Who cares what weight it is, it's a beast would'nt mind a tango with one of them!!
swordfishsteve wrote: Hi Coxy, Yes there is a bit of info on the Chesterfields and I have lots too, it is an AMAZING place! and I have seen a few around the world but this is special, anyway we are doing 3 trips to the Chesterfields next winter, you are welcome to join us if you can or keep in touch as we will probably do the same in 2012 as long as the interest is there. Swordfishsteve |
Chesterfield Fishing Adventure part1
Escape the Cold Wet New Zealand Winter = How About This for a Sport Fishing Winter Paradise?
Sunny , Hot , SE 10kn S/E 1mtr lazy rolling swell, sea state getting better all the time, arrived at the south passage De Illot Loop, amazing bird life, huge current swirling around the bank edge, instantly we hook and land two nice Mahimahi , an excellent start, just after lunch approaching S/W reef drop off, we hook and land a treble of Yellowfin Tuna, up to 30kg, so not huge, but is has been a long time since any of us white boy Kiwis have caught any Yellowfin, Tuna , in Cobalt Blue water temp 24deg, so crystal clear you can see the bottom in 30mtrs right into reef edge,
We hooked a few Wahoo in the shallows however the sharks are too fast and all we end up with is the Wahoo heads, carry on working the reef drop off to the west passage, then come up onto the ledge and hook up to something BIG, Mike the angler on 24kg SU, this fish smokes off straight down, I suggested to Mike to crank up the drag a bit, only to see the it is already on Sunset, wow this fish has some power, half an hour later we boat a Dog tooth Tuna that would easily weight 70kg, awesome start and fantastic welcome to the Chesterfields!
Best lures so far would be Laser Pro 190 in any colour, we were blown away by the power and size of the Dog tooth, so went inside the reef for a relaxing swim and a cold beer!!
Anchored at the West long Island, Nice spot however a bit exposed to SE winds.
Nice night at anchor, everyone keen to repeat yesterdays performance, after chopping up Mikes Dog Tooth we decide not to eat it as high risk of toxin poisoning which large reef fish predators have, so arrive at the passage ledge and sure enough we hook more Dog tooth Tuna, several up to 50kg, one for Malcolm which comes up with coral on lure top, they appear to cruise along the ledge drop off in the shallow 25mtr zone so very difficult to get out into the deep, very strong tidal flow and huge schools of rainbow runners, mack tuna and skippies congregate at the drop off. We lost many lures to the bottom and to sharks. Inside for lunch and back to the passage for the afternoon bite, landed 2 large Wahoo, which we let go, then Tony hooks a Big Dog tooth on a Metal Jig, 80lb braid and lock and load extreme drag, he scull drags it out into the deep where with a lot of hard work and extreme drag locked up he lands an even bigger Dog tooth than Mikes, we estimate 90kg, Huge guts and bigger than the angler. Very hard fight for over an hour sees Tony shattered in the corner barely able to lift the fish for a photo, going to be hard to beat that monster anytime!
Back into lagoon for some cool lagers and celebrate our success.
Next Mission for us is to target Giant Trevally today, as our arms are still aching from the Dog Tooth are too much like hard work, so we plan to popper our way around the reef ledge and explore some new territory, S/E 15 kn and sunny all day, so excellent conditions, however the GT fishing did not turn it on, we ended up with a big Jobfish, sharks eating everything, and 2 Wahoo on lures, a couple of GT followed poppers out , Malcolm landed one GT around 10kg, 2 more nice dogtooth on the way back into the lagoon on the ledge, over to the West Islands anchorage, lovely in SE conditions, tuck into 10mtrs water , good holding, just slight wind chop.
Up nice and early heading for the Seamount 43mls away, sloppy SE 25knts , not sure what to expect but worth a look we guess? Troll out at 8knts, arrive around 11AM with an instant treble of Yellowfin Tuna, approx 25kg, then 2 more Wahoo on marlin lures, so time to pull those in, oh no too late as we lose Ken’s big Pinky lure to a mass Wahoo attack. Seamount comes up to 60mtrs, from 1000mtrs so plenty of fish on it, we have a few Yellowfin eat our stik baits right at prop wash, awesome to see so many Yellowfin competing for plastc baits, sharks get half of one, then a couple more Wahoo. Tony jigged a small Yellowfin, not too hard to catch on PE8 braid, so great fun, we have to leave at 1pm to head back to anchorage, biggest landed around 30kg, so not monsters but plenty of them. We arrived back to East Island anchorage as the sun sets, so another perfect day comes to a close.
Our last day in Paradise so head back to Dog Tooth Highway, Malcolm lands a nice yellowfin on south ledge, 2 more big wahoo and one more Doggie around 50kg on Blade Swimmer Lure. Easterly wind of 15-20 and sunny, so a little sloppy, we head off for top end of Landsdowne Bank leaving behind an Anglers Paradise, we will be back one day!
We arrived just after dawn in the area to some bird life, then we catch half a wahoo, as sharks got the other half, then a nice Yellowfin Tuna around 25kg , quiet around the bank, with not much bait fish showing, work around the top and the 1000mtr drop off, short while later we have a marlin strike which did not hook up, then carried on our way back to Koumac, some 180mls away, not far in the big picture.
Extreme Jigging, Trolling, Popping, Live On Board Sport Fishing Safari Adventure to a very remote tropical Paradise, Vessel is the 55ft Luxury Sportfisher Gladiator, your Floating 5 Star Hotel.
Target World Class Giant Trevally, Giant Dog Tooth Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, Marlin and More!!
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