Atoll de la Surprise, New Caledonia December 2015

New Caledonia, a place that is very well known by many GT fishermen around the world and it sure is a dream place to fish for many anglers including myself. There is only one word I can describe this amazing trip “OUTSTANDING” and it is by far the best fishing trip I ever had.

As usual, like all good fishing destination, the journey is always long for us but with the anticipation from the fishing; it is always worth it! I was greeted in Noumea by Captain Olivier and first mate Nicolas, we then picked up the rest of the crew Paulinho, Nakata and Akira at the hotel, as they arrived a day before me from Brazil, we then headed straight north to Koumac where the boat was and getting ready for an early departure to atoll de la Surprise in the morning.

The weather was looking very good for the next couple days, it will take a day of cruising to get to atoll de la Surprise, so we decided, instead of spending the whole day on board, why not we start fishing at the nearby atolls on the way, it was a great call, the bite was on fire, three hour of fishing and we had already lost count on how many fish we had landed and it was just the beginning of the trip.

The next morning, we continued heading north to our main target destination atoll de la Surprise, we finally arrived after lunch and started fishing. We first started from the outside of the atoll, the bite was immediately lit up by GTs, red bass, coral trout and many more species and of course sharks were around to join in the list! We hooked up some solid fish from the beginning but unfortunately it all turn into sharks, there were many sharks in the area and there are no ways to avoid them, we ended the day with countless GTs, coral trout, red bass, job fish, Spanish Mackerel…. and only one or two decent sized GTs and a doggie by Nakata on jig.

 I am not trying to be lazy on this report, but for the following days or the rest of the 5 days of fishing, I am out of words, at this moment I am still scratching my head as to how I am going to describe this magical place and how good the fishery is. Every day, every moment, every second were full of excitement, surprises and no kidding, this atoll de la surprise is really full of surprises and we were having, double, triple even quadruple hook ups even two fishes on one lure are common, it is the most unbelievable fishing I have done in this part of the world.

Although we did not land any big mama on this trip, I caught my personal best dog tooth tuna on top water with my new favorite Race Point 100 we lost the fish for a second due to an opened gaff and I almost cried, fortunately Captain Olivier’s quick thinking and experience backed up the boat fast enough to have it back on board for a picture of a life time while in the meantime Paulinho had his personal best doggie on top water a day before me as well but all this excitement were not the highlights of the trip.

The highlight was a new technique developed by Akira-san was our master, the technique was to learn how to de-hook a fish if you feel it is too small, this way you can conserve your energy to fight a bigger fish, of course we were A class students and released countless fish. Akira ended up with a new nickname which is “Auto Release Sensei”. Imagine, it is no longer about catching fish but who can release more!

I would like to thank our Captain Olivier and first mate Nicolas for the first class service and bring us to this amazing aquarium in the middle of nowhere, Nicolas… hopefully you don’t wake up from your dreams shouting; “FISH ON” “FISH OFF” “SHARK ON” “BIRD ON”! Haha!! and Captain Olivier be ready, “Team Auto Release” will be back soon.

I want to thank Paulinho, Nakata and Akira for the wonderful time spend together on board and I really enjoyed every single moment with you guys and appreciate your support as always.  

Tackle Used,

Popping Rod: Carpenter, Shimano, Race Point 100,150,200 & 250 and El Maestro 74XXH(prototype)

Jigging Rod: Fisherman, Smith AMJ, OBX300,400 & 500 and Doggie Special(prototype)

Reel: Shimano Stella 08 & 13, Daiwa and Studio Ocean Mark

Lure: Heru, Fisherman, Siren, Shell Shaping, Gamma, Hitter Lure, Hot’s Keiko, Native Works Napalm, Hammerhead and more….

Jig: Shimano, Smith Nagamasa, Mejiyume, Hot’s Drift Tune, Lamble Bait Haoli Half Pitch, Shout Shab Shab, Stay and more…..

Hook: Shout Kudako, Intense, Owner & BKK

  Tight Lines

  Raymond

Cape Cod October 2015

Despite the bad condition and the call for the windy rough weather we still took the initiative call and made it out to sea; the bite was insane in the past 2 days and we were afraid to miss it.

At first light we saw small pods of busting tuna but we did not get the right shot at them. There was a lot of birds and we knew for a fact that those working birds are holding tuna beneath them. The condition was tough and the frenzy feed was far from developing to get a shot at them, they were moving very fast and we could hardly keep up with them.

We decided to quit the chase and head to a different area were we saw working birds. Upon approaching them we saw a small tuna charging sand eels. Bogdan and I took the shot and after 2 twitch I saw the explosion on my lure without feeling the tightness of my line but I still set the hook on my lure to finally feel the tension and here went the run! The fish took a prototype Moutoukenmaru 30 BFT, the biggest ever made so far. After a couple of minutes, the fish showed its color and made it to the gaff with a high five and a smile for all the crew, not a big fish but she surely took a big stickbait lure.

