My family and I are pretty seriously considering setting up a charter boat in Aitutaki to do some pretty serious and specialised fishing. As most of you who have tried to fish most places in the Pacific, the vast majority of charter operations only offer very limited options (ie. tow lures around FADs on minimum 37kg game gear).

We are looking at setting up a business that caters to the more serious fishermen amongst us who don't want to winch fish on stand up gear. We would obviously offer these day-trip charters to cater for those who are that way inclined but the fishery up there is far too good to have trolling as the only option. We would be setting up with top of the line jigging and popping gear and specialise in this type of fishing.

Aitutaki is absolutely crawling with GTs, and our last trip there we averaged roughly 20 strikes per day fishing only a couple of hours a day. There are some absolute donkeys amongst these fish as well, and plenty of 40kg plus fish to be had. There is also great dogtooth tuna jigging and we got absolutely spanked by some serious fish. They were unstoppable on Stellas, BX600s, 113lb YGK etc. All of this is within half an hour from the ramp and there is plenty of great accommodation and it is an amazing place to take the family with a stunning lagoon, endless beaches and incredible snorkelling.

However the market we really want to try and target is the guys who want a proper fishing adventure. The boat we are setting up will be very capable of undertaking single or multi day trips to an uninhabited atoll called Manuae, approximately 50 miles from Aitutaki. This atoll is very rarely fished by the locals and when they do, it is meat-gathering of wahoo etc. 

This place is swarming with GTs and Doggies, and the locals refuse to troll too close to the reefs because these fish ruin their gear. This charter will be the first to throw poppers or jigs in this incredible area which is quite literally untouched.

So basically what I'm wanting to know is if there is a market in NZ for this kind of charter. I'm hoping its handiness to NZ compared to other locations will help as well as the attraction of Aitutaki even without the fishing. We would also have part shares in on of the premier resorts (Samade) on Aitutaki and be able to offer very competitive package deals.

The pricing we are currently looking at would be roughly $2500pp for a full two days and one night fishing in Manuae including all gear, food, government taxes (Manuae requires government permission to enter the lagoon) and beverages. This would be world-class fishing in an untouched location that is easy to get to from NZ.

Any feedback regarding any of this would be greatly appreciated, this idea is in its early-middle stages and I am super keen to get it off the ground.

Cheers

Sounds mean. I assume that you have Anau connections to Araura Enua that would make this possible.

Definitely a market for it, for all the reasons you mention. Hope it goes well and I am keen to go on a trip like this, as you say almost everyone else locally is more focused on trolling and paara.

Samade is a beautiful spot, please keep me updated on any developments.

Atupaka,

Alan

Lets go Alan.....

Hi Alan,

Yeah we are super keen to make this happen, in my trips up there in the last few years I've spotted incredible sportfishing potential and we would be very keen to tap in to the huge market that exists in the states for this type of fishing. Reef dwellers such as GTs and Doggies would be strictly catch and release to protect the fishery.

Yea we do have the necessary connections and permissions, and will be entering into partnership with one of the MPs as well as Cook Islands Tourism - bringing in wealthy fishermen while looking after the resources should be great for the local economy ad should be good for the local bonefishing guides as well.

We will certainly keep you posted as I am aware you have deep links to the Cooks, I actually met you on a previous trip up there and you were most helpful and informative so a huge thanks for that.

Cheers

Bryce

Yep a couple upward of 70kg from memory, and I'm sure there are much bigger models cruising those waters. Had one fish on the last trip pin me to the rail and peel 250m of braid at over 20kg of drag without even slowing down or being able to unpin my hands from the boat. Easily the most helpless I've ever felt while fishing

Definitely closer to NZ but not unachievable from Perth. You can get to Raro from Perth from $700 with 2 stops, or from $850 with one stop. From there it is just a 45min domestic flight to Aitutaki (one of the most picture-perfect landings you could imagine, the place looks like a postcard from the air).

So return from Perth you're looking roughly $2000 for flights, so not ridiculous pricing considering the distance required, cheers.

Yea got all of that side of things well and truly covered 

In terms of being easy to get to, Manuae certainly has its difficulties. However, the boat we are looking at sending up there is a pretty serious bit of kit. We are looking at an 11m alloy boat with new twin 250hp 4 strokes, cruises at 30-35kn to cut travel to less than 2hrs each way, 650L fuel capacity etc. to maximise the number of fishable days.

On the inevitable occasions where we can't get to Manuae, we would offer customers a refund and the option of doing day trips jigging and popping around Aitutaki which, to be honest, is a pretty sensational fishery in itself. 

We would of course offer lagoon cruises and half day trips for the families and casual fishermen to keep the income ticking over in between these Manuae bookings. We are looking at investing a fair bit of capital into the business and really hope to build the profile of Aitutaki as a sportfishing destination

Yep Itu's new boat looks mean and he runs a quality operation, which is a great thing as far as we are concerned as it will help build the profile of Aitutaki as a fishing destination and Itu already has a great following in the US and NZ.

Electronics is definitely one area we will be properly kitted out with all the electronics, serious sounder with 1kW transducer, chartplotter, radar etc. I had noticed that as well so it is one area we certainly want to cover well

Yea that was just a very preliminary price that was suggested by one of the locals we are working with, however we would be leaning much more towards offering a fixed boat price. We do still have to work out final costings etc. but it will definitely work out much cheaper than what I had suggested, especially for larger groups.

One difference this trip will offer is that you can be fishing within two hours of stepping on the boat, rather than having to charter the boat for a week and spending days of that travelling to and from your fishing areas. I can think of anywhere else that offers that kind of isolation and quality of fishing but being so accessible with a minimum of travel time.

Great to get a bit of feedback and certainly the positive response is very encouraging, I'm getting more excited about the prospect of it by the day 

Cheers Rob, will be sure to let everybody know when it's up and running 

Sounds like you have your bases covered Bryce. You can gauge the positive response to this venture on here. I tried to get there unsuccessfully for 4 years and that was from living in Raro, so if you go ahead with your plans, you will do really well and I am sure it would be very popular. As you know, massive potential, especially if you turn it into a 2 hour trip.

Hope it goes well, I am keen as!

See you, Alan

Lets do it Brian, you can use all that flash fishing gear instead of selling off as you have been!!

Hope you are all good. Say hi to Tony and Dan for me too please.