Avid anglers are forever searching for that unique fishing adventure, preferably to an exotic location. However, the challenge of different cultures, languages and distances from the safety of home can be daunting. That's where it pays to thoroughly research a destination, or better still have someone reliable do it for you.
It's comforting that companies specialising in angling adventures do this research for you.

I recently travelled to the Pacific hideaway of Tonga with one such company, aptly called Angling Adventures who tirelessly investigate new and current fishing operations prior to sending their clients there.

This practise means that the company visits a destination as a tourist to take part in the fishing and ensures the whole operation is satisfactory. Sure it's a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Not only was I travelling with a fellow Aussie angler, Garry Barmby (who owns Angling Adventures) but the operation was also run by two Aussie expats.
The added bonus was that the weather was warm, seas were calm, the people were exceptionally hospitable and the food was fantastic. As for the fishing, well that's up to you - fish hard or fish easy, the choice is yours.

ROYAL WELCOME
The Royal Kingdom of Tonga is made up of around 170 islands stretching between latitudes 17 and 23¡S, with 100,000 people spread over only 45 of these picturesque landmasses.

Not only was I interested in sampling the fishing in the area where one presumes the pressures on fish stocks and habitat brought about by commercial netting and longlining must be minimal, but also I was intrigued by Tonga's historic identity.

This tiny kingdom has managed never to be subject to colonisation and never to have been raided by slavers and shipped out of their homeland.

In addition to this, my family history says that my great grandfather's brother ran away to Tonga 100 years ago. What scandal! What fascinating history! How had these people managed to remain intact? By fierce aggression, or simply killing people with kindness? The Tongan people are devoutly religious Christians with a political system that follows ancient traditions and rituals.

CLOSER THAN YOU THINK
A short four-hour direct flight from Sydney on Royal Tongan Airlines ensures you a comfortable journey and the friendly nature of the smiling Tongan flight attendants soothes any air travel anxiety.

For this particular trip we were heading to the northern group of islands called Vava'u to stay at Hakula Lodge. 'Hakula' is Tongan for marlin and this (to me) was a good start!
Operator Jeff Le Strange met us at the airport as the night turned to day and the outline of tall palm trees surrounded us. The beginning of this day was significantly different as Tonga is the first country to see each 'new' day because it's the closest to the international dateline.

We drove through several villages where men on their way to the fields for work were carrying long cane cutters. Households of all types situated next to each other intrigued me. There were haphazard 'hand-crafted' shacks with pigs in the front yard rubbing shoulders with new mansions and immaculate gardens.

The largest buildings in each small section, though, were noticeably the churches. To my surprise, at 6am on a Friday morning they were nearly all full and the rousing refrain of familiar Christian hymns sung with island harmonies boldly filled the air.

WELCOME TO HAKULA
Jeff's wife Janine greeted us at Hakula Lodge and after a quick nap to adjust to time differences and a scrumptious brunch to boost our energy we eagerly headed out on the water.

The handy part about the fishing Hakula Lodge is its proximity to the fishing grounds. The high cliffs that stand at the entrance to the main port in Vava'u continue through to the ocean floor with depths plummeting from 62 to 1079m over a very short distance.

You could steam to the positioned FADs in the area in about 10 minutes, but pelagic fish are abundant; only a stone's throw from shore. Species such as yellowfin tuna have even been caught right in front of Hakula Lodge. Therefore we steadily trolled out to the FADs and worked the waters where the bird activity was concentrated for the afternoon.

RIGHT GEAR FOR THE JOB
The boat we fished is appropriately called Hakula and is a 35ft flybridge custom-built craft fully equipped with all the necessary gamefishing gear including Shimano Tiagrason both stand-up and chair outfits. Jeff has had the boat and fished the waters off Tonga for many years.

The boat rides well although according to Jeff it never really gets rough in these areas; at least it certainly didn't for that week. The swell on the first day simply didn't exist and the wind was light and refreshing.

After a few hours out, anticipation high, but unfortunately strikes low, we decided to return to port when the starboard rigger began to shake with the persistent thrashing of a hungry sailfish on the rigged flying-fish.

