Vava’u Sport Fishing Club
Tonga Fish Tales Newsletter – July 2010 Tonga Fish Tales © Copyright
July fishing was a little slow in the first two weeks but by month end it was absolutely firing. Masses of bait slowly built up over the month and with it came the billfish, mahimahi & wahoo and the reef fishing was spectacular.
Billfish Action ......... The action improved mid month and some of the boats were getting 4-6 shots a day. The average size Blues was 120kg with several around 180kg - 200kg. Sails also turned up in reasonable numbers but nothing much bigger than 40kg. One Black Marlin and several Striped Marlin were also reported. Live-baiting proved very productive and the hot lure colours were Lumo and Black over Purple.
Yellow Fin Action ...... Mostly fish in the 7kg-10kg with one fish in the 60kg range lost at the boat. When on the run they were hard to keep up with but they were a great indicator for pending blue marlin action.
Wahoo Action ............ With all the bait about Wahoo were turning up all over the fishery taking a good toll on lure skirts and taking out the tail sections of trolled baits. Most of the fish were around the 15kg size with two fish being reported in the mid 20kg range
Mahimahi Action ........ Some very big Mahimahi were caught early in the month including an ‘All Tackle’ Tongan Record at 26.20kg and a female junior ‘All tackle’ Tongan Record at 19kg. Most of the mahimahi were caught in the middle Ground within a couple of miles of the FAD.
GT & Dog Tooth Action .......... A good showing during the month with both species. A new Tongan ‘All Tackle’ GT was caught aboard ‘Levinuella’ weighing in at 39.20kg, Boris the skipper reported that the previous day they released a much bigger fish that would have gone 45kg plus. Lots of other GT’s released all around 20kg-30kg size. Dog Tooth action was pretty good also with most fish reported around 10kg-12kg size. Jigging was very productive around the local hot spots with as many bust offs as caught fish.
Humpback Whales .... A little slow in arriving but by the end of the month, new pod sightings were being reported daily.
New Records for the Month ...
26.2kg Mahimahi on 15kg – Colin Churchouse ‘All Tackle’ Club & TIGFA – ‘Reel Addiction’ 2.00kg Kawakawa on 15kg – Angler Bronwyn Churchouse Club Line Class – ‘Reel Addiction’ 39.2kg GT on 60kg – Peter Morehead ‘All Tackle’ Club & TIGFA – ‘Levinuella’ 128kg Blue Marlin on 60kg – Maria Angus Female Junior ‘All Tackle’ Club ‘Kiwi Magic’ 19kg Mahimahi on 60kg – Maria Angus Female Junior ‘All Tackle’ Club & TIGFA– ‘Kiwi Magic’
Tournament Dates for 2010 – Pencil them In NOW .........

19th Tonga International Billfish Tournament – September 17th – 22nd

New Zealand Fishing News Tournament – October 21st – 28th

Tonga National Tournament – 27th November, 4th 7 6th December


Contact Steve Campbell ikalahi@tongafishing.com
http://www.vavausportfishingclub.com/