Your Ultimate Fishing Destination?

[SportFishStaff]

Wow, Great posts guy's I've been checking out some of your lists and it's impressive. It's amazing how much is out there when it comes do Great Fishing, Wether it's close to home or in a far of destination. Thanks Tim

[SportFishStaff]

Breaking Down Roddys list. I was Intrigued by these places most I've never heard of.

In no particular order :

- Ille de la Surprise
- Alphonse
Location
Alphonse Island lies in the heart of the Indian Ocean, seven degrees south of the Equator and 500 kilometers southwest of the capital island of Mahe.
Season
Second week in October to the last week in April
Capacity
A maximum of 10 anglers per week
Species
Bonefish, trevally, milkfish, triggerfish, pompano (permit) and a host of other reef and flats species. Over 60 different species have been landed on a fly in this fishery!
General Information
Alphonse is a small triangular-shaped coral island that it is one of three islands in a group: Alphonse in the north, Bijoutier in the middle, and St François in the south.


- Flinders

The islands were part of the land bridge which once joined Tasmania to the mainland. Bass Strait was formed as a result of the melting of ice after the last ice age leaving the mountain tops to form the present day chain of islands.

The islands were first identified by Europeans when Tobias Furneaux, the commander of Captain Cook's support ship sighted the islands in 1773. Following the 1797 wrecking of the trading ship the "Sydney Cove" on Preservation Island, the rescuers from Sydney reported large numbers of seals among the islands which led to the first settlement south of Sydney by sealers and exploration by Mathew Flinders.

Striped Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Albacore in season. Striped Trumpeter, Blue-eyed Travalla and Mako offshore. Inshore Gummy Shark, School Shark, Kingfish, Snapper, the island's renowned big Flathead and Salmon amongst many others.


- Baia, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG) lies south of the equator, about 150 kms north of Australia. The country consists of a mainland, which is part of the island of New Guinea (the second largest island in the world), and a collection of over 600 islands of varying sizes

The climate is generally warm with a "wet" and "dry" season, the timings of which vary from one part of the country to another. The wettest months for most regions are November to March but rain falls mainly in the evenings and rarely disrupts daily activities. Temperatures around the coastal areas are reasonably stable and vary between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius. The Highlands are cooler and temperatures can fall dramatically at night.

Wahoo, Spanish mackerel, yellowfin tuna, dolphin fish (Mahi Mahi), various trevally, sailfish & marlin. These tropical speedsters offer exceptional Sportsfishing opportunities.

Although G.T.s are the prime targeted species for popper casting other fish are also sometimes caught. Among these are Blue spot, Golden, Silver, & Tea leaf Trevally. As well as Spanish Mackerel, Dolphin Fish, Red Bass & Coral Trout just to name a few.
They also have some cool freshwater/brackish bass

Papuan Black Bass (Lutjanus goldiei) also called ‘Papuan black snapper’ or Niugini bass. Black bass inhabit brackish and fresh waters, they are opportunistic and omnivorous in their diet. They consume crabs, fish (including catfish, smaller bass, small crocodiles and mammals. In common with many large, riverine fish, Black Bass are territorial. In areas where there is little tidal influence they remain in the one general area, but where there are large tides they move with the tides and changing river flows and water levels.



- the lagoon at Wake
- St Peter and St Paul
- Archipelago de Bijagos
- Rowley Shoals
- Wanganella Banks
- Ille Amsterdam

There's probably a few more

i'll look up some later but here some fishing opportunities at these Locales. Really cool destinations. Thanks again Roddy

[Roddy Hays]

Hi Tim,

Wrong Flinders (though the one you've mentioned sounds fun too !). The one you want is a reef in the Coral Sea. The Nomad operation fishes it.

And my reason to go to Baia is solely the black bass... It's rare I see Australian anglers get excited about fish, but when they talk about black bass their eyes glaze over and a small dribble of spittle forms at the corner of their lop-sided grins.

I'll be interested to see if you get some of the other locations. If you need help, pm me.....