Garry took the strike and the sailfish danced across the surface as the lines were cleared. The colours of the fish seemed to take on an extra intensity in the light of the tropical sunset.

We tagged the fish and released it triumphantly. The tension was released, a billfish had been caught and with less than a mile from Hakula Lodge we calmly steamed homeward.

SASHIMI ANYONE?
That evening Janine spoiled us with fresh sashimi of yellowfin tuna followed by mouth-watering lobster soup and barbequed mahi-mahi for the main meal. We were told that this was not a special occasion as these foods are readily available, and in fact, meat with fresh vegies is something that is considered a delicacy in Tonga. Mmmm, I was liking Tonga more and more...

The balmy night air was filled with inspiring fishy tales as Jeff told us of the fifteen marlin that had been caught on the last twelve outings and how the longliners had agreed not to come within fifty miles of the islands. He also talked of the successful tournament they hold each year in September, and how his daughter was also so keen that she is now qualified to skipper the boat.

I thought I was a little obsessed with gamefishing, but this guy even had the country produce a collection of stamps with his boat pictured and anglers catching everything from sailfish to marlin, mahi-mahi and wahoo and an appropriate saying of: "Tonga A Fisherman's Kingdom."

With more excitement and visions in our minds we retired to our air-conditioned rooms with big dreams of working off the meal the next day on lots of hard-fighting fish.

POT OF GOLD
Next morning I awoke to the sounds of birds and peered through the curtains at the view across the bay. One small cloud hovered above the water and a perfect rainbow arched into the cockpit of the boat waiting at the end of the jetty. A sure sign of luck for the day! I walked down the garden path and stood next to the boat as the rainbow diffused in to the starboard corner of the cockpit.

The cloud seemed to then magically disperse and as I took a deep breath of fresh air I heard the call for breakfast. Over cereal, toast, eggs (and thoughts of lots of upcoming exercise!) we discussed the day's plans. An easy ride out with the target of catching me my first blue marlin. I'd caught many blacks, stripes and sails, but never a blue marlin which are relatively common in Tongan waters.

We headed for the grounds and began preparing the lures. I chose a gold and green Pakula lure for the starboard corner and light-heartedly put my bets down with the deckhand.

FEAR NO FISH
Ki'i is the Tongan deckhand who has no fear of... well; simply no fear. Although he looks like a frightening fervent gym addict with dark skin, eyes and voice, his gentle caring Tongan nature clearly shines through as the hours pass.

It was interesting to talk with him regarding his life and how he lives in a two-bedroom house with five children and no electricity (hence the five children!) This is simply the way he and his wife were brought up and they are a happy family that regularly go to Church and are involved in the community.

Ki'i is on a good wage by Tongan standards and often gets to take home fresh fish as well. The thought of no washing machine with five children was a little too hard to grasp for me, and simply amazing to hear. I also learnt several Tongan words through Ki'i such as the word "mahi-mahi" means your undies!

This puts a whole new significance to the day our Reel Girls fishing team decorated the boat with nickers up the outriggers for the sailpast competition in a tournament. Another interesting exchange of languages was the Tongan word for beautiful which is "faka'ofa'ofa". I'm sure many of us Aussies have been called "beautiful" in Tongan on many occasions, but never really appreciated it at the time...

UNDIES ON THE LEFT
During the talks and laughter the ever-thrilling sound of the ratchet screamed on the starboard corner. After investigating some feeding birds Jeff made the call of mahi-mahi as he sighted the fish from the flybridge.

I happily took the rod as the bull danced and paraded at the stern of the boat. We brought it along side and the fish interestingly changed to be the same gold colour of the lure as if to try and hide as we retrieved the hooks.

A few quick pics were taken and the fish was estimated at 14kg. We had the lines in the water again and within no time it seemed another mahi-mahi on the trail. This continued till lunchtime when Garry and I decided to have a break and let Precilla (Jeff's daughter) have a turn on the rod.

GOTIMON
We sat back after yet another meal and again the ratchet screamed in the starboard corner, only this time it was ear piercing and didn't slow up. I braced myself with a firm grip on the hammering rod. It's at this time I thank mother nature for calm seas. I eased off the drag and pulled the rod out of the holder and into the chair, then sat helplessly as the spool shrank before my eyes.

