Pacemaker Fishing Forum

My wife and I keep looking at each other in disbelief that we are actually here. This trip was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid. Well we finally made it. We landed in Fiji after a 10.5 hour flight from LA and I slept less than 2 hours on the flight and was a zombie. We had one more flight to take to get to our small island and it was in this so it got my adrenaline pumping



I also got to ride shotgun which was amazing. During the 1 hour helicopter ride we went over amazing reefs, surf breaks and massive schools of feeding skipjack, tuna, whales and porpoise.



The island and resort are like a postcard.

After a full day of rest, my wife and I did our first fishing trip which was an afternoon half day on the resort’s Mako center console.

It was a beautiful afternoon on the water. We started out trolling some rigged baits and before too long we had our first take. I fought and landed this beautiful barracuda which would be kept for the locals to eat.



After seeing the fight, my wife knew it would be too much for her so she tapped out before she even started. Worried that she would get bored, we changed up and dropped baits in 30 to 40 meters of water and started to catch a bunch of different species including coral trout, snapper, sea bream, longnose emperor, job fish, etc. Here are a few samples.



We brought the sea bream, snapper and job fish back and the chef prepared an amazing dinner the next day that included ceviche in coconut milk, sashimi and pan seared snapper. Dinner was amazing!



The setting for dinner was quite amazing.

The next morning I would head out alone to target tuna and giant trevally. The tuna were nowhere to be found on the ride so we went to a surf break on the reef that is actually a popular surfing spot, but no one surfing it that day. We positioned the boat on the offshore side of the reef and we’re casting big poppers and stick baits to the breaking surf. After about 10 minutes of casting, the water exploded around my popper and I hooked up. After a good fight, we landed another barracuda. Fun, but not the target species.



A short while later, I had another explosion on the popper. The fish missed it twice and came back a 3rd time. I was hooked up and the fight was on. I landed my first GT. While not a big one, it put up an amazing fight in the curling waves and current. I landed a new species for me. I have to say, pound for pound, these fish fight harder than a tuna.



I landed several more including these beautiful fish

My arms and shoulders were complaining but we continued on. We went to a longer rolling surf break and the captain said that they don’t get as many in this area, but they tend to be bigger. On my 2nd cast with a stick bait, there was a huge explosion on the plug and I was hooked up. This fish was screaming drag for a long time and I was concerned he would take me over the reef and cut me off. Once he started to slow down, the captain moved the boat offshore of the surf break to safety which took more line. As I gained line back, the fish took more. After what was probably a 15 minute or so fight, I got this beautiful GT to the boat. This one was above 15kg or 33 lbs. while not giant as far as GT’s are concerned, a big one for the surf and a spinning rod. The picture does not do this fish justice. It was 15+ kg of muscle. I was wiped out after this one.



I ended up with one barracuda and 4 GT. Exhausted, we tried trolling for dogtooth tuna and casting an inside reef for bluefin trevally but neither cooperated. Still an amazing day for a 4hr hour trip. I had so much fun I’m going again on Monday. I still can’t believe I’m here.

Last edited by Paul Naj (Oct-07-22 4:11AM)