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Mitch Chapman

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Fishing Rarotonga
March 22, 2012, 09:23:38 PM
Gday guys, just a quick one,
heading over to Rarotonga in september this year and would like to know what the fishing is like around this area.... Im a keen lure and fly fisho and keen as mustard to chuck a few poppers/hards/plastics around...
Does anyone know what the land based options are like around this area?? Are there many flats to wade and sightcast trevs or reef ledges that you can fish land based and chuck poppers from??
also keen to hit a few charters while over there, again would rather sportfish and cast lures, than troll around on a "cattle boat"in circles for 4 hours just to fill in the time....
any info would be greatly appreciated, pretty much just wanna fish when im over there whether it be for small trevs and reefies or GT's tuna etc
ive been told that there are no Bonefish on the main island so ill have to make other plans to have a crack at them....

thanx again guys

Mitch

Mitch Chapman

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
March 22, 2012, 09:25:15 PM
PS:
ill be taking a
stella 18000 outfit with 80lb
saltiga 4500 outfit
certate 3000 outfit
light bream outfit
and a 7 weight fly outfit

so pretty much geared up for anything.....

thanx again guys

David Noble

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
March 27, 2012, 08:45:30 PM
Mitch do a search as there was a similar enquiry some months back, I recall I shared details of the pick of the guides on that post. His name escapes me just now. He runs a small potimarara boat & can smell fish.. 
A fair few kiwi's go there as flights until recently were all via Auckland. So check the NZ forum for some reports, a fair bit of pelagic stuff around FAD's etc.

Cheers Dave

Mitch Chapman

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
March 28, 2012, 05:53:36 PM
cheers Dave thanx for the feedback ill get on it mate and suss it out.....


Warwick Joyce

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 03, 2012, 09:12:23 AM
Mitch, I'll check it out for you! I'm on my way there today after my Fiji honeymoon was cancelled. Also heading to aitutaki which is supposed to be an awesome bonefish destination. I'll be at Rora for 5 days and aitutaki for 5. Not taking any fishing gear but will be looking at all the options available!

Carl Hollis

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 05, 2012, 03:36:24 PM
Mitch, I'd be real keen to hear your report also. Just booked in for 6 nights at Rarotonga in the last week of May. Carl
Carlos

Warwick Joyce

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 15, 2012, 05:07:10 PM
Guys, I just got back from Rarotonga and Aitutaki. First thing I can say is that GT popping would be hard there and second its more of a jigging or game trolling location with the exception of the Aitutaki lagoon. The reasons are that the islands are sea mounts, Raro has a fringing reef approx 200m off shore and another 200m past that it's 1km deep or deeper. The islanders live off the fish they catch so there isn't much life on what reef there is apart from small inedible reef fish. Most of the fish they get (in raro) are pelagic varieties like tuna, dorado, wahoo and billfish. The local government have installed several FAD's in an effort to attract and retain fish for longer. One FAD is anchored in 1500m!! :o
Pic is of the edge of Rarotonga.


Aitutaki is similar but has a massive lagoon, once again not far past the edge of the lagoon the depth drops fast :o  The GT's are there, I snorkeled with one of about 20-30kg (so hard to judge underwater) and the locals spear them for food and said the black ones are the biggest and they say upwards of 50kg.
The big thing I noticed was the lack of current, the only places were the shallow channels that the lagoon drains and fills from. So targeting GT's with poppers might be difficult. Speaking to the local Scuba guy and he says the same, the only significant water movement is from waves.
I have some areal photo's of the reef edge and some channels that I will post later after I get them off my camera.


Some of the drain channels,




If you were looking to fish either location I would take the following,
A jigging set up, unsure of size? They were catching yellowfin tuna to 30kg at the time and they also get a variation of amberjacks, i think almacore jack?? Also dogtooth tuna are around Aitutaki.
A trolling set up, if that's what your into and that's what most charter boats do. They have all the gear as well.
A light popping set up, for casting to tuna schools and FAD's and bommies in the Aitutaki lagoon.
A #9 fly rod for big bonefish at Aitutaki. You could also go a #12 for Mahi Mahi as well.

