Vava’u Sport Fishing Club
Tonga Fish Tales Newsletter – October 2010 Tonga Fish Tales © Copyright
October was very much out of character with some rough patches of weather and inconsistent fishing. The water temp still remains high for this time of the year and it may help to explain the ups and downs. Despite the harder fishing some good patches did produce some great catches and the highlight of the month was the NZFN Tournament (see article in NZFN Magazine)
Billfish Action ......... The western sea mount fished very well early in the month with 3-4 shots a day. As the month progressed the bite fall away and the action slowed right down. The average size was also down and only a few fish were reported in the 200kg range with most around the 80kg-100kg size. Sailfish turned up in good numbers and during the NZFN Tournament the team on “Kiwi Magic” had a quadruple strike, hook up and tagged all four - a great effort to say the least. With inconsistent bait runs and the FAD just not holding fish in general, billfishing slowed down and it was hard work to find a bite. Yellow Fin Action ...... Some very good yellow fin action was had around the middle ground with fish in the 50kg – 74kg size. One monster 100kg plus fish was lost on the leader right at the boat .... including the gaff ... a bit of cussing followed but hell the fish beat the crew fair and square.
Wahoo Action ............ Improved a little over last month, with some reasonable fish around the drop offs and down the bank. A few fish in the 20kg range reported but most in the 15kg range.
Mahimahi Action ........ The average size dropped during the early part of the month and they were hard to find especially during the Tournament. The average size was around 10kg GT Action .......... The weather did not help but some very respectable fish reported. The heaviest for the month by Peter Van Eekelen fishing with ‘Expedition’ – skipper Lole Lui The scales hit 43kg and that is the biggest fish for Tonga. A few other good fish in the 25kg-30kg range were also caught.
NZFN Tournament Results.... a sneak preview
A bit slow compared to previous years and the weather was far from kind.
Day 1 ... 8 billfish raised but none caught with 8 other Tournament fish being weighed in Day 2.... 11 billfish raised with 5 caught and 7 other species Day 3.... 8 billfish raised with 6 caught (quadruple of sails included) Day 4.... 2 billfish raised but no caught fish and only one Mahimahi weighed in.
There was only ‘0.1 of a point’ that separated the two top teams going into the last day and nether team managed to pull additional points so the glory stayed with the ‘Brown Team’ of Neil Brown, Michael Gordon-Jones, Phillip Mathews & Garry Carvell . Highest scoring individual angler went to Corinna Hill who tagged three Blues and a Sail. Top Scoring Charter boat - ‘Reel Addiction’ for the second consecutive year.
Last Tournament for the year - Tonga National Tournament
27th November, 4th & 6th December
Don’t forget to check out the clubs new web site www.vavausportfishingclub.com
Steve Campbell - ikalahi@tongafishing.com Tonga Fish Tales © Copyright