I decided to post this in Marty's section (hope that's ok Marty) since I really enjoy his videos and advice he gives. I'm also a native of south of the DMZ (Ky/Tennessee) so its nice to see a fellow rebel who contributes so much to this site. This is only my second thread other than my inital intro I gave. Anyhow, I'm living out here on the beautiful island of Guam and wanted to pass on some more info on the local fishing "style" in this part of the world. People tend to do things "on the cheap" out here since shipping costs for big boats are so high. Also, access to gear and tackle (other than via the internet) is very limited. As such, the vast majority of warriors out here fish MUCH smaller boats - typically that means boats in the 14-20ft size range. We can get away with these as our waters tend to be fairly calm believe it or not and you can catch fish only a few miles from shore. Very few use sonar here (other than to locate bait) as the water depths here are about the deepest in the world. None of the current crop of sonar units are capable of reading bottom out here. We have numerous FAD buoys fairly close to shore and the typical depths around them are in the 7,000-12,000ft range.
For those of you who might have thought I was some long-time Blue Marlin hunter with all sorts of stories to tell, that is not the case. I just got into trolling the deep blue about two years ago and only own a 17' Whaler. I troll four lines and catch plenty of Mahi, YF Tuna and Wahoo but I am 0-for-5 on Blue Marlin this year....got five hookups this year and lost them all, no doubt due to my inexperience. This absolutely trips me out but plenty of guys boat descent sized Blues in 14-16' skiffs. Penn Senators are the standard here since they are easy to service and last forever - also, your average private fisherman here cannot afford better gear....some own Internationals but they are the exception and not the rule. I actually witnessed/saw an older local gentleman singlehandedly land a 175lb Blue in a 14' McKee (with 40hp outboard) and he was fishing 12/0 Senators on bent butts. We were both working a FAD and I saw he hooked up something big so I backed off to give him PLENTY of room. In this situation here in the islands, they normally crank down the drag, and tire the fish with the boat. I was amazed to see this guy turn around to fight the fish and keep his boat going straight for what seemed like forever but was only actually about 30 minutes. Once the fish is up close, he puts the boat in neutral, leans over the transom with his fish bat and clubs the beast to death. He then ties a cleat rope off to the tail and drags his catch back to the marina at about 3knots! Not a very safe practice but this is the way many of these guys learned to fish out here....they "make due" with what they have.
Anyway, I just wanted to say Marty that your videos are absolutely the best and we're seeing them and enjoying them from way over here on the other side of the globe. When many of my local friends see you guys' big boats and top-quality gear, they just drool cuz they can't get it out here and not as many people in these parts have internet access. I aim to begin taking some videos of our island adventures in the not too distant future but obviously with a 17' boat, I am somewhat limited as to where to mount a camera (and keep the water off) but I'll leave that thought for another day.
Again, thanks to all of you guys for having such a friendly and hospitable site and to you especially Marty for those AWSOME videos. No deer huntin out here but we got plenty of fish!
HOLEY CRAPOLA JOHN!!! ONLY YOUR 3 RD POST AND IT IS AWESOME!! WE NEED SMALL BOAT INPUT AND 17' FITS THE GIG!! TRASG BAGS!!! USE A TRASH BAG AS A WATER PROTECTOR FOR THE CAMERA!!!! THE HOUSINGS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE (WHY I DON'T KNOW) AND THEY ARE NOT THAT VERSITLE
NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE GUAM JOHN!!! GLAD YOU LIKE THE VIDS.....
WE WILL WAIT IN EXCITEMENT FOR SOUTH PACIFIC GUAM ADVENTURES
AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE ON FISHING EITHER!!!
REMEMBER...MY WORLD...IS NOT JUST "MY WORLD".......IT IS OUR WORLD AND YOUR WORLD AS WELL
Welcome GUAM JOHN ! I didn't believe Guam existed until I met a guy who is now a great friend from there. One of the nicest guys in the world and he said people at home are even nicer.....Do you have any nice scenery shots of your 'HOME' to get us through our winter where we look at the grey cloud of doom hanging over our heads all winter ! Sunny days are few and far between back here. Best luck out there! Looking forward to your videos !
PS...when he was a boy he use to fish with long tree branches and used a kite spool he tied to the branch...he's trying to find me the pictures
John is a great guy...We've spent countless hrs. emailing fishing pictures, family pictures and stories to each other...He's one of those fishermen who wants to learn and adopt new techniques and products to his area...Thank you John for becoming a good friend...If you ever make it to Fla, drinks, dinner and fishing are all on me. Box said it best...."This is our World"
Hi:
Glad your here.
I sent rigs to guys out in Tinian too. Lots of small boat guys out your way.
Try the small 7 inch clear plastic header with fetahers up cloe to the transome and a 8 squid bar back behind that one. It has proven itself in your area.
Send pictures of your boat and your home. I'll be that boat is next to your house just ready to launch and go fishing.
How's the Wahoo fishing out your way?
Welcome to the board. Great to hear about different tachniques for us small boat owners. A couple years ago while I was on my honeymoon, I saw some locals in Maui pulling a 13' whaler with an F-350 10 inches of lift w/ 38 inch Super Swampers, and an aluminum dog box in the back. An odd site to say the least. But what caught my attention was the two 130's mounted in the boat. I asked some of the locals about them. They said it was pretty common site, and that they were the just the native fishermen that supply the high dollar restraunts with fresh fish. They are usually done by 9:00 am and hunt pigs in there spare time, hence the dog box. Man what a life. Keep sending the great posts.
Thanks for the kind words guys and also special thanks to the WahooKing for pointing this site out to me. If it weren't for him, I would have never known about this place.
The locals here are very friendly and hospital people....lots of warm, layed-back island spirit too. I have attached a Wahoo pic of one we took around this time last year. It was my first ever Wahoo and I caught it on a Mahi-style jethead. My '05 Whaler is in the background and my youngest boys (and boat crew) are standing next to me.
LOW - the site you saw in Hawaii is about normal here too, I just can't get over how people use the smallest of boats to land these beasts but somehow, they surely do it. I actually bought my small boat to use for spearfishing but after I took delivery, I met up with some folks who converted me to trolling. SO...I just adapt it as best as I can.
Joseph - thank you for the tip on lures for this region and I see your point - if it works in Tinian, it'll work here...as some of you might know, Tinian is a TINY island in the same island chain as Guam and is where they launched one of the atomic strikes to end WWII. So much history out here in these islands! There will be more pictures to come so hang on....until then.
Last edited by Jer; 01-26-2006 at 07:25 PM.
Reason: made the picture smaller
I remember using handlines(cloths line) with a truck bungy chord tied in and a short trace of mono to a clip,then the leader and a lure.Would u believe a chicken bone? YEAH. Run this baby up close and personal. What a scene when that Tuna wacks the bone , strecthes the Bungy and can go no place but AIRBORN just behind the boat. W O W !!
This trck keeps the whole school right in the spread and wackn the rest of the lures.
That chicken bone lure(taught by an islander) is still working.
I'm glad that boat is next to your house! I LOVE IT AND THE KIDS.
WACKEM N STACKEM
Joseph B...aka...Ancient Mariner
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