What you don't see in the above pic is the boat ramp, choice.

Alan has the very same model of boat in Vanuatu as he has in NZ plus everything else necessary to fish regularly, weather permitting.  How could I decline Alan's invitation to fish with him in Vanuatu once the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted from the respective countries?  Well I didn't and this post is about my recent fishing experience with him in Vanuatu.

Alan picked me up from the Port Vila airport on 29th September.  Of my 30kg baggage limit some 20kg consisted of tackle that I just couldn't leave behind in Oz.  Months of planning had gone into this despite Alan's advice that you don't need to bring any tackle as I have all bases covered, and he was correct.

Fishing methods we engaged in included jigging, deep slow jigging, trolling skirts / bibbed lures / strip baits / dead baits and poppers, drifting dead baits as well as numerous methods of catching live-baits to be deployed as livies.  In addition we would deep drop in mostly 250 - 400m water depths targeting poulet.  Marlin were not on our radar.  Without going into daily reports Alan put me onto some great fish and our captures included the following species:

Barracuda

Coral trout

Coronation trout

Dogtooth tuna

Flying fish

Long nose emperor

Mahi mahi

Pygmy red poulet

Queenfish

Randall's snapper

Red bass

Red snapper

Saddle-back snapper

Scad

Sharks - too many but managed a few for the village

Silver jaw red poulet (Pale snapper)

Skipjack tuna

Sottel red poulet (Ruby snapper in WA)

Yellow fin tuna and I'm sure I've missed a few others.

The majority of the boated fish was distributed among the local indigenous population, shark being their favourite.  Hard to figure but they seem to prefer shark to mahi mahi or poulet.

Every fishing trip has a hard luck story and mine was to drop a 'fish of a lifetime' wahoo according to Alan at the side of the boat just seconds before it was about to be hit with the gaff.  The first run was huge despite 15kg of drag, impressive stuff.

I was fortunate to experience a good stretch of weather and we fished 16 of the 20 fishing days available.  Lay-days only on the day after arrival, the day prior to departure and two sightseeing / shopping days.

For me the highlight of the trip would have to be the dogtooth tuna.  We had experienced bust offs after being buried in the reef by others before we finally boated a 30kg doggie a few days before my departure.  It was a huge buzz with the fish being hooked in 20m of water.  15kgs of drag on the reel again and trying to led it (perhaps bully it would be a better word) into deeper waters before it could bust you off on the reef.  Bejesus they go hard.  Two happy guys when it hit the deck I can assure you.  Job done, tick the box, we eat doggie sashimi tonight, better than YFT.

Alan was a great host and one of the most modest guys I have ever met.  His knowledge about how to change tactics and fishing methods to catch fish in a fishery that has been seriously depleted (read fkd) by the Chinese long liners and purse seiners is impressive.

Alan, thank you once again for the invitation and your hospitality.  Tusker time; cheese, red onion and tomato on crackers; sashimi, fresh pawpaw / banana and yoghurt breakfasts and especially deep fried fish in the secret batter recipe will all feature in my many memories of my journey to Vanuatu.

A few pics to finish.

Fruit and vege market in Port Vila.

Fish & chips with the secret batter recipe, very yummy.

Trolling at sunrise near Nguna Island.

Poulet and Randall's snapper.

Mahi mahi time.

And another.

Dogtooth tuna.

Awesome report there

I have met Alan before , though he was with a dodgy mate of his ( Bazza )

Nice guy

I expect that was at one of the Grunter Hunter events.  Bazza's experiences are legend on this site so I need not elaborate.  Alan did however mention something about a bloke in a nice frilly dress with big boobies but I won't go there either 

The time went fast and we had a lot of fun trying to catch fish that did not want to be caught.

Alan

When the onshore terrain looks like this you just know deep water is not far away.

There are some shallower places though.

This vessel whilst impounded by the Vanuatu Gov. broke it's mooring in Havannah Harbour during cyclone Pam 2015, wind gusts 280kph.

The sharks took their toll.

And occasionally we took revenge.

And lastly, I just had to take a pic of this.

 

Marlin could have been on the menu, but the sharks made bait fishing very difficult. I don't have enough fuel for much trolling with 45 l in the boat and a 2 S Merc. And some days we did big distances (80k round trip - with an extra 20 l fuel thrown in).

But I find bait fishing more interesting and more productive anyway.

Treble of mahi yday. Each one caught a different way. Skirt, bait, fly.

Alan

Alan

But it is very sad to see the fishery decline the way it has. YF near extinct now and took me months to catch a mahi last yr.

The U tune clips don't show all the hard stuff.

Alan

A mate who lives here went to same spot, same time of day with my intel from yday and caught nil.

Thats what it is like.

Not like U tube clips.

Alan

And another day there was a WTF was that experience.  The deep drop baits AlanL generally uses in Vanuatu are much smaller than what I would use in WA.  Having said that the target species is different, and Alan uses larger baits in NZ as I would targeting puka and the like.  We had exchanged a number of emails prior me arriving in Vanuatu about my plan to drop a few larger baits and 350-500g slow jigs on his Poulet spots to see if they would attract larger Poulet.  I filleted a small poulet retaining its tail and then halved the fillet along the spine.  Bait now 200-250mm long including half a tail.  Paternoster rig, two circle hooks, down she goes, 280m.  Hit bottom at 350m on the electric reel and after a short wait I'm on.  I engage the electric reel and initially thought I was gaining line before I realize this fish has just gone for a long run and I'm now at 480m.  Now starts the pain.  The fish was doing nothing, dead weight.  After 10 mins of pumping and winding manually and using the electric retrieve I was gaining line very slowly, but I was rooted.  No harness lugs on my Beastmaster 9000.  After cranking up the drag I wedged myself into the skipper's seat and held on (ali bent butt, no rod bucket / gimbal, perhaps not the smartest move) engaging electric retrieve at a very slow rate.  It was working, metre by metre I had the fish at 150m after perhaps 30-45mins?  Then gone, fk.  Hooks pulled, no scuffing whatsoever on the line.  Subsequent discussions with one of Alan's mates, a charter skipper suggests it may have been a six-gill shark.  My initial thoughts were big 8 bar cod due to the lack of line scuffing but there was no diving for the bottom typical of cod like species so I'm happy to run with the six-gill.  Whatever it was there was no way we could have lifted it in the boat, it would have been a tow job.

Would I do it again, hell yes!!!