FIJI Fishing - Need Help!

[RyanCreek]

Ok guys, I'm usually over at the Utah fishing forum, but since I've got a 9 day trip to Fiji coming up this August I needed to come to you Saltwater guys for some help.

I've already got at least a full day fishing planned with a chartered service. The Wahoo fishing is supposed to be real good in August over there. And who knows, maybe I'll get into a Sailfish or Marlin.

My problem is, I would also like to do some shore fishing on my own, maybe for some shark at night (plan to release them all of course), AND I CAN"T FIND ANY FISHING LAWS FOR FIJI ANYWHERE!

How can I find out what's legal and what isn't? A little help?

Any advice related to saltwater fishing in the south pacific would be helpful.
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

You're in luck, the south pacific is one of my specialties. [cool] I lived in Guam for quite some time, and it just so happens, Wahoo where my favorite target. Below is a few pictures of some fish I caught and some of my fishing buddies caught while I was there. I'm the one holding the big Wahoo in the first picture.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3195/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3319/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3317/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url]

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3203/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3312/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3343/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3380/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url]

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3378/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3382/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/3366/cat/500/ppuser/14478"][/url]

As you can see, I didn't play. We caught anywhere from 8 to over a dozen in a single trip. Total fishing time about 5 or 6 hours. I'll tell you a few tricks that you can watch out for on your charter. First of all, all you need is 50 pound tackle for Wahoo, not Wire line reels or 80 pound test on 9/0 reels. I use 114HLW 6/0 wide body reels with Ande 50lb line. The best lures i've ever used for wahoo are Braid Flash dancers. A close second are Yo Zuri Magnum diving plugs. Black and Purple are a killer on the flash dancers, and Blue and chrome are killer on the diving plugs. I trolled right around 8-10 knotts, which is all the lures will take. The kicker? I was catching that many fish with only 2 rods in the water, that's it. Nothing fancy. I'd double check your charter and make sure he's not using some crazy set up if your target is Wahoo, if he is, he's not trying to put you on any fish. Many charters, like the two I took in Guam, take you out for the day, let you catch a couple bonito and maybe hook a Striped marlin or catch a Wahoo, and that's the day. That was my experiance anyhow. Don't be affraid to call the skipper out. You don't see this very often in the Continental US, but when you move out to the islands, this is common practice. They save the good stuff for the locals. Get your moneys worth. Look for a charter service with an American skipper that guarentees results. If you look, you'll find one.

As for bottom fishing, it really depends. I think you'll find that inshore fishing isn't something that is prized in the islands, and most target the plentifal and easily targeted free swimming species and Palegics like Tuna, Wahoo, and Billfish. Some of the locals that can't afford a large boat may target inshore species, and your best bet for local inshore info may infact be from the local tackle store. I know in Guam, Jack fish, yellow tail snapper, and some other species of fish roamed around reefs and docks. A two hook drop rig will catch many, baited with squid. For the others, toss a spoon out and retrieve is quickly, or a decent sized Rapala minnow. You never know what you might catch.
[signature]

[RyanCreek]

Those are some big beautiful wahoos! Thanks for the advice. Do you know anything about the fishing regulations in Fiji?
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

Email this guy:

[url "mailto:mtuiloa@fisheries.govnet.fj"]mtuiloa@fisheries.govnet.fj[/url]

His name is TUILOA Malakai and he's the deputy director of the Fisheries department. He should be able to provide you with the info you're looking for. If not, let me know. []
[signature]

[RyanCreek]

Unfortunately, I wrote him a nice long e-mail with questions I have and I got a message saying that it didn't go through. Seems the e-mail address is not valid. I really appreciate your help.
[signature]

[ratukosa]

Ryan, When you visit Fiji there are no gov't regs on fishing but you will need the approval of the qoliqoli which is the village that controls certain fishing grounds. If you are staying in a resort and fish in front of it you should have no problems. If you want to go outside of the resort I suggest you ask one of the employees to either take you or set it up. As for wahoo fishing your best bet is Kadavu Island, the boat is Bite me and the resort is Matava. They are known as one of the best. hope this helps. If you need more info let me know.
Callan
[signature]

[Tarpon4me]

Thanks for jumping in on this one Callan, and welcome to Bigfishtackle.com! [cool]
[signature]

[RyanCreek]

[reply]

[/quote]
That's great news. I really appreciate it. Now I'll just call the resort and figure out a little more about the immediate area. Thanks!
[signature]

[ratukosa]

Ryan here is a link to a Fiji blog on fishing. hope this helps.
[url "http://gamefishingfiji.blogspot.com/"]http://gamefishingfiji.blogspot.com/[/url]
[signature]

[BiteMeFiji]

Hi Callan,
Thanks for the recommendation.
Ryan - Drop me a line on email, see if you can get down to Kadavu Island. We will try to live up to Callan's recommendation and cover you up in wahoo, sailfish and maybe a blue if you fancy the heavy tackle.
Adrian
[signature]

[theangler]

Just curious Ryan, How did the trip go?
[signature]