Well, I always knew I was going to get bitten back someday!
I usually do a little prayer for wind whenever I go to NC, because in the past its been a crucial factor for stirring up the fish. What I didn't expect was 20-35 knot squalls and almost daily rain!
The trip this year was very cosmopolitan, consisting of anglers from 4 different cities. There was me from Kuala Lumpur, Kai from Singapore, Ricky from Perth and Glenn from Karratha. We were to fish for 6 days in the Southern Lagoon and around the Isle of Pines.
Before I continute, let me just say that if Qantas didn't have a monopoly on the Sydney to Noumea route, I would opt never to fly with them - even if it costed me alot more. Once again, they transpired to lose our luggage, this time all our rod tubes bar one. I'm sorry if anyone here is associated with Qantas but for them to do it two years in a row, now that's just hopeless! I have a feeling those rods are still sitting in transit at Sydney Airport, because we still haven't recieved them. It was only fortunate that Brandon had left 2 rods with LPB for me to use, otherwise we wouldn't really have been able to fish.
Anyway, onto the popping. With the kind of weather we were having, this was tough work! We spent alot of time inside the lagoon because the swells outside the Barrier Reef were just too big. The rain, overcast skies and strong winds seemed to absolutely shut fish down, and all of us had to really work very, very hard.
The average number of GTs landed per day would be about 3, but that's between the six of us casting on rotation, 3 at a time, non-stop. I actually never caught a GT after the third day and still somehow ended up with the most GTs for the trip. There might even have been a point where we got excited over raising a Red Bass! (OK, maybe not quite that desperate)
To their credit, David and Rudy tried their absolute best to put us onto fish. I have never covered so many miles popping in NC as I did with them on this trip, as they travelled far and wide to try and find us GTs. I mean, these boys really worked hard, and while we all know that fish shutting down is part and parcel of fishing, David still looked really stressed in the evenings! I guess he must have been thoroughly racking his brain to see what could be done. Really, it was simply a case of "C'est la vie" and given the tough conditions, LPB once again performed par excellence.
Why? Well, what we lacked in quantity, we certainly made up for in quality. Most of the GTs were about 25kg at least, and the biggest three landed were 47, 43, and 38kg. Rudy got busted off in shallow water by what appeared to be a good-sized fish before he managed to even get a wind on his reel.
The unluckiest (or lucky, depending on perspective) angler award though goes to NC-first-timer Glenn. He managed to raise a HUGE 45-50kg GT that had its head almost entirely out of the water and had 3 goes at his pencil popper but he somehow failed to find tension on his line. I had a great view of the strikes from the flybridge and it seemed to me that the GT smashed the popper with such force and speed that it simply knocked the lure out of its own mouth each time.
Then on one of the last casts of the trip Glenn managed to raise, hook and fight another 45-50kg monster all the way to the boat. He had done all the hard work and I was just about to see colour when I saw the tip of Glenn's Ripple Fisher lose tension. The fish had somehow gotten off the hooks only some 10 meters under the boat! It was that close I actually thought of jumping in, and I think Glenn almost had a tear in his eye. Ah well - something to keep him coming back!
I suppose there is a balance in this universe and Glenn did get very lucky with his, and LPB's, first successfully landed sailfish on popper. The popper was an Orion ConoCono 140g and the sailfish was about 35-40kg. Rudy also had a big sailfish fin and hit his Carpenter-Gamma stickbait a few days later but with trebles it was always going to be hard to set the hook.
A few other highlights include:
A huge Mackerel leaping 7 feet in the air (literally over Glenn's head) as it smashed his popper some 5 meters from the back of the boat. It was so big I actually thought it was a doggie - 30kg at least! An awesome sight from the flybridge.
Also, in continuing my tradition in NC, I once again went diving for a Big Foot. It actually got caught around the right prop as I tangled with David at the front, and we had to limp on one prop and anchor inside the lagoon. The water must have been about 22 degrees and Rudy looked especially relieved when I said "I'll jump in, my mistake". First cut and my Big Foot gets free and then proceeds to sink to the bottom in 6m of water. I think I did quite well to retrieve it, considering the strong current, lack of weightbelt and fins!
David and Rudy also took us up to their special spot at Lake Yate where we went bass fishing with stickbaits. Let me just say, these two French gentlemen really know how to look after their guests. Nothing big was caught but we definately had alot of fun (and beer)!
The only main drawback I can think of was casting I-cups and 220g Big Foots all day for the first 3 days on a Carpenter UHL. This was then followed by fighting some really crazy fish on that same rod. There wasn't anything over 35kg but there is just something about winter NC GTs - they absolutely refuse to come to the boat! Check out Brandon's 2008 August NC report to get an apt description of what I mean. I think I'm still looking for my right arm somewhere.
Technical information:
The most successful poppers the Hammerhead I-Cups, G-Cups, Fisherman BigMouth 220HP tail, Orion ConoCono and Big Foot 220g. David and Rudy were also using the biggest Kong poppers which, I must say, impressed me quite abit. Depending on the conditions pencil poppers also did well, such as the Fisherman Paro-paro and Long Pen.
And now for some selected pictures:
