Just returned from fishing New Caledonia (22nd to 28th Feb 2010) with my two brothers Mick and Steve and the old man. Spent 4 days fishing out of Ouano Lodge then the last 3 days out from Neweta Lodge.
Day 1: Totally devastated - spent all day casting big poppers for one Longnose Emperor; although it was a reasonable Emperor at 8kg; it was definitely not what we were looking for and there were a few worried faces at the end of fishing!!
Ouano Lodge.
Mick's 8kg Longnose Emperor.
Day 2: Lunch time Day 2 and we still haven't raised a single GT, those worried faces were almost turning to despair, but when that unmistakable strike occurs its surprising how quickly you forget about all the hard times!! First GT of the trip went to Mick and was a reasonable fish of 21kg.
First GT.
Mick's 21kg GT.
The afternoon session really fired up for us and we managed to get eight nice GT's to the boat with the biggest going 32kg; while the old man nailed a solid 28kg GT (part of a double hook up with Steve); not a bad effort seeing that he is 70 years old and we still don't know how he manages to toss bg poppers all day then fight the GT's on 12-15kg drag setting - all we are hoping is that we will be able to do the same at that age!! Photos from Day 2 -
Steve's 19kg GT.
Steve's 20kg GT.
Double.
Old man's 28kg GT.
My 32kg GT.
Day 3: The day of the big GT's; although we did a bit of light tackle fishing in the morning for a few cod, spanish etc however in future trips I would forego this and just throw big poppers all day. The old man gets blown away by a fish that just didn't stop tearing line of the Dogfight and eventually found some nice reef while I have a solid 50kg GT follow my popper all the way to the boat only to duck away at the last minute with Mick literally only tossing his popper several meters out we all saw the massive fish turn and engulf the popper - unfortunately after all the hard work was done and we were in "clear water" the popper falls out - spectacular strike but nonetheless very disappointing!! I also land the best GT of the trip just before stumps of 39kg and after seeing what happened to the old man in the morning I immediately give the drag a few extra notches (later that evening it tested at 20kg). All the fish are looked after very well (as they should be!!) and are carefully brought abroad, placed on a foam mate, tagged with NSW fisheries GT tags, weighted and after a quick photo sent home to play another day!!
About to be Tagged & Weighed.
My 39kg GT.
Day 4: Great day but ever so frustrating!! We had a lot of strikes from some bruiser GT's today but simply could not stay attached. We only got reefed by one GT but would have pulled the hooks on 15+ fish, a couple at the strike but mostly after the fight was all settled, I personally lost eight in a row!! We will be using singles next trip.
Boat side about to be tailed.
Mick's 26kg GT.
We have a slightly early finish and make the move to Weketa Lodge which is about a 1 hour drive up the coast.
Weketa Lodge.
Day 5: No more light tackle fishing for us – we stayed attached to a good percentage of our GT’s today but they were a far bit smaller than previously with most going between 14-17kg with Mick’s 24kg GT being the exception. We did pick up a couple of nice incidentals with Dad nailing a thumping big 19kg Humphead and I convinced a 18kg Coral Trout to leave its home!!
Mick's 24kg GT.
Fighting the Humphead.
19kg of Humphead.
18kg Coral Trout
Day 6: Another good day on the water with more nice incidentals, with Red Bass, Spanish Mackerel and Mangrove Jack’s all making a welcome appearance. The GT’s were playing ball also with several fish in the mid 20kg range.
7-8kg Red Bass.
4-5kg Mangrove Jack.
8-10kg Spanish.
25kg GT.
Fighting another GT.
26kg GT.
30kg GT.
Day 7: Last day – bummer!!! But it was a great day, with some very nice GT’s, a few solid Barracuda that the hooks never seem to fall out of and another solid Coral Trout. We also had a few more good Trout slap our poppers but never hooked up.
Crystal clear water!!
16kg Coral Trout
Getting pulled around!!
31kg GT.
26kg GT.
Last GT of the trip - 24kg.
