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[fishermaniac 71]

Hello all,

I'm going away to Fiji, Denarau Island for 9 days in a few weeks & intend on doing a decent fishing charter (any 1st hand recommendations?) but more so, want some advice regarding a bit of kayaking. They are apparently available for free from the resort & I think there's some reefs not far offshore. I'm taking a 7ft 5-8kg with a mid sized reel.

Have any of you been there & done some of this?

What would I expect to catch? Trevally? Mackerel?

What lures should I take along? I was thinking a combination of 4 or 5 90-100mm surface & skirted lures.

ANY advice would be much appreciated, I won't be able to fish as much as I'd like, that's impossible  but would like to give it a good go.

Regards, Andrew.

[SurfcaztR 707]

Bula is a word your'e going to be hearing a lot on arrival..lol

I was there 2 years ago and stayed at the Radison Blu resort which offered kayaking and catamarans .I was only interested in fishing charters which are expensive.There is a small charter that will take you out on the cheap which is located in the heart of the Port Denarau shopping centre it's near where the island's local bus service in the pick up drop off area.These are the small local buses that do a loop between the resorts 24/7.The resort you are staying at should be able to give more advice on where to fish,as fish is there main diet there and red meat is too expensive for them being a 3rd world country.

[fishermaniac 71]

Thanks Surf,

any luck off the charters? What did you catch?

[rotare 491]

I stayed at Denarau Island at one of the resorts 3 or 4 years ago.  We stuck to swimming in the pool as the water at the beach, which was only 20m or so from the resort itself, was always really dirty.  We'd taken our own snorkelling gear and were hoping to do some snorkelling within walking distance somewhere on the Island, but were advised not to waste our time due to the water clarity and the lack of fish anyways.  We ended having to pay for a day charter on a boat to go snorkelling and was taken 25-30km offshore to another smaller island where the water was clear and there was fish to see.

Not sure if it was the time of year when we went that explained the water being so dirty, but I had the impression the inshore waters around the popular resort areas of Fiji are reasonably polluted.  First thing in the morning every day there was an army of resort staff raking the beaches and cleaning up all the crap that would wash in during the night.  Illegal netting seemed a big problem as well, although it's undertaken by many in broad daylight, so can only assume the inshore waters get constantly hammered by the local Indo-Fijians.

Not the picture postcard description of Fiji you were probably expecting, but then again it is a 3rd world country.    

[fishermaniac 71]

Thanks Rotare, it's not quite the perfection that I was imagining, but probably a bit more realistic.

[mrfish 327]

Agree with rotare,

We stayed down of the coral coast 10 years ago and while the water was pretty clear we still refer to the resort as ol' swampy'.

we did a charter from the resort that went just to the surrounding water, in half an hour the crew had snapped the anchor rope, one crew fell overboard and no one got any fish LOL

 

Going out to the outer islands is amazing though. we snorkelled the island where they filmed castaway. it was incredible

If you've seen the ifish series when they went to Fiji last year the fishing can be pretty amazing out there

 

 

[fishermaniac 71]

Thanks mrfish, the islands it is then.