STORY & PHOTOS: DAVID GRANVILLE

After several successful BlueWater Readers' Trips in the past, the pressure was on to maintain the high level of professionalism, and of course, to catch plenty of fish during our latest trip to the Island of Kadavu in southern Fiji.

Finding locations to conduct successful BlueWater Readers' Trips is not as easy as it sounds. We always make sure we fish the area and check out boats and accommodation before we offer a package trip to our readers.

This destination was no exception. I fished Kadavu with Xtasea Charters in 2004, and stayed at a couple of different resorts before deciding on an ideal package for a readers' trip.

There was never any doubt that we would use Xtasea Charters - the staff are experts at putting together packaged fishing holidays. It made our job a lot easier having professionals like this on the ground in Fiji.

One visit to Matava Resort made our choice of accommodation an easy one. This small but idyllic resort with its picture postcard setting was the perfect location to base a trip.

And so it was. July 2005 saw us back to Fiji with eight BlueWater trippers and two partners in tow. The lucky people who joined us on this occasion were Matthew O'Neil from Victoria, Shane Coles, Brett Graham, Brett Riley, Shaun Johnstone and Dean Baudendistel from New South Wales, and Mark Winter and Bruce Nolan from the Northern Territory. Shane was accompanied by his partner Jewel Penaflor and Brett brought his fiancée Rebecca Waters.

SETTLING IN
We were met at Nadi airport by Xtasea's hostess with the mostest and head mermaid, Rebecca Dickinson, who got us tucked in safe and sound at the Tanoa International Hotel for the night.

Next morning we were treated to a hearty breakfast before taking a 45 minute flight down to Kadavu. Kadavu is the southern-most island in Fiji and it's surprisingly large. It's certainly a beautiful island, with lush dark green rainforest hitting the magical clear blue waters in a spectacular contrast of colours. Only the odd stretch of white sandy beach separates the two.

Once on Kadavu we boarded a couple of longboats for a picturesque and thrilling ride to Matava Resort via a coastal waterway between the reef and the island. At times we were skating over the reef top with what seemed like just inches of water under the propeller. The water was so clear though, the actual distance was probably more like a couple of feet.

We arrived at Matava at the same time as Capt Brad Cupit aboard the White Cap 40, Wai Tadra. Brad and his crew Rob Krause and Johnny Romeo had brought the Wai Tadra down from their home base at Pacific Harbour on the southern side of Viti Levu.

Along with Wai Tadra, our other boat for the week was the newly commissioned Deep Vee 310, Bite Me, which is owned by Adrian Watt, one of Matava's partners.

Matava's traditional-style bures (thatched cottages) blend into the tropical surrounds nicely and offer basic but comfortable accommodation. Although it's a bit of a hike to the top of the hill, it's worth securing one of the hilltop bures, if you can, purely because the view is magnificent.

Over dinner on our first night at Matava everyone was excited about the four days of fishing that lay ahead. Brad and his crew were relieved that finally, after more than a year of planning, we could finally go fishing.
We decided on an early start for the next morning. I arranged to jump on Wai Tadra with Bruce, Mark, Shaun and Dean, while Shane, the two Bretts, Matt and Jewel would head out with Adrian on Bite Me.
The idea was to alternate the two teams between boats each day, with Wai Tadra concentrating on heavy-tackle marlin fishing, while Bite Me would take advantage of the awesome wahoo fishing, and maybe even snag a few sailfish along the reef edge.

DAY ONE
Stepping aboard Wai Tadra again was a good feeling. A quick look around the boat was enough for me to ascertain that Brad and the team had gone to a lot trouble in preparation for our arrival: all the reels were re-spooled, they all had new wind-ons, the freezer was full of bait and the boat was looking immaculate.

We were just idling out from the resort around the corner of a small island and I was running through the chair tackle with the guys when I was distracted by the sound of the engines going into neutral, followed by a sickening crunch.

I knew what had happened immediately - we had hit the reef. Fortunately, it was a soft impact; but there is no such thing as a good way to hit the reef. We had been heading directly into the sun, and despite the fact that Johnny was standing on the bow directing Brad, his warning of the sudden rise in the reef was too late to allow the boat to avoid collision.

We tried to reverse off the reef, as the starboard prop was in totally clear water (that's how close to the edge we were). But because of the rapidly dropping tide, this was unsuccessful. We had no choice now but to sit it out until the tide came back in.

I felt sorry for Brad. You could see he was beating himself up inside despite the brave face and professional attitude that he was displaying to us. Of all the years of driving boats in Fiji, he had to hit the reef for the first time on this trip, into which he had put a great deal of preparation. Life can be cruel sometimes.

The great thing about Fiji is you don't have to go far to catch fish. Within half an hour we were out in one of the longboats trolling the reef edge outside the resort and chucking poppers at GTs. We had a bunch of bites, got wiped out a couple of times by some monster wahoo, and even raised a sail, but only managed to catch a walu (Spanish mackerel) after a few hectic hours on the reef edge.

