

We have given away some pretty cool subscription prizes to our loyal BlueWater readers over the years, but the most popular so far was two spots at one of Dean Butler's gamefishing schools in Vanuatu.

These were won by Don Lowe from Magnetic Island, Queensland, and Shane Crockett from Tuncurry, NSW. Unbelievably, Shane's boss wouldn't let him take time off work for the January school, so we have arranged for him to join another school later in the year.

That left Don to join three other eager students for a week of intense fishing and learning in a spectacular location with an incredibly knowledgeable teacher. I managed to con my way over on the proviso of doing a story; but, to be honest, I was just as keen as the others to pick up some tips from Butler.

MEET THE MASTER
Dean Butler shouldn't need too much of an introduction within these pages but I suppose he won't mind if I blow his trumpet for him.

A columnist and regular contributor to BlueWater, Dean is internationally recognised as an accomplished crewman, writer and photojournalist, and has been at the forefront of switch-baiting and saltwater fly-fishing techniques since their inception to our sport.

Dean personally holds a number of saltwater fly-fishing records, and would no doubt have garnered many more if he spent more time as an angler rather than crew. Apart from writing, Dean makes his living mainly by guiding and crewing for anglers chasing records on both fly and ultra-light tackle.
Indeed, the likes of ultra-light specialist Gary Carter and fly-fishing aficionado Tom Evans employ Butler's services when chasing records in Australia or Vanuatu.

A few years ago, Butler teamed up with South Pacific Anglers - a gamefishing charter company based in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Dean had visited Vanuatu many times and knew its potential as a gamefishing destination. The number of blue marlin encountered on early trips was impressive, but inexperienced crew and poor-quality tackle frustrated Dean immensely.

When Charles Wheeler arrived in town with the 34ft Black Watch Nevagivup and similar goals to Dean, a partnership was soon forged. South Pacific Anglers added Nevagivup to its fleet, which includes the 43ft Mariner Kahuna.

With the availability of the company's waterfront lodge, Harbour Villa, Butler could finally bring his clients to Vanuatu and offer them a quality fishing and accommodation package.

PRACTICAL SCHOOLING
Apart from bringing many of his international clients to Vanuatu to stay at Harbour Villa and fish aboard Nevagivup, Dean also saw an opportunity to run gamefishing schools from this idyllic location. After all, it's a lot easier to teach anglers the finer points when the rods are regularly getting bent. Try doing that off Sydney!

Butler now runs several schools per year in Vanuatu, and it was South Pacific Anglers that kindly donated a couple of spots for us to give away as subscription prizes.

Butler's gamefishing schools normally comprise a full day in the classroom learning all the basics, followed by four full days of gamefishing onboard Nevagivup.

There was a slight change to proceedings on this trip, however, as Dean had arranged the use of a mothership for a couple of days at the start of our schooling. This meant we would get to fish some spots to the north that wouldn't normally be reached daytripping out of Port Vila.

The other change was that engine problems suffered by Nevagivup the day before our scheduled departure meant we took Kahuna with Capt Justin ‘Flash' Reid at the helm and Nevagivup's crewman Russ Housby aiding Butler on deck.

The seas were oily calm as we departed Vila, and it looked like the weather gods were going to smile for the entire trip. As we ran north, Dean spent time with each student determining their capabilities and what they wanted to get out of the school.

He attired every student in stand-up harnesses and made sure the gamechair was set for each person - so they could remember where the footrest and gimbal needed to be when it was their turn. Then he ran through the teasers and baits they would be using that day and explained why each bait was rigged the way it was.

When we finally put the teasers in the water, a few drills were carried out to make sure each student could pitch a bait without getting into a tangled mess. All the practice went pretty well: now all we had to do was find a marlin.

SHARP LEARNING CURVE
A cyclone had passed through Vanuatu not long before our arrival and, as a result, the water was very green. We searched high and low, far and wide, but just couldn't locate any decent water.

None of us were particularly confident about finding a marlin in the ‘pea soup', so we decided to do a bit of dogtooth tuna fishing before our rendezvous with the mothership.

Flash found a likely-looking wall with deep water right up to its edge, and Dean set a big swimming ballyhoo on the downrigger.