There is one location amongst the list that has no professional sportfishing boats, but is relatively easy to get too, and although remote, is decently civilized. I hear rumours that world record size specimens of two of the world's most popular large gamefish call it home, yet there is little to zero pressure on them.

I'm not talking about Ile de Surprise, which is another matter. Just about everything that swims there could be of world record size, but that's just because of where it is and what it consists of. It's an atoll, so you can guess the species that may be there - all the usual culprits. From the US you'd have to take at least two separate plan flights AND a boat trip to get there. And it is NOT The one in Vietnam.

[SportFishStaff]

Roddy,
You got me on Flinders. Coral sea sounds awesome.

Just by reading up on the black bass they do seem like an awesome target species. I'll see what i can get next.
Thanks Tim

Hi Tim,

Wrong Flinders (though the one you've mentioned sounds fun too !). The one you want is a reef in the Coral Sea. The Nomad operation fishes it.

And my reason to go to Baia is solely the black bass... It's rare I see Australian anglers get excited about fish, but when they talk about black bass their eyes glaze over and a small dribble of spittle forms at the corner of their lop-sided grins.

I'll be interested to see if you get some of the other locations. If you need help, pm me.....

There is one location amongst the list that has no professional sportfishing boats, but is relatively easy to get too, and although remote, is decently civilized. I hear rumours that world record size specimens of two of the world's most popular large gamefish call it home, yet there is little to zero pressure on them.

I'm not talking about Ile de Surprise, which is another matter. Just about everything that swims there could be of world record size, but that's just because of where it is and what it consists of. It's an atoll, so you can guess the species that may be there - all the usual culprits. From the US you'd have to take at least two separate plan flights AND a boat trip to get there. And it is NOT The one in Vietnam.

[SportFishStaff]

Heres what else I found on Roddys list

In no particular order :

- the lagoon at Wake
I think this is in The Marshal Islands from what i can find and Bone fishing seems to be very good






- St Peter and St Paul
stuck on this one
- Archipelago de Bijagos
Huge Tarpon is what I find in this west african nation where the Tarpon average 200lbs

Guinea-Bissau, a small West African country nestled between Senegal and Guinea. The fishing takes place 25 miles off the coast in the Bijagos Archipelago, which is made up of 30 main islands and a multitude of small islands. Its waters are the perfect habitat for sport fish such as tarpon, jacks, barracuda, snappers, cobia and sharks.


- Rowley Shoals

The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about 260 km west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centered around 17°20′S 119°20′E / 17.333°S 119.333°E / -17.333; 119.333, on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll covers an area of around 80 to 90 km² within the rim of the reef, including the lagoons, while the land areas are negligible. They belong to Western Australia. They all rise steeply from the surrounding ocean floor. To the northeast lie the Scott and Seringapatam Reefs which are located on the same undersea platform. The group was named after Captain Rowley, who sighted Imperieuse Reef in 1800. It is believed that the Rowley Shoals reefs have been visited by fishermen from Indonesia, from at least the mid-18th century. The fishermen were also collecting or hunting for Trepang (holothurians or sea cucumbers), turtle shell, trochus shell and shark fin.

These early visitors apparently knew the Rowley Shoals as Pulau Pulo Dhaoh. In later years, fishermen from Roti Island, south of Timor, also visited the Rowley Shoals, which they knew as Pulau Bawa Angin. The individual reefs were also given names, Mermaid being called Pulau Manjariti, Clerke Reef was Pulau Tengah and Imperieuse Reef was Pulau Matsohor.

* Mermaid Reef, the northeastern one of the three reefs at 17°06′S 119°37′E / 17.1°S 119.617°E / -17.1; 119.617, is an atoll with a large lagoon enclosed by a rim of coral, which falls dry. There are many drying patches in the lagoon. On the northeast side of the reef, there is a passage, about 60 m wide, leading into the lagoon. Mermaid Reef rises steeply from the surrounding ocean floor, which is 440 m deep. The atoll was named in 1818 by Captain Philip Parker King, who discovered the reef and named it after his ship.