Fortunately Wai Tadra floated off the reef with the tide and without any hull damage, but a bent shaft thanks to a nice bit of brain coral was definitely going to slow down any runs out to the seamount.

The crew on Bite Me returned with tales of plenty of wahoo too, but had a couple of nice specimens on the deck to prove it. Brett Riley caught a thumping 34kg model on 15kg while Brett Graham got a nice fish on 8kg and Matt lost another monster right beside the boat.

DAY TWO
Wai Tadra's bent shaft resulted in a change of plans. It became the reef edge boat, while Bite Me headed to the seamount on day two in search of a big blue.

The teams still swapped boats, so the guys who were on Bite Me for day one were onboard Wai Tadra for day two. I stayed on Wai Tadra.

It took us a while to find the wahoo but once we did, there was plenty of red-hot action. We were marking the fish pretty well on the sounder and every pass resulted in a double hook-up. We were only trolling two 8kg outfits with double-hook rigged ballyhoo (garfish).

People underestimate the fighting qualities of the wahoo - mainly because they are frequently caught on heavy tackle as a billfish bycatch - but get a nice one (more than 20kg) on 8kg line and you'll have a whole new respect for these speedsters of the reef edge.

There were so many wahoo that it was hard to catch more than one at a time. Even though we were getting a double hook-up every pass, one fish would invariably cross over the line of the other fish resulting in a bust off, or one of their mates would bite at the rooster-tail of water coming off the line as it screamed through the water at what seemed like 100km/h.

At the end of the day everyone onboard had landed at least a couple of solid wahoo, and Shane had boated a 24kg Spanish mackerel which was later confirmed as a Fiji record on 8kg line.

Unfortunately, the crew on Bite Me didn't fare as well down at the seamount, despite the fact that there were acres of bait and plenty of bird activity. They tried every trick in the book but couldn't find a billfish to save themselves.

DAY THREE
Day three saw team one back on Wai Tadra hoping for some better luck. They must have done something right as the rods were bent all day. Everyone onboard caught some quality fish. These included a 12kg mahi mahi to Mark and a 27.7kg wahoo to Dean. Both of these fish were Fiji records on 8kg.

The last time I was in Fiji I tried, without success, to catch a wahoo on 4kg. I was pretty keen to have another crack, so once all the boys were sick of winding in fish, they were happy for me to have a go.

We didn't have to wait long. Rob had just thrown over the teaser and I was still rigging a bait when a wahoo piled on the teaser. Rob kept teasing the fish until the bait was ready to be deployed, and what resulted was one of the all-time classic bites.

I fed the garfish back behind the teaser and, just like a ballistic missile, a wahoo came rocketing out of the water with my bait in its mouth. Because the fish jumped towards the boat, I had a heap of slack line and it wasn't until the fish was back in the water and everything came tight that I actually hooked the fish.

Fishing 4kg for wahoo is pretty thrilling stuff. If you survive the first run, you are in with a chance. I backed the drag off as the fish screamed off in its initial line-burning run. I managed to work the angles from then on, with Brad doing an awesome job on the wheel in the rough conditions and with just one motor.

After a battle that lasted about half an hour we landed the wahoo. At 14.9kg it wasn't a monster, but it was a milestone on 4kg for me and a Fiji record none-the-less.

Team two also had an awesome day aboard Bite Me at a place to the north of Kadavu called Solo Reef. The boys had a bunch of bites on sailfish and had an absolute ball. They managed to tag two fish and weigh one fish that unfortunately died during the fight. All was not lost though, as that fish ended up being a Fiji record on 8kg for Shane.

Luckily, Brad had come prepared to catch a few records and had brought a set of certified scales along on the trip.

The area has great potential, particularly for record wahoo, with 40kg specimens often caught on heavier tackle. Indeed, it's not bad when a group like this can walk away with five Fiji records after just a week of fishing one area.

WINDING DOWN
Day four was considerably slower for both boats.

The team on Wai Tadra landed another nice mahi mahi as well as a big wahoo and a solid Spaniard.

Bite Me headed back to Solo Reef, but despite the action the previous day, the sailfish just weren't on the chew. One half-hearted bite from a sail and a nice wahoo was all we could muster up there.

Our last night at Matava was indeed one to remember. The local village cooked up a feast and put on a display of traditional dancing for us. Then we all sat around and enjoyed a bowl or two of kava. You won't meet nicer people than the Fijians and it's great to see their traditional heritage being displayed to visitors through their cuisine, song and dance.

I can't wait to get back to Matava and fish with the team from Xtasea Charters. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to host another BlueWater Readers' Trip there, but if not, I'm going back anyway - there's a world record wahoo there with my name on it.

CONTACTS

Xtasea Charters
Pacific Harbour - Fiji Islands
Tel +679 345 0280
Email info@xtaseacharters.com
Web www.xtaseacharters.com

Matava Resort
Kadavu - Fiji Islands
Tel +679 333 7222
Email matava@connect.com.fj
Web www.matava.com