It had to be a blue this time! The reel continued to wail as the decks were cleared and finally the gears shifted into reverse for the long retrieve. I took a deep breath and as the screaming ceased I began the long wind back.

We saw it jump in the distance and although it wasn't a big blue it certainly was feisty. Once that first screaming run was over the fish sensibly swam on the surface and within no time it was at the side of the boat.

BLUES ON THE CHEW
The cheers were still ringing and the lines were not all in when the same lure raced off again with a marlin attached to it. Garry's turn this time, and apart from someone fitting the shoulder harness upside down, (yep, that was me!) his fight was relatively quick and comfortable.

Once again we had a marlin on the leader with tagpole in hand and cheers onboard. Believe it or not we put that same lure out again and before we had all the lines set it was taken. It was definitely feeding time for blue marlin! Without repeating myself too many times our sched for marlin that day ended up being 5-4-3. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that morning was most certainly the gold lure and unquestionably brought us good luck for the day.

SUNDAY IS FOR SLEEPING
I regret that I had not been made aware of the depth of the Christian devotion in Tonga. The Sabbath means no fishing on Sundays. This also means no exercise, so I'd advise you not to go out for a jog as I did and also make you aware that men are to wear shirts in public and women to wear sleeved shirts and long skirts or pants. (Not like the sports outfit I had on for jogging!)

Sunday was to be a day of rest from fishing and our plans were to go diving, sightseeing, relax and visit the Blue Lagoon Resort. This quaint little island has Robinson Crusoe-style accommodation with a restaurant overlooking the clear waters and sand flats.

The island is run by a German man and his family and it's well worth the visit for the atmosphere, the diving, the laid back feeling of really being on holidays and definitely the food!

It's a good option to either break up the fishing with your mates or spoil your partner and unwind.

NOT JUST FISHING
If you take your partner to Tonga there are many other options of things to do besides fishing. The accomodation at Hakula Lodge is very modern and fully self-contained, even though you have meals cooked for you each day.

There are cafes, craft shops, markets, guided bush walks and sightseeing close at hand. During certain months of the year whales come right into the harbour with their young.

You can swim with the dolphins, dive in caves and see the many islands with spectacular scenery. There is also sailing, kayaking and cruising available and tourists are well catered for.

After our rest day we set the alarms for 4am to head to the island of Fatamonga, where dogtooth tuna are prevalent. The name sounded like 'fat mongrels' to me and I was keen for the early start.

If you're not an early riser, you can sleep in the comfortable quarters onboard Hakula on the way to the grounds. We arrived just prior to sunrise and trolled with rigged flying fish on the surface and the downrigger. Sure enough within no time the downrigger went off.

These hard fighting 'fat mongrels' don't let up during the fight and by the time it was landed the sunrise splashed golden colours across the water making it perfect for photos. Although we persisted for a while the small swell made it choppy around the island and we preferred to troll down the contours for marlin toward home grounds.

Other trips to this particular island had seen many dogtooth tuna up to 40kg landed, but this day we were happy with the one. Our meals were certainly beginning to work off by the end of the day. There were two other boats in the area and between us we caught seven marlin, two sailfish, many yellowfin tuna including one at 35kg model, three wahoo and multitudes of mahi-mahi around the 15kg mark.

Do we have to come home?

The following two days were consistent with good fishing and good weather, not to mention the food! The beauty of this trip is that you can really fish hard and reap the rewards, or relax and fish easy and still reap the rewards. On the last night we had dinner at the Tongan Beach Resort where we were entertained by the Tongan staff who sing and dance for you after a superb seafood buffet.

Our trip had come to an end and on the final morning I strolled through the shops and markets to buy a few hand crafted gifts for home. Jeff and Janine coincidently travelled with us on the plane back to Australia and pointed out options of extended fishing trips available from Hakula Lodge down through other uninhabited islands to beautiful bays and beaches.

I watched in awe at the number of reefs and clarity of the water as I drifted off into a dream thinking: Why wasn't I born in to the Tongan branch of the family?