Rock fishing: Vanuatu

[Aaron Strid]

I am currently living in Vanuatu.  When the weather permits I have found a few local spots that you can fish from the rocks.  I have also found that it is a very practical way to lose a lot of gear quickly. 

[Luke Wyrsta]

Awesome work there mate - you should be proud of those captures off the rocks! That barracuda looks like it would've gone like hell and that 30kg'sih GT looks like he gave you murder

What kind of outfit are you running?

Run into any bigger Gees?

Also, I know he's only a little bloke but that bluefin trev looks massive!

[Aaron Strid]

Luke

I currently have a dogfight on GT special with 80lb braid.  Seems to deal with 'most' fish.  Have been smoked by about 4 really good fish off one ledge.  They seem to like it when you wind them back into the rocks/reef. 

I didn't even relise that I had hooked the larger GT as it took the popper when it was stationary in the water (twice this has happened).  I was waiting for a wave to bring it up onto the rocks and went to lift it up and felt a weight at the end of the line.  I don't think the fish relised he was hooked for a while either. 

The barracuda took a spectacular take on the popper by doing a nice half pike about 5 feet in the air.

I have also had smaller GTs (10 kilo)chase poppers right up onto the rocks and have hooked them right at my feet.  But even these size on the wrong angle cut you off pretty quick.  That bluefin took a 150 skipjack and would have been over 5 kilos.

Aaron.

[Scott Maybury]

Dude that is awesome, it is simply unfair that you have land based fishing like that near where you live

Top stuff

[Andrew Poulos]

Puts rock fishing here in sydney to shame 

Great work though, and wished I had more time to scout ledges when I was in vanuatu a few years ago.

[Aaron Strid]

There are plenty of good ledges to go fishing on in Vanuatu.  The biggest problem can be getting local permission to fish off them.  Most places don't allow it or require a small payment (maybe $5 Aus). The best thing is that the locals don't have the equipment to catch a lot of the fish off these spots. Helps also to catch a red bass or coral trout to pass on as appreciation for them allowing you to fish there.  Most probably the friendliest people in the world.

They do get a concerned look when you rock up with a gimbal belt, gloves, hand gaff and 8ft rod with a large thing hanging off the end of it. They are also astonished how far you can cast a lure with a rod compared to a string line off a soft drink bottle. 

Taking popping to the world........

[Andy Rowe]

Those catches are amazing.

I've hooked some large ones of the rocks in Lombok but always cutoff .

Like you say they like it coming into shallow water, most of the hook ups I've had are right on the ledge eyeballing the fish, and the fish after hook-up, running parallel along the edge with subsequently fast bust-offs.

How long and what type of leader are you using?

My hat's off to you bud, respect.

[Aaron Strid]

I started with single 130lb then to 100lb twisties and now 130lb or 170lb twisties (12ft long).  The only ones that I have caught are the ones that I can keep on the first ledge before the drop off. Helps to have the rod in the gimbal. The slow approach get more hits but I seem to give away a lot of gear. Preference is for pencils (have one left) and plenty of speed to bring them onto the ledge and then to give them nothing.........

[Chris Young]

Great stuff Aaron, that cuda looks evil mate  .
What size pencils are you throwing at them?

[Aaron Strid]

My favourite is the cubera 125 as they are very popular with the GTS.  The problem is that I haven't landed one on them yet.  They are now strictly for boat use only.  The skipjack 150 is my favourite pencil for casting and retrieving but the wooden lures all cop a good flogging when retrieving back onto rocks.  One wave can cause a lot of damage to the front of a wooden lure.  Also hooks become very expensive as a hook up rocks can easily turn a point. The lure that handles the rocks the best is the Haymaker. I have a gold (plain in colour now) one that has hooked two nice GTs and the cuda.  Needed some metallic cement to repair it after the cuda put a nice hole in it though. Wish they were heavier... 

My best recommendation for GT fishing is having spare spools already rigged and ready to go.  Hard to tie anything when you have been smoked by a large fish. A task that take a minute takes about 5 minutes and three attempts.

[Ewan Macleod]

Amazing! Ive caught heaps of little GT around the rock ledges in Northern NSW and had them scoff poppers and blades a foot from the edge right at my feet, great fun. The challenge of stopping a 30kgplus model from the rocks sounds epic!! nice cuda too beast!