* Clerke Reef (also called Minstrel Shoal), at 17°19′S 119°21′E / 17.317°S 119.35°E / -17.317; 119.35, lies about 23 km southwest of Mermaid Reef. The reef has a length of about 15 km north-south, and a width of about 6 km. Near the northern end of the reef lies Bedwell Islet, a bare sand cay about 2 m high. On the eastern and western sides of the reef there are a number of boulders which fall dry. A narrow passage leads to a lagoon, with many detached coral patches within the reef. Clerke Reef rises steeply from the surrounding ocean floor, which is 390 m deep. It was also named by Captain Philip Parker King, after Captain Clerke, who had reported it from a whaler between 1800 and 1809.

* Imperieuse Reef, at 17°35′S 118°55′E / 17.583°S 118.917°E / -17.583; 118.917, lies about 35 km southwest of Clerke Reef and is the southwesternmost of Rowley Shoals. It is about 16 km in length north-south and has a width of about 8 km. On the southeastern edge of the reef there are numerous coral boulders, which rise about 3 m above the water mark. Large areas of the reef fall dry at low water and there are two lagoons, which each contain many coral patches within. Cunningham Islet, a small sand cay 3.7 m high and devoid of vegetation, is located close within the northern extremity of the reef, and is surrounded by a small lagoon, 93 m wide. The islet is the location of a lighthouse, Imperieuse Reef Light. Imperieuse Reef rises steeply from the surrounding ocean floor, which is 230 m deep. The reef was also named by Captain Phillip Parker King, after the ship from which it was sighted by Captain Rowley in 1800.

Marlin fishing seems to be of epic proportions.



- [COLOR="Red"][COLOR="Red"]Wanganella Banks
The Wanganellas had an almost mythical status, with rumours circulating among fishermen that the water of these far-off banks teemed with marlin.

The rumours stemmed from commercial fishing boats that had worked the area.

So in June 2003, after some careful planning, we set off to find the banks and see what big gamefish we could extract with sportsfishing tackle.

The plan was to fish a couple of seamounts for swordfish on the way north. While we did troll sword baits at night, right over a 400m-deep hill marked on the chart, the sounder returned not a single echo back from the bottom, with the range set at 1000m.

This was our first indication that the charts of this seldom-travelled region were inaccurate.

We since learned that the charts were last updated in 1982, before constant and reliable GPS fixes were available.

Some great Marlin Tuna and Sword fishing here.


- Ille Amsterdam

There's probably a few more

[Patudo]

Bijagos was featured here on British TV just last week. Actor fellow from Newcastle called Robson Green cranking on assorted jacks and snappers including a couple of leerfish aka garrick... similar looking to queenfish but duller looking and didn't seem to jump... A bloke I know is off there shortly. Be interesting to see what he thinks of the place. It's a bit of a change of scene for a bluewater guy.

What would you be targeting at Ile Amsterdam, Roddy?

[Wireman]

Places I plan to focus on fishing in the next 10 years in no particular order...

Cape Verde Islands
Bermuda (hopefully a few times)
Kona
Great Barrier Reef
Costa Rica
Cabo

St Thomas goes without saying as I try to fish a moon period each season.

[Roddy Hays]

Ile Amsterdam has a problem, similiar to Midway where we had albatrosses everywhere.



Different, huh ?

[Jay W]

PV or Clarion with JT
Bermuda with James

Fished:
Kona-Awesome landscape and just the thought of fishing Kona was great. Overall fishing slow.

Costa Rica-Lots of bill fish no doubt. Overall fishing good.

Alaksa-Seward unreal for Salmon and Halibut. Homer good Halibut fishing. Would like to do some fly ins next trip.

Galapagos-Rustic for sure but I dream of the next trip over there. Fishing is just plain stupid good IMO.

Scituate MA-BFT with Mass Bay Group, if you want to get whipped thats the place to go. Grab yourself a 50w a standup harness and you'll see what I mean.

From what I have read and heard JT and Wound Up have something on all of them. May give the Clarion trip a shot with JT this winter.