On the first pass along the wall, the rod went off and line poured off the reel. Flash had to do some fancy boat manoeuvring to get away from the rocks, but once clear, Murray could go to work with the 80lb stand-up tackle.

The familiar sight of a dogtooth tuna soon materialised from the depths. At around 12kg it was only a pup, but it was Murray's first and he was as proud as punch.

After working the wall without further result, we continued further north to a location where Dean had been eaten out of the boat by big doggies on a previous trip. Expectations were high as we sent the first double-hook-rigged scad down on the downrigger, but amazingly it didn't get eaten. We were even marking dogtooth on the sounder, but for some reason they just weren't biting.

As the light faded, we called it quits so we could tie up to the mothership before dark.

The North Star is a pretty little boat ideal for liveaboard cruising, and it performed quite well as a mothership. The boat's large foredeck was just the place for a big feed and spinning a few yarns.

DOGGED BUT NOT DOWN
The next day we decided to make an early assault on the doggies, hoping they were a little more cooperative. They were on the bite, but getting them to the boat was another story.

Doggies are well known for their incredible strength and their dirty fighting tactics. Make no mistake: if there is a ledge nearby where they can cut you off, that's where they'll head once you get them on.

With a score of dogtooth three versus anglers nil, we decided to head back to the mothership for breakfast with our tails between our legs.

After brekkie it was back out to the deep ledges and drop-offs in search of blue marlin. Again the water quality was atrocious, so we just kept driving east in search of clean water. Eventually we had to turn back without find any clean water or any marlin. It was disappointing for the group, but you can't catch them if they ain't there.

We finally found a patch of skipjack tuna, which was basically the first sign of life we'd seen. We caught one and put it out as a livebait on the downrigger. Blue marlin are rather partial to live skipjack, and when the bait got eaten the excitement levels were raised: but not for long. Our potential blue marlin was just a stinkin' whaler shark.

Chatting to a few of the students that night, I half expected them to be a little disappointed with the trip so far - but it was the contrary. They were all having a ball and learning lots from Dean regardless of the fact that we were catching very little.

This was a relief to hear, because when you know you're not doing anything wrong it can be frustrating to not even get a bite.

The next day we planned to fish our way down to Vila. First stop was another little doggie favourite that Flash and Dean had up their sleeves. With scad rippling on the surface, it looked as though it could deliver the goods. As we made the first pass over the pinnacle, the downrigger popped.

Don was on strike, and 30lb of drag had him doubled over the covering board as Flash manoeuvred the boat out of the danger zone. It was obviously a nice fish - a suspicion confirmed as Dean and Russ hoisted the doggie over the side. At 30kg it wasn't a real monster, but a very respectable fish just the same.

Flash kept working the drop-off and the rods kept bending. The downrigger was certainly earning its keep with all the doggie bites coming off it. Once everyone had a doggie we decided to keep moving and leave plenty there for next time.

The rest of the day was spent marlin fishing, and wherever that bluewater was I assume that's where the marlin were too, because they didn't materialise.

HOME TIME
It was nice to spend the night back at Harbour Villa. With a pool, air-conditioned rooms and gourmet food, it certainly has some appeal. It's also walking distance from the Waterfront Bar & Grill - my favourite eating and drinking establishment in Port Vila. Actually it's one of my favourite places in the world. Whenever I'm in Vila I can't find any reason to eat or drink anywhere else.

Our day onshore in the classroom (the cockpit of Nevagivup) was, in my opinion, the most interesting of the trip. Here, Dean showed each student in detail exactly what they wanted to learn.

Whether it was knots, tackle preparation or bait rigging, Dean had all the answers and happily showed each student individually or as a group. You couldn't help but learn something that day, no matter how much you reckoned you knew.

I actually became one of the students that day and wasn't too proud to ask some questions and learn some tricks from Butler also. In fact, I have already put one of his bait rigs to good use, catching two from two on marlin over 200lb in my home waters since my return. I'm sure the other guys have put their learned skills into practice with success.

While the fishing was very disappointing by Vanuatu standards during this particular trip, I don't think anyone walked away unhappy. Dean Butler certainly has a wealth of knowledge, and his gamefishing schools allow students to tap into his considerable experience - even without a fish on the end of the line.