The Lure of Lomaiviti – where the ‘Big Boys’ play!

This had to be one of those opportunities that’s just too good to miss! Three days of teasing the Gau and Bataki ‘Bad Guys’ reeked of multiple hook-ups, busted gear and a host of lost lures .... But the ones you get to the boat make it all worthwhile every time. And this trip was to be no exception. MahiMahi, Giant Trevally, Wahoo and Marlin hook ups that leave you in a state of fisho's adrenalin heaven .... 


On a perfect Suva morning we departed Tradewinds Hotel on Anton’s 47 foot power catamaran Merseades full of hope and expectations for three great days fishing in Lomaiviti. A stunning sunrise, calm seas and a great crew - who could ask for more? Well - the Bloody Mary's at sunrise certainly helped to put everyone in the mood for what was to come.

 

Unfortunately for the crew the action was pretty slow in arriving. Not just for us but for every boat we talked to on the VHF radio. We did get excited when we spotted Joe and his crew land a very good Walu up around the lighthouse that put the more serious of our fishermen on full alert....


After a very pleasant trip out to Gau we parked in Nigali Passage at midnight for a spot of leisurely bottom fishing for the table. What greeted us was quite amazing....  around thirty lights whipping through the underwater currents of the passage accompanied by a solitary longboat. 

 

 

Rick with his first sailfish at Gau

 

These were village divers on a mission to cater for a local function. Their catch was astonishing, although I did have reservations about the turtle that had succumbed to their obvious expertise with a spear gun. Blood everywhere in the water at night in what is considered one of the best shark dives in the South Pacific!! But I digress... GT's at dawn was the real reason we were here!

 

Breakfast before sunrise had us fueled up for the day’s activities and rearing to go. Anton had brought his new toy Archilles, a 28 foot purpose built sports fishing boat, on its maiden voyage so he, Eric and Rick loaded up the gear and headed out for the outer reef just beyond Nigali Passage to see what they could find by casting poppers into the wash just beyond the reef. Chris and I were to use Merseades as the ‘Mother Ship’ and troll for pelagics along the front of the reef just beyond where Archilles was fishing.The action came as soon as the sun came up with Rick’s lure getting slammed by a huge GT on the drop off just south of Nigali. The power of these fish is astonishing and you have to work hard to keep them off the reef once you hook up. We cruised on to watch the action and recorded the whole sequence for posterity. But this was just the beginning and soon it was complete chaos with all three on the other boat hooked up and no one to man the gaff….

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

They were having all the fun so, having taken all the photos of the action, Chris and I decided it was our turn and headed off on a parallel course to the reef and immediately hooked up on a good Sailfish that we ultimately lost due to a poorly crimped trace! Frustrating but the short-lived action was spectacular. The morning continued in this vein with good sized Yellowfin, a very nice MahiMahi and a variety of Trevally species along with the usual Walu coming to the boat.


At around midday we rendezvoused with Achilles just inside Nigali, as we had arranged earlier, to compare notes on the mornings action. We anchored in the perfect turquoise waters of the lagoon and before long Anton and crew came along side and were obviously pretty pleased with themselves … and why not! They had achieved what we failed to do as Rick proudly displayed his first ever Sailfish. He had hooked up just before we were due to meet for lunch and taken around half an hour to land it.

 


The afternoon was a little more leisurely for Chris and I as we headed for the Bay of Angels to check out the progress on Nuku, the new resort being built on Gau. We anchored just off the beach in front of the resort and swam ashore to talk with the builders Bruce and Joe Ringger. It is good to see some new resorts popping up in this region as it will certainly make these pristine waters more accessible to tourists. The other newcomer to the region is Natauloa Beach Resort, soon to open on neighboring Nairai Island.


Nuku is progressing nicely and after giving Chris the tour we headed back to the boat for a siesta and a bit of snorkeling. Amazing coral, giant clams, huge lobsters and a myriad of fish species just 30 metres off the beach! Anton and the boys joined us for a bit of R&R and we cleaned the catch and froze down the fillets for the return journey home. The forecast wasn’t too flash so we headed around to North Bay to settle in for the night.

 


A few cocktails accompanied by Yellowfin sashimi and baked Coral Trout for dinner and five very happy and tired fishermen relived the day and told a few tales as fishermen tend to do, then one by one drifted of into that contented sleep that these special locations seem to inspire.


The weather had cleared by sunrise so it was up with the anchor and off to Batiki to do it all over again…. But that’s another story!


Footnote:
The islands of the Lomaiviti Group offer almost virgin fishing experiences. Casting over-sized poppers into the backwash of the barrier reefs at Gau, Batiki and Nairai is an adrenaline rush as you watch your lure get hammered by the local Giant Trevally population weighing in at around 50kg as well as Yellow Fin, MahiMahi, Sailfish, Marlin, Wahoo and Walu. This is possibly the best place in the world to go after that world record GT if that’s your thing.


Night fishing in Nigali Passage is thrilling and offers Coral Trout and other superb eating fish for the table. Among a variety of fishing styles on offer are a number of trawling, casting and jigging options in both deep and shallow water. If you want to target massive Dogtooth tuna there are few better places than the waters around Gau, home to some of the biggest tuna anywhere in the world! It is not hard to understand why this region has earned the reputation of being the ‘Big Fish’ capital of Fiji.

 

 

 

 
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