#  >  > Non Asia Travel Forums >  >  > Pacific Islands Travel Forum >  >  Fishing in Fiji

## Maanaam

I grew up in Fiji, from age 8 to 15, then another few years from age 17 to 21.
I can't find a dedicated fishing sub-forum, so here seems a reasonable place to post some fishing stories, framed as Pacific Islands experience.

A bit of background first. At 15, I was sent to NZ to live with my grandparents and go to school, because the boarding school I was at was horrendous (that's a whole other series of stories). I had to go to boarding school because my parent's copra plantation was too isolated to be able to commute each day. (Google Maps -16.724473, 179.910500). Taveuni (where the school was) was approximately 7 miles across open water. 
My story starts early 80's. After I finished 7th form in Auckland, I went home for the holidays. Fully intending to go to varsity, this was just a 6 week holiday. It was then announced that Mum had breast cancer, and so she had to go to NZ for treatment. As a consequence, Dad would have to go also to get a job to pay for everything. We, as copra plantation owners, were merely subsistence farmers.
This meant abandoning the farm. My parents planned just to lock everything up and go. All stock was free range, so they would be ok.
I volunteered to stay and keep the farm going, but my parents wouldn't have a bar of it. It's far too isolated a place for a 17 year old boy to stay alone. No telephone, no road. They had a point. 
When the next door labourer boy swung by in his boat inviting me to a wedding at the Tuvaluan village on Kioa Island (where he was from), I went. 
Long story short, I got myself married (seriously engaged actually, but such a strong commitment that it was tantamount to thinking as married) that weekend, and returned to tell Mum and Dad that there's no more worries as I wouldn't be living alone. Arguments, tears, discussions, tempers.... They had no choice but to leave me to my destiny.
So.....I took over the farm with my Polynesian princess bride, also 17.


The Tuvaluans bought the island in 1945 (circa), organised by a guy named Kennedy. Long story short: Kennedy had ideals of forming his own little kingdom and got a group of 12 Vaitupu families to invest in buying Kioa. I happen to know the price, because my grandad had first option to buy and turned it down; 5000 pounds. Kennedy was finally kicked off when they saw through him.
Anyway, that's another story....
The Tuvaluans were seamen. Excellent fishermen. They fished from one-man dug-out outrigger canoes (paopao). My FIL cut down a wirirwiri tree (on the plantation) and made me a very nice, largish, canoe.
Then he taught me what fishing was about.

I'll start small.
Of course I knew how to fish. I had started fishing as a youngster off the jetty at Careel Bay, Avalon, Sydney. I had spent thousands of hours fishing the reef around home, and further afield. My dad had a commercial fishing venture and would do two week tours out to Na Qelelevu and surrounds. I went a couple of times during school holidays. Untouched bountiful sea. Fisherman's paradise, but it was just a job. 

I knew how to fish, and loved it.
When FIL started to teach me how to fish, I knew I knew nothing about fishing.

The first thing he showed me was that when making lures, the colour and shape of the feather was paramount.
Neck feather of a white hen. Just one, tied with black cotton to a #4 size hook (I can't remember the size, but I do know the hooks we got in Fiji started at #1 being the biggest, whereas in NZ #1 is the smallest. Here I'm using NZ sizes as it's the easiest to google).

Light line. Maybe 10 kg.  Here I should point out that all fishing was with a handline.
Off we go in our respective canoes, a couple of lures each.
Full moon, high tide over the home reef (about 1.5 metres deep). Let your lure over the side, about 5 m of line let out. Hold the line with one hand, and paddle slowly with the other. Slowly. Quietly and gently draw the paddle, with a slight twist at the end to compensate direction.

Strike! A small, (let me call it a red schnapper, but I don't think it is) about 15 cm long. A keeper. Go again...3 or 4 one-armed strokes, strike! Again, strike within seconds. And again. Several species caught, all edible and food.

Keys: Hen neck feathers. Small hook. Full moon. High tide. Slow. Quiet.

The serenity of this style of fishing, with the moon glistening off calm water, and the only sound is the drips off your paddle, made this a warm and fuzzy way to fish for food, and I did it as much as weather allowed and if not much fish was forthcoming from other fishing excursions. Never catch anything to write home about, just small fish for the table. But enjoyable fishing.

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## Maanaam

I intend to build up to what was probably the climax of my fishing experiences and learning: Catching a marlin on a handline from my canoe.
A bit lazy now to continue writing, but to be continued.....

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## Dillinger

Wheres the piccies?

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## david44

THANKS,
A wonderful upbringing, Pacific Isles and Ive visited a few are magical and a lot warmer than the cold spray off the old head of Kinsale where I had the privilege to see the Dolphins at dawn .

Are there Dolphins off Fiji?

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## snakeeyes

*Where's the pics ? ,*

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## Maanaam

^^ Heh, we didn't have a camera in those days. Besides, I don't know how to post piccies.
^ Yes, dolphin and porpoise. When they bow-wave dance, you clap and whistle to encourage them.

