The Fruit boys came and picked some.

The C.E.O of FRUIT REAL ESTATE Craig Bellgrove made his third fishing trip to Vanuatu on the 23rd of August accompanied by his son Geoffrey and buddy Neil. Last year Craig brought a group in to do the Epi adventure and the boys had a blast. This year they chose the Kakoola option and even though the fishing was a bit spasmodic fun was had by all. We ended up with a pretty good array of fish. Everyone achieved a personal best however I have still failed in my quest to put Craig into a dogtooth tuna that will nearly pull him out of the boat. He is coming again next year so we can have another shot.

35.5 Kg Doggy

We have completed a great back to back trip with spearfishing guru Kane Grundy from Extreme Freedom http://www.extremefreedom.co.nz . Kane has been bringing groups of divers to these parts for a few years now. On last years trip Kane said he wanted to do something different with his next trip so we pulled a package together for him. The first week was based out of Kakoola Island Resort which is a great little retreat to the northern end of Efate(Port Vila)This gave us access to some areas which haven’t been dived by Kane’s groups. Each day was spent heading in different directions such as Scotts Rock (Now named Jurassic Park due to the amount of shark activity and the difficulty the divers have in landing fish before they get munched), Monument Rock the Mosso Fad and lots of untried areas. The boys got some great results with dogtooth being landed most days along with wahoo, mahi-mahi yellow fin and marlin sightings. On the last dive of the last day of week one Kane pulled off a Vanuatu record dogtooth at 35.5kg captured at Tuki-Tuk Point.
The second week turned up similar action with the team this time based at Tranquility Island Resort situated in the picturesque Havana Harbor.
The boys are already planning next year’s trip.
http://www.fishing.htm
mailto:Fishing@vanuatu.com.vu

Sail's at the Channel Markers

Mid month we experienced stronger than normal winds for this time of the year however the fishing has been good. Sail fish have been on the bite consistently close in and providing great action. Regular Shogun angler Paul Mason out of California arrived with his son and grandson for three days of fishing. Grandson Gordon had a sail tagged first up at the channel markers, about 4 min from the dock.


His farther Barry achieved a second at Devils Point a further 20 min out. A great start to the day.
The annual 3-Species Comp was run on the 20th with 5 boats participating and local angler Adrian competing in his kayak who ventured out in Havannah Harbor - this is probably a first for any comp here. I can’t understand why not more people kayak fish in Vanuatu. Unfortunately fishing was very lean, at least on the northern side of Efate. 3 boats weighed in fish however non reached the 1/3 line class weight.
Nevertheless Frieda scored a Women's Doggy record on 10kg - well done Frieda.

Good luck at the weigh in’s
Peter Phillipps
Fishing @vanuatu.com.vu

Yellow fin on 3kg

Mirror glass conditions saw Steve Walls, Glen Senior and Richard Lemon were the first group of anglers to try out the new accommodation and fishing package we are now running out of Kakula Island to the north of Port Vila. The accommodation is first class in the recently opened resort and the fishing matches. In three days the boys managed to tag a marlin, a couple of sails and various other species and got into some ultra light tackle yellow fin action. Trying to pull up yellow fin on 3kg is a hoot. For more info on this and other packages go to the main page of our web site.

This was followed by a week of rough weather for a group of South African spearo’s now residing in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

We still managed to get the boys into some great diving with them having a couple of marlin swimming around them at the F.A.D. they managed some good captures of wahoo,yellow fin and mahi-mahi

Fishing@vanuatu.com.vu

Jurassic Park

Kiwi spearfishing ace Darren Sheilds has been back in town with a team of intrepid divers looking for the big yellow fin and dogtooth tuna. They opted to try Wild Blue Charters live away trip that utilizes the Kakoola Island Resort to the north of Port Vila.

The first few days saw the boys diving the F.A.D’s which proved to be slower than usual with only a few mahi-mahi and wahoo to be seen. Later in the week they spent a couple of days diving Scotts Rock which is located north east of Vila. Darren made mention after the trip that is probably one of the most amazing places he has ever dived, a bit like Jurassic Park. Lots of dogtooth tuna however the boys had difficulty getting fish to the boat due the large amount of sharks.

Were are running trips out of Kakula Island Resort, Tranquility Island Resort and of course or famous Epi trips.

Have a look at our web site for more details or contact me on fishing@vanautu.com.vu

Capt. Peter Phillipps

http://www.nautilus.com.vu/fishing.htm

The Volcano was on Fire.

We had a memorable trip up to Epi A couple of weeks ago. It was straight after the Marlin Classic where we didn't go so well as we just didn't raise enough fish. We cleaned the boat after the Classic, loaded up with food, water and beer and we were away with the Paul Sharp group consisting of Paul, Kelvin (I be back), David and Steve.
First up we nailed wahoo at the f.a.d then about and hour and a half later a marlin jumps on then later in the afternoon another one volunteers for a tag. Not a bad day, where were they in the days before. The next day saw us off to De Chaulliac Bank for some great yellow fin action another marlin strike, another good day. Day 3 we headed out to Lopevi Volcano with Paul ordering a sail fish as we got under way. On arrival we turned up a yellow fin then a triple of fin.
No more than 100 meters further on a double strike of sails with both finally dropping off. Conditions were a bit scruffy so we ducked in behind the volcano for lunch then off around it again. This time the action was even hotter, we were hard pressed to get the gear back in the water after each hookup before we got nailed again. The wahoo action was thick and fast and most around the 20 to 25kg mark. As one of the wahoo we had a second strike, this time the sail stayed on and received a tag to the delight of Kelvin(I'll be back) It was an awsome days fishing and a delight to give the fish to the local villagers that evening back at Lamen Bay.
Check our web site for info on these fishing adventures as well as others.
Capt. Pete Phillipps
http://www.nautilus.com.vu/fishing.htm

The Vanuatu Marlin Classic

The Vanuatu Marlin Classic

The Vanuatu Marlin Classic has been run and won. With eighteen local and overseas teams fishing this year the action was a little slow with 20 marlin being raised and 5 marlin being tagged over the seven days. This comp is tag and release only and point are awarded for the most marlin tagged on the lightest tackle which ranges from 60kg down to 15kg. The first fish tagged was on Ultimate Lady putting them in the lead on day one. There was a lot of strikes with no hookups experienced by many teams and a lot of bust offs as a lot of teams were opting to fish 15kg to maximize their point as most teams were only getting one strike a day. Some great yellow fin were popping up occasionally with some in the 70kg range and some wahoo and mahi-mahi changing the pace of each day. One of the bigger marlin tagged during the comp was a 250kg fish on 24kg. This was caught by Demon Jigs, Steve Badman fishing team B on Ultimate Lady. The eventual winners were local anglers fishing on In Deep who were the first team to tag a marlin on 15kg.
Cpt Pete Phillipps
http://www.nautilus.com.vu/fishing.htm