I have just returned from an unforgettable experience fishing for GTs in New Caledonia, I was really not sure what to expect on this trip but it delivered the goods on all fronts.
Firstly Ocean Blue did a great job of putting it all together, especially with a last minute time frame, the guides Étienne and Manu are world class I just can’t say enough good things about these two hard working guys.
New Caledonia is a special place, it has a giant lagoon that surrounds a fair majority of the country and this gives the angler an all-weather option. The wildlife is stunning with countless turtles, plenty of dugongs and an array of seabirds all calling this place home. But the stars of the show are the fish, we caught an quite a number of different species including, GTs(of course), Red Bass, giant Coral Trout, Blue fin Trevally, Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo, Long Tom, Blue cod, Barracuda and we also stuck the hooks into some Sharks, Yellow fin and another species I will elaborate on later. All of these fish were hooked on surface lures with both poppers and Stick baits doing the damage. You will also get to see plenty of sea turtles and dugongs as well while you are out at sea.
Day 1 and 2 were the pretty quiet compared to the rest of the trip but we still managed to get into some nice fish, a couple of Gts over 30 Kg were landed and some bigger ones hooked and lost including a real ripper inside the lagoon which stripped some real line off before tangling in the coral. These two days were spent at the Ouanu surf camp which has a neat little bar and the hosts looked after us with huge meals and some nice local beers.
The evening of Day 2 we moved up to the Nekweta surf camp and met Manu and Stephanie for the first time, upon arrival Stephanie whipped us up a delicious batch of fresh Wahoo and it is a fish that earns its reputation for its eating qualities. After a few beers some well-earned rest was in order, but about 4 Am I endured a gastronomical issue which threatened to put my fishing on hold for the next day.
Battling away with some stomach problems Day 3 went ahead and our new destination was proving to be a little bit more productive. A few good fish were landed but nothing to write home about, during the afternoon Etienne unleashed the secret weapon a sinking Orion big Numbas from this point on this lure become a legend. I had attack after attack from big GTs but I couldn’t get one to stick and was soon getting a hard time about my rubber hooks. My stomach issues combined with too much sun and not enough water saw me go downhill fast and my later in the afternoon I was not in a good way.
We did come across a patch of yellow fin Tuna and hooked into a few of these but they were soon torn apart from hungry sharks, one attack was brutal with 3 big sharks fighting over the carcass on the surface not far from the boat.
Thankfully on Day 4 I awoke feeling much better and ready to take on some of the big fish New Caledonia is famous for and this was the day things started to heat up. I don’t know if the bite was better or it may have been that all of us had changed to Orion lures but we were greeted with a steady flow of fish for the day. Nothing huge for the day but some quality fish including coral Trout to 18kg were being caught.
Day 4 was also the day that a fish come in and hit the lure right in front of me and I have to say it was a sight I will never forget. The fish was a giant sailfish that shot up out of know where and grabbed hold of the Orion stick bait, it then didn’t move for
about 30 seconds but just sat in front of us shaking its head from side to side. After a while it shot off in a blistering run and then the hooks fell out.
Day 5 was the day of giants, we hooked plenty of them but landing them proved to be difficult. There were some pretty big bust offs on really big fish.
At the end of the day we ended up heading to a nice point with plenty of current and loads of bait. Time was running out for me to get my big GT with darkness approaching.
Right at the end a big swirl enclosed around the lure and the next thing I knew there was line ripping from my reel. This was going to be my last chance so I was very nervous to say the least, the monster Hunter rod was too much for the fish and soon after it was boat side a nice GT in the mid thirty Kg range.
With that I was happy and hung my rod up for the trip, I handed over the big Numbas to Steve for the last 5 casts of the day and on his very last cast another big swirl behind his lure and with some good technique he was locked and loaded onto a good fish. This beats proved to be a real fighter and it took some time to drag it out into deep water and even then it still battled hard. When in the boat this fish ended up being the fish of the trip in the mid Forty Kg range.
For those of you interested in heading to New Caledonia then I suggest you give Ocean Blue a call and try to get on with Étienne, he is a genuine top bloke and a great guide. If you do head up take a range of big poppers and stick baits, get Orion’s if you can they were lethal. Take a powerful rod and reel; these things are unforgiving even on heavy gear. Don’t expect any of them to come easy, some day’s bites are few and far between and you need to make the most of every one. Practice striking the fish, this was my downfall and I intend to work on this before I head back. You really do need to ram the hooks home to make sure of a good hook up.
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