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## VocalNeal

Been to Treasure Island and spent a morning at its sister Beachcomer.

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## Maanaam

I didn't think regulars would visit this tiny subforum!

On full moon fishing: Generally considered hopeless. Too much bioluminesence and the fish are skittish.
But!!!! As portrayed above, it can be good. Uncle Willy, my wife's mum's brother showed me another full moon fishing technique.
Willy was amazing. Pronounced dead from tuberculosis at age 3, he was heard crying from his coffin at his funeral. He grew up to be an avatar, a Greek God. 186 cms, straight posture and perfect physique, not body-builder OTT, just fine 6-pack and obviously muscular. Real Greek statue stuff. Never exercised for exercise, just worked. Never dieted for diet's sake, just ate home food.
Anyway, Willy was staying with us to build his new canoe from a wirirwiri tree in my forest. Full moon, calm night, and he took me out fishing in my canoe. Over the edge of the reef where it drops off a few metres. About 10 meters from the edge. Anchor (a large stone) from each end of the canoe.
We're using 60 lb line. No sinker and a #8 hook. Big slab of fresh fish bait or a giant hermit crab abdomen.
Quiet. Maintain silence. No shuffling of feet in the bottom of the canoe, place the bait knife down gently. Avoid all knocks and sounds.
Gently toss your baited hook out, away from the reef, then throw out a few more metres of line. Let it slowly sink.
Strike!  A decent red fish....I may look it up.....about 40 cms long. Strike! Willy has one also. And so the night wears on, sitting upright in the canoe, pulling in a variety of very decent fish. Quite tiring, but very satisfying. Another fave fishing style.
An odd thing, though, was all fish caught this way would go off by morning (something to do with the bioluminescent bacteria?), so when had enough, going home always meant cleaning all the catch and starting the slow-smoker. Makes for an exhausting night.

Still, this remains another fave fishing method. Serenity. You almost wish the fish would stop biting.

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## Norton

> we didn't have a camera in those days


Read Old Man and the Sea. Nary a single picture. Still not bad.  :Wink:

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## Cujo

> Wheres the piccies?


My question exactly.

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## Maanaam

1982 rural Fiji...we didn't have a Samsung Galaxy S7 in reach.
Sorry guys. I have no photographic evidence.
I hesitated to start posting these stories as some of them will be viewed with skepticism. Neither story so far should attract doubt, as they're not amazing or exceptional, yet already there's requests for pics from 1982!
 I've had this dilemma ever since those times: Retell the stories and be thought of as a liar, or keep my experiences to myself.


I'm surprised people expected pics from a poor copra farmer in 1982.

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## Maanaam

> Originally Posted by Maanaam
> 
> we didn't have a camera in those days
> 
> 
> Read Old Man and the Sea. Nary a single picture. Still not bad.


Old Man and the Sea was when I got my marlin.
Not quite, he had a long struggle. I had a relatively easy time...secrets of the Tuvaluans.
That story is yet to come.

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## Iceman123

Great thread Maanaam, keep it going.

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## VocalNeal

Is Maanaam the failed business man George Speight? :bananaman:

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## Maanaam

Lol...No, I was in NZ when Speight made his coup. I think he's in Brisbane now. Not sure, I never liked him. Nor Rabuka, nor Frankie.

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## Maanaam

A better story teaser before returning to the low-level stuff.

One night, fishing from the canoe, I got a bite but was too slow to jerk and hook it.
I was snagged straight away, and guessed it was a rock cod that had swiped my bait and retreated to his cave.
A still night, and very reticent to lose a sinker (I used sheet lead as sinkers. A strip wound around the line), I realised that I could lure him out again with another bait.
I baited another line and dropped it over the side, still holding the snagged line in my other hand.
I didn't have long to wait. A nibble, a jerk of the line, and I hauled in the cod, with both hooks in his mouth.
Sinker and hook saved.  :Smile:

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## Maanaam

I was an 11 year old when we first moved to the property. My brother and I would go out in a pram dinghy and fish just off the reef. I took to wearing a diving mask and dipping my head into the water to watch the fish as they approached my bait. It was great fun and very educational. I learnt how the various fish would act towards a bait, what their nibble or gulp felt like. Seeing it actually happen was enlightening.
To know what the fish are doing, the tilt of their body, their cautious or brazen approach, the nibble or the gulp was fascinating. Each species had it's own way. Later on, when I'd given up fish-watching, it was a matter of pride to name the fish before it surfaced. We did that in NZ too, but that was easy: The head shake of a snapper, the running of a trevally, the extra heavy running of a ray etc...there were not a lot of species to choose from and it was all based on how it ran, not how it nibbled. In Fiji, there were many more species that a strike could be, and unless the fish was unusual, I could pick the species when it first bit, and often confirm in the way it fought.
Just a bit of now-useless information.


