Vanuatu trip
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Fishing Reports
Forum Description: Share information about your latest fishing trip
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=140037
Printed Date: 30 Jan 2026 at 2:41am
Topic: Vanuatu trip
Posted By: Alan L
Subject: Vanuatu trip
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2025 at 10:23am
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So I had a couple of mates come over for some fishing in Vtu. We wanted to fish some unseen country on other islands, so I chartered my mates boat Nambas https://www.nambasfishingcharters.com/ . We did 4 days away and one local day. The fishing here these days is very tough since the longliners from a certain country moved in a few years ago (Covid). Nothing like it was 10 yrs ago, so you have to work very hard for every fish. We caught more dogtooth than everything else combined.
Maybe 20+ That
wasn’t specifically the plan, but the cupboard is fairly bare in terms of free
ranging pelagics. The dogtooth are territorial and prefer certain spots. They
are a rare species these days locally – because of the fishing pressure from
Recs and charter boats. So moving a bit wider (beyond the range of day
charters) gave us access to them. We did our best to release as many as
possible and were quite successful – even with the ones on treble hooks. A
slightly hazardous occupation, but we wanted to free as many as possible –
particularly the smaller guys. They are brutal fighters and we got spooled by one in a single
vertical dive from hookup. 300+m of 100lb braid at 14+ kg drag. All gone in the
space of as long as it took to pull the line to the end of the reel. The spool
was still too hot to touch 10 min later.
Over the 5 days and lots of ground covered (we trolled most
everywhere), not 1 marlin bite.
We fished from dawn (or pre dawn) til sunset basically.
------------- Legasea Legend member |
Replies:
Posted By: Tonto2
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2025 at 12:59pm
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That is such a shame the fishing has been affected. Only been there once and didnt do so good on the fishing then but really liked the place and the people ------------- slowly going where everyone else has already been |
Posted By: krow
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2025 at 8:19pm
| Sounds like a good trip anyway Alan. It must be hard knowing what it was and could still be had things been different. |
Posted By: Alan L
Date Posted: 09 Oct 2025 at 11:23pm
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It rips me up seeing the decline of the fishery. Same story over and over. The decline is real noticeable. It makes it hard to enjoy it when you do have success. It is called 'progress', I guess. Anyhow , we had a great time on the water, in some great spots. But you have to wonder for the future. Alan ------------- Legasea Legend member |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2025 at 6:12am
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Crikey, that's sad. With a trip like that & where you've seen the decline over only ten years it's not like you can put it down to any other factor. That big DTT must have been an epic bust off. How big do they get Alan? ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: Alan L
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2025 at 7:45am
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Doggies can go 80-90 kg, maybe more. My charter mate's ex missus has a world record with a 63kg one on 8kg line. I can't even figure how they did that. He showed me where they got it and how they managed it. Several factors in their favour in terms of location, but even so, the mind boggles. Landing one over 40kg is considered a decent feat. Fish Addict got one with me a couple of years ago - around 30kg. It was trying to pull him out of the boat on 16-18kg drag. It is near impossible to land the big guys. The real big ones are generally speared. Even then, you have to hit them right in the brain , or it is goodbye spear. The decline in the fishery is more severe than over a 10 yr period. It was like a switched turned off. It was noticeable over a 12 mth period. The Govt shut the border earlier than NZ during Covid. They kept it out for about 2 yrs. But tourism was about 50% of their GDP. So they got into financial strife very quickly. A certain country 'kindly' offered to boost their revenue - in exchange for greater access to the fishery. The decline in the first 12 months was very noticeable. And it has just carried on over the last few years. Alan
------------- Legasea Legend member |
Posted By: SaltyC
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2025 at 10:23am
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63kg on 8kg!!! I share your sense of wonder Alan. Having caught a few doggies in Samoa up to only 20kg, I had enough trouble with them on 24 kg gear! Sad to hear your commentary on the the current state of the fishery in Vanuatu as well. I haven't fished up there but have spent a few weeks diving out of Vila and at Santo based out of Aore, it was spectacular diving back in the 90s.
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Posted By: Alan L
Date Posted: 10 Oct 2025 at 11:39am
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My mate's ex missus also has a couple of other lighter doggie records - like 40kg on 6kg line or something. Those records will probably not be broken. Firstly, it is hard to find doggies of 40+ kg these days, let alone 60+ kg. And then there are the sharks. They are far worse now than 10+ yrs ago. I have been fishing Vtu for about 13 yrs now. Earlier, we hardly gave the sharks a thought. That gave you lots of fishing options. They are near plague proportions now. I have lost maybe 50% or more of my fish this yr to sharks. A bloke here, last weekend, lost a marlin to sharks. We lost a bunch of good doggies to sharks. Any fish that is on for more than 10 minutes is likely to be sharked. So big fish on light gear are a major challenge now . One of my mates brought his favourite spinning reel with him. He has landed some nice fish on it here before. I told him he was wasting his time with it this time. Hard enough to snag a fish, let alone beat the sharks. So those records I suspect will not be broken. Alan Alan ------------- Legasea Legend member |