I only went after the Bones of which I saw maybe 12 and got a cast to 9 and maybe 4 follows but no takes :( Still pretty stoked to be chasing them being my first time on a fly rod!
If you are going to chase the bones contact Butch Leone. PM me for his contact details if you need.
Last Edit: April 16, 2012, 05:45:27 AM by Warwick Joyce

Carl Hollis

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 20, 2012, 06:38:28 PM
Cheers Warick, good summary. I'm heading over to Rarotonga in late May. I was thinking of taking a shore casting stick PE3-4 and a heavier stick for casting. What weight would you consider as a "light" popping outfit? PE5 or PE6-8?
Carlos

Warwick Joyce

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 23, 2012, 07:52:18 PM
Cheers Warick, good summary. I'm heading over to Rarotonga in late May. I was thinking of taking a shore casting stick PE3-4 and a heavier stick for casting. What weight would you consider as a "light" popping outfit? PE5 or PE6-8?
If your already taking a pe 3-4 I would take a pe 6-8 as well, that way you have most bases covered. Oh and pack some good reef boots, there are plenty of stone fish.

Mitch Chapman

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 24, 2012, 10:03:42 PM
Thanx Warrick, some really good info there and appreciate the feedback!!!!

ill keep you all posted on how it goes..

im sure we will be able to find a few small trevs on the flats but yeh just keen to flick a lure!!!!

Thanx again for all your feedback

Mitch Chapman

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 24, 2012, 10:04:42 PM
PS:
Some good photos there too.... would be awesome to hire a tinny and just go casting!!!!

Alan Syme

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 26, 2012, 06:31:48 PM
hi mitch,

i live on the island of rarotonga.

there are gts here, some big ones, a few resident 50kg + in the main harbour that can be hand fed, all the charter boats fillet fish and throw frames in, gts love it.

answers to your questions below.

fishing in aitutaki is generally better than raro, less population and pressure, larger reef area. plenty of good gts around that will hammer your poppers. often easier to land by boat as the reef is razor sharp and it often ends quickly in favour of the fish. big fish, shallow water and sharp reef.

a nz fishing forum has more details, you do not have to join up to be able to read the comments www.fishing.net.nz then look for destinations, pacific, rarotonga/aitutaki.

even better gt popper fishing on the island of aitu, some real donkeys there that have never hardly seen a popper.

the gear you are bringing will cover most bases, all charter boats provide their own trolling gear, not many provide popper or jig gear.

cheers alan


Gday guys, just a quick one,
heading over to Rarotonga in september this year and would like to know what the fishing is like around this area.... Im a keen lure and fly fisho and keen as mustard to chuck a few poppers/hards/plastics around...
Does anyone know what the land based options are like around this area?? some good options, swell dependant. i don;t want to name them on here due to fishing pressure but i can point you in the right direction if you send me a message. Are there many flats to wade and sightcast trevs or reef ledges that you can fish land based and chuck poppers from?? yes there are several, check out google earth for example
also keen to hit a few charters while over there, again would rather sportfish and cast lures, than troll around on a "cattle boat"in circles for 4 hours just to fill in the time.... try kyle at bluewater adventures for gt popping, he has a website but not sure what it is, once again google search bluewater adventures fishing rarotonga, if you are going to aitutaki go with mike on black pearl, he is awesome at gt fishin. had a day with him last week and great fun, got gts to 20kgs +
any info would be greatly appreciated, pretty much just wanna fish when im over there whether it be for small trevs and reefies or GT's tuna etc plenty of bluefin trevally around in the lagoon to be caught, they have ciguatera here though so catch and release
ive been told that there are no Bonefish on the main island so ill have to make other plans to have a crack at them.... there are bonefish here in rarotonga, just not many. aitutaki has loads, some of the biggest bones in the world infact, www.e2sway.com for itu davey, he is the man. caught my first bonefish last week, great fun

thanx again guys

Mitch






Alan Syme

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
April 26, 2012, 06:40:19 PM
mitch, just realised that i had also answered your post on the nz fishing net wed forum, ha ha ha!

Mitch Chapman

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
May 03, 2012, 08:46:07 PM
mitch, just realised that i had also answered your post on the nz fishing net wed forum, ha ha ha!

Gday Alan,
haha thanks for your feedback really appreciate it...
i cant wait to get over there...

Hopefully i will be able to get some lures smashed and some line stretched!!!!

Cheers
Mitch

Lorenz Seebauer

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Re: Fishing Rarotonga
August 17, 2024, 02:59:17 AM
Hi,
I heard the general GT season is October to April?
Is this true for landbased GT fishing, too, or does this narrow down the (peak) season?
Best regards Lorenz