Denerau disappoints
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Category: Destinations
Forum Name: Fiji
Forum Description: Fiji destination and travel info, advice and trip reports here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=81016
Printed Date: 09 Jun 2026 at 10:31pm
Topic: Denerau disappoints
Posted By: Andy Macleod
Subject: Denerau disappoints
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2012 at 10:06pm
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Just back from a week at Denerau. Not a fishing holiday, a break with the mrs, but did manage to get out on a charter and cast a few poppers off the rocks. Fished with Nadi Fishing Charters - good guys who tried hard but gear quality and approach was a bit shabby by NZ standards. We steamed about 40 mins from Denerau Marina and cast some poppers around an outer reef system (nothing at all), and nothing on a 40min troll back either. They said that Asian longliners have basically cleaned the area out of yellowfin. Spent some time fishing rocks later in the week, but again nothing. Maybe I struck a bad moonphase or something, but got the impression that the area is pretty hammered and basically gave up on the fishing in the end. |
Replies:
Posted By: laidbackdood
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2012 at 10:42pm
Unlucky mate .....when i went there...i went out to taviuni(spelt wrong)......bought a skipjack at the side of the road and used that for burley as well......maybe a bit of burley off the rocks could have helped...I got a few at taveuni.IMHO...if you go again...grab yourself a skippy at the fish market at nadi..saw a white snapper there(pretty cool)....garfish over there as well....Next time mate ------------- Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens. |
Posted By: KikBac
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2012 at 11:36am
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Reminds me of a half day charter I did from Musket Cove (about 10 years ago.) We turned up at the jetty at the appropriate hour but there was no sign of the skipper or vessel. The radio hut said they had run out of diesel so they had sent a long boat out with a 200L drum and the longboat had run out of petrol, so they radioed another game boat to rescue both the game boat and the longboat. When they finally got back to the dock (some 2 hours late) and proceeded to fill up with diesel - I noticed the fuel guage and in fact all the guages on the helm had been smashed?! I happened to know the people on the earlier charter - 4 very unhappy punters; it turns out they had run out of fuel ON THE WAY OUT!!! And as they had no fuel and were too deep to anchor they had to bob around in a very sloppy sea for several hours before rescue. Although they did manage to pick up a wahoo on the way home... The fishing gear was pretty stuffed, a couple of senators and an old international. The lures had been chewed something fierce by toothy wahoo. Just outside the reef we picked up a small spanish mack. Things were quiet for a while, we were about to head for home when I spotted a workup about 1 nm away. We headed to the birds and nek minnut a 13 kg mahi!! I then spotted what I thought was a stick pointing out of the water. It turned out it was a transmitter on a surface longline. The Fijian crew promptly cut it off and hauled it on board, muttering something about the f*** longliners are taking all the fish. The crew opened up the transmitter to find it was full of D cell batteries, well they thought it was christmas. On the way in we pulled another small wahoo.. As I was staying in a self catered villa I really wanted a slab of mahi to take home. The crew wouldn't have a bar of it (some arrangement they had with the resort restaurant) so I grabbed a rusty bait knife and helped myself to a slab of mahi. When we got back to the dock, the crew wanted ME to carry the catch to the restaurant as this was tonights catch of the day!!! Because the whole trip was such a debacle they charged me half the going rate. Crap trip? Hell No! - 10 years on I still have fond memories of it.
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Posted By: Andy Macleod
Date Posted: 18 Aug 2012 at 9:46pm
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Sorry guys I didn't spot your replies until now. A few other things I didn't relate but thought I should in light of your post KicBac: My charter was a pre-arranged share cost trip and I was asked to turn up at the Marina at 9am. Late the night before I was rung and told "make it 7.30am", which was fine because I was chomping at the bit. So I got there at 7.30am as requested, only the skipper was nowhere to be found. His off-sider was though, and told me that two of the other share-costers had pulled out, and i'd need to pay double (along with the only other reamaining guy). Still chomping at the bit I said "OK", but they had to work hard to convince the other guy (another Kiwi). Eventually, at 8.30am, the skipper showed up and then took his sweet time loading the boat. Finally we're on our way, and despite all this i'm still positive and chomping at the bit. By this stage just excited just be on the way out of the marina. Well I thought we were - just as we approached the open sea we turn and yes...we're on the way to fill up with gas. Finally making it to the front of the queue half an hour later we're full up and finally on our way. Then the fishing actually started, and as i've already related it was very slow. Gear was pretty ordinary and prep was not what i'd expect - cheap popper rods with rings rusted out and leader knots breaking on the cast. God forbid a GT was actually hooked on that gear! I don't do a lot of boat charters so I'm not best placed to compare, but to me this was up to the standard i'd expect in NZ. I thought i'd chosen a decent operator (certainly looked more onto it than many others there). But I don't want to totally bag them because it was clear that they tried and struggled to find the $$ to plough back into the business. Take home lesson for me was to do my homework and not always expect the earth. Cheers Andy |
Posted By: Spinoza
Date Posted: 02 Nov 2014 at 5:46pm
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not for me mate, was there end of september and went out with malolo fisher sports and i madse a video, see for yourselves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCl54Tk-hZc
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Posted By: Skipjack
Date Posted: 03 Nov 2014 at 6:18pm
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Went out with this Guy a couple of years ago, was all good http://www.nadifishingcharters.com
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Posted By: Snuffit.
Date Posted: 06 Nov 2014 at 1:18pm
------------- You cant eat my toast fish |
Spinoza wrote:Posted By: Joker
Date Posted: 06 Nov 2014 at 2:49pm
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Did you try either end of the break wall leading into the harbour - go to the either end in the direction of the tide flowing and there are back eddys that hold predators and I mean BIG predators. My No1 son had a ball here a few years ago on Saltwater Fly and soft plastics. |