Aitutaki October 2012

[Sam Morrison]

Alan,

Let me know if you are thinking of more popping sessions at night or low light dusk etc... I have an idea...

Thanks for sharing Stu,

It would seem the weather gods smiled on you during the stay, it has been gusting to 130kph locally so I guess any tropical island is going to look great at this time of the year!

Having never fished in Aitutaki, what areas was Mike targeting for the GT's? Bommies, reef/surf break etc... I am sure with some more angler interest and some more exploring Mike will found out what the fishery has to offer. Alan Syme(sp) is a member on here, he has had some great GT captures from the stones and lives on the island, from memory he goes popping at night...

Might have to make a few more of those poppers 

mikes main target area is the outside ocean reef, there are not really any bommies but more of a barrier type reef with guts, gullies, gardens and cracks in it. surf breaks on these and a certain amount of wave action is usually beneficial, too much swell makes it unfishable and downright dangerous. there are also big gts inside the lagoon that can be caught, sight fished or casting blind. you can also snorkel with them at a few reserve spots.

aitutaki is a really beautiful place and my wife loves it there also.

i mainly going popping in day time, but have done a very small amount at night.

[Aaron Levien]

This is great. Cheers for the report mate. Love it. Been trying to find some advice on Fishing in Aitutaki in October next year. Thank you Mark Armisted for pointing me in this direction.
Ill be following this report and more for those Islands to come as we are also looking at booking Black Pearl for our time over there.

Thanks again for the report and stoked you got some GTs.

[Lou arellano]

Great report.

Love the fact that this place is family friendly....now where is my wife...

[Byron Ford]

hi guys ain't been on the site for awhile as been flat out sorting my land out back in aitutaki...

an what a great surprise to see a post, an by the looks a couple of nice wish where caught, Ive been lucky enough to fish this great island for most of my life, my father is a cook islander born in aitutaki that moved to Sydney looking for work in the late 70s who found more then just a job lol he also found a wife, which lucky for me an my siblings we get to call this place our second home, 

GT fishing is slowly starting to grow there (being the main reason i joined this site for info) an lucky for the fish they are no longer a table fish as they carry cicatrice, sorry not to sure how to spell it right, so the locals dint chase them any more but i can remember as a kid my dad an uncles catching monsters on spear, so there definitely still a few there, my trip this year i was only able to fish 2 days due to 40 knot winds but still landed plenty smaller fish an a 30 plus which is a Pb for me as I'm a novice when it comes to GTs, but i do see alot of potential in the years to come, just need the right direction from local charters an guides, being probably the main reason i have chose to build a home back there on my family land an hopefully in the very near future set up a charter bussines strictly for fishing GTs as most locals main source of charters are bonefish an pelagics.....I'm heading back in jan to finish my house an i will make sure to take the go pro an get plenty of footage an pics to give a better look for future travellers

i might sound bias but i cant rage on about how good this island is for fishing an holidaying you have the lagoon to snorkel over the amazing reefs an fish life an if winds are blowing u stay in and catch blue fin travs on almost every cast which is a ball on light gear an keeps me busy most trips, with the occasional GT that smokes you in 2 secs flat lol from the great out side fishing on pelagic an GTs

so please if any guys need an info on aitutaki I'm more then willing to help

p.s on a sad note my father just returned Saturday an told me that a resident big black GT bit 2 tourist that where in the water watching as the guides feed the other fish so they speared it, very sad what do they expect being in the water with burly all around

[Tommy Du]

Hay Byron think you forgot to mention amount of lobsters available and the fact your dad done some exploring with a fish finder and found some good drop offs that had fish marked on them which they think are doggies .

[John Ryan]

I have a lot of what i like to call "unrelated family' who are cook islanders, and luckily enough most hail or their parents originate from Aitutaki.
I visited the island when i was 16 and spent 3 weeks living with friends of friends and fishing every day but saturday, as the families i was staying with were very devout seventh day adventists. so to be polite i didnt fish on their sabbath.
We would take a tiny 25hp powered tinny outside the reef- me and 2 big islander men- and troll for pelagics, catching mostly rat YFT's. We also fished inside the reef a lot, catching mostly small to medium blue fin trevs and small GT's on metals and poppers. there is a small sandy island about 30min run in a slow leaky tinny from the "boat ramp" in town that we camped on for several nights.
While i was there we did a lagoon cruise with who if i remember correcty was Puna... he had at the time an orange plastic pontoon style boat. not sure if he's upgraded in the 9 years since i was there. I distincly remember him pointing out 2 big black shadows screaming across the flats in one of the marine park zones and calling them for GT's.

Sorry for the long ramble through memory lane but those 3 weeks will live with me forever. i hope to visit again soon, hopefully my impending wedding means that aitutaki will be on the cards 
one of my closest family friends Rupe is from Aitutaki, and is currently going through a land dispute over a property on the island. hopefully it goes his way so i've got somewhere to stay. 
with any luck the GT fishing gets worked out over there in the coming years. any reason to get back there 

[Stuart Kelly]

Sounds like a great place cant wait to get there in Jan!!!