It felt great to make it happen at the end of the day! A big thank you to Captain Josh for his dedication and commitment to make it happen to us, will see you soon Captain!

Tackle used:

Rod: Saltywater Tackle 300, 250, 150, Ripple Fisher 77 International
Reel: Shimano Stella
Lures: Moutoukenmaru, Siren, CB One, Native Works Napalm
Line: Jerry Brown Hollow, Power Pro Hollow
Leader: Saltywater Tackle Twisted Leader System

  Tight lines
      Sami

Cape Cod September 2015

I always consider the Cape as my home backyard when it comes to bluefin tuna fishing.
I usually don’t fish during the full moon but monitoring what it is been going on in the past year or 2 made me think it is time to book a trip on a full moon period to see it and experience it myself.

As usually, I called and booked Captain Josh for the task and picked up Sean from Brooklyn and Ivan from JFK and headed North with a chilly temperature dropping to a 40 degree, Feeding period facts.

We meet Josh at 5:30AM and headed in search for that bite and sure enough to find it to ourselves and enjoyed every bit of it.
We’ve seen 50lb to 250lb Bluefin tuna airing out after Halfbeak, an amazing feed and great scenery and as always chattered between the camera and the fishing. I choose my rod and couldn’t resist the offering and the wide open bites, a serious wide open bite that will be marked in the book for life.

Having Sean and Ivan to join me was a total pleasure, I watched both anglers landing their first ever Bluefin tuna on topwater and to be there for that moment it was a complete enjoyment.

We went 3 out of 4 all on topwater but the one that got away was an absolute stud that gained its freedom to fight another day. We got both the under and the over and rounded up the day while they were still busting and airing out on halfbeak.

In the mean time I can’t get enough in my mind from rewinding the scenery and the day and can’t wait to hit the Cape as soon as weather and Mother Nature will allow me to do so.

Tackle used:
Rod: Carpenter TBL 80/40, Smith Tokara 60, Race Point 300 and 100
Reel: Shimano Stella
Lures: Siren, Moutoukenmaru
Line: Power Pro Hollow, Varivas, Jeryy Brown Hollow
Leader: Saltywater Tackle Twisted leader

  Tight lines
      Sami

Big Eye Tuna, Wilmington Canyon August 2015

For the past 3 years I’ve been watching the Big Eye tuna trolling bites that develops in the canyon during mid-August to late September and always wanted to be part of it.

 To find the captain who will give us the confidence was not of an easy task especially that our dedication and aim was to catch them on the jig and on topwater.

Captain Michael visited the shop in early 2015 and after chatting with him we put up a plan to target those fish when the time arise. As I was monitoring that jig bite I was sure that the time is right especially after seeing couple of successful attempts from friends that resulted with great results.

My companion on this trip was Captain Josh from New Zealand, Thomas from Jersey and Dan and Clint from Delaware; we met in Cape May at noon and off to the Wilmington Canyon.

After the run of 70 miles in 3 hours we reached our destination and we got greeted by pilot whales in the general area, exactly what we were looking for.

The screen started lighting up with big red marks and Captain Michael asked us to drop our jigs. After couple of drifts and right on the front of my eyes I saw Dan’s rod tip bouncing initiating of a strike on his jig. I shouted at him to set the hook and after 3 attempts from the fish Dan was tight!

Gladly and surprisingly Dan landed that fish solo estimated around the 160lb to 170lb, the fish was landed on a Synit rod and an original Deep Liner jig.

We were at the start of our trip and things we’re looking good. You cannot ask for anything better when you get the first fish of the trip on your first hour and while jigging.

The night was about to fall when things began to get more interesting and we started seeing those mark climbing on the fish finder. We dropped a jig and Thomas got tight on the Shout Stay.
It took the fish a good 10 minutes to realize it was hooked - a typical demon fish behavior that put all the rest of the species in a different perspective.

Thomas gave all what he could and fought it for close to 1 hour till he asked me to take over; from my experience the fish behaved and acted like a champion and she gave us a hell of a fight.

We got it close to colors 4 times and on every attempt to horse here she took off and settled in 70 to 80 feet down, I guess she found her comfort zone.

In about 1 hour and 45 minutes and while I was fighting the fish the line snapped leaving us with big disappointment on our faces. The fish of this size that managed to fight us like that and with that kind of stamina deserved to live. Somehow I was happy and disappointed at the same time. It was part of the game and the name of it is the love of fishing.

We had that window at dusk and heard of some fish caught on the troll but since we were already fighting that fish our opportunity to get a multiple hook up got narrower and narrower. That was due to the duration of the fight, we learned heaps on this trip and we will be back at it and to aim to get better results…

Tackle used:
Rod: Synit, OBX-400, OBX-500
Reel: Shimano Stella 2008 and 2013 model
Line: Power Pro Hollow, Unitika, Sunline
Jigs: Deep Liner, CB One, Shout Stay, Shout Shab Shab

   Tight lines

     Sami