Another Tuvalu style: Tie about 3 metres of light line to a long slender bamboo pole. Small hook (about a #2). Bait it with a small kasikasi (hermit crab) abdomen and trail the bait in the water at high tide. Then walk slowly along the beach, trolling the bait. This moving bait was much more effective than just leaving the bait sit. My theory is that a with a moving bait, the prey don't have time to consider what it is and just lunge at it.
This was for catching bait, although the villagers would also eat the fish. A tad small  for my liking.

Speaking of hermit crabs (kasikasi in Fijian, uga (oonga) in Tuvaluan). Most excellent bait. Uga are always found in their hundreds scrounging in the debris just above high water mark. Fijians would collect them then sit down with a rock and break the shells open. I preferred the Tuvalu way which was to gather as many as you wanted and take them, shell and all, out with you. Whenever you needed a new bait, pick up a shell and gently whistle at it, blowing onto the closed claws which were blocking the entrance to the retreated crab inside. Was it curiosity at the sound, or the person's breath? I don't know, but the little hermit would always open up and come out for a look, whereupon you would grab his thorax and ease his abdomen out of the shell.
You could bait your hook with the whole crab, or pinch off the abdomen and just use that. I preferred the abdomen alone, because I would collect all the heads/thoraxes and crush them for burly.

Actually my first ever fish caught was when I was about 5 and we visited Fiji and my grandad's plantation. There was a coconut tree growing out over the water and I sat on it with a small hand reel. I put a whole uga on the hook and watched all these black and white striped fish milling around it. Guess what? The still alive uga grabbed one in it's claws! It was small to me, even then, so I guess the fish was about 1 cm long, lol.

Uga are probably the best bait there is. The abdomen is soft and once pinched off the body, leaks an oily goo into the water. Yet the skin is tough enough to keep it on the hook, and tasty too since even after the goo has washed out, it's still an attractive morsel for the fish. If using uga as bait and you don't get a bite within a minute, move as there's no fish to be had where you are.

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## kingwilly

Damn me, brilliant stories. Keep them up bro

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## kingwilly

I've fished in PNG, New Ireland, Nauru and Kiribati but nothing bets that taled of moonlight fishing in a canoe with a handline over a reef.

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## Maanaam

While we're on about fishing from the beach, another teaser for the big fish stories to come:
I would use a #3 or 4 hook (fiji sizes, so the bigger end of the scale, #1 being the biggest)  on a 500 lb line, no sinker. Big slab of bait or a whole small (6 inch) fish.
Just throw it out as far as you could, tie the line to a tree and forget about it.
This was a non-exciting but prolific way of getting big fish. Anything less than ametre would be considered small for this method. Often you may have to leave the line out overnight, but it would almost always get results. Not always good results: Sharks were a common catch, and so were a fish called bati. Bati got big, but were often poisonous. Another big fish sometimes caught was dokonivudi, edible at certain times of the year, but poisonous at other times, so I would never trust these catches.
A very boring way of catching fish.

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## Maanaam

^ Thanks Willy.

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## Begbie

Excellent posts Maanaam. 

I was in Fiji for three months in 1980 and also did some reef fishing, though from a much larger boat. Hundreds of shark and a massive grey colored fish name forgotten, would circle the boat all night. No way would you want to fall overboard. The locals used to catch a long thin fish which swam in shoals by throwing a heavy three pronged hook and a small float over the top of them then pulling it in very quickly, no bait.

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## VocalNeal

I'm not a fisherman, no patience. I have however been out once with my ex-FIL in the Solomans. The guys from the island took him/us out fishing for what they called I believe King fish.

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## Maanaam

When a king tide occurs, the low tide is very very low, exposing the reef completely. Out near the edge there are numerous holes going down into the coral caves below. Within those caves lurk a most delicious fish, in Fijian "corocoro".
Tie about a metre of light line to a thin bamboo pole about 1.5 m long. about a (NZ) #4 hook. No sinker. The purpose of the pole is so that you don't cast a shadow over the hole you have chosen. Corocoro are skittish. Fish as you would, by letting the bait sink into the hole. If there are corocoro there, and you've been careful about your shadow, you will hook up immediately. Corocoro seem to live in small colonies so you can usually get 3 or 4 before moving to the next hole.
These fish are delicious but have a razor sharp knife-like spur on their gills, and very very tough scales. You can't grab them off your hook like other fish as the spur will slice your hand, instead you have to grab it by squeezing your index finger and thumb into it's eye sockets.

You can treat them as any other fish when cooking, but they're a bugger to scale, so the best method is, once gutted, light a fire and heat up some rocks, and bbq them on the rocks. Once cooked to perfection, the scales rub off, then comes the fun and amusing bit: pull out the dorsal and pectoral fins. They will slide out easily, then, just like Sylvester the cat, slurp all the meat off the bones, leaving an entire skeleton with head and tail. They really can be eaten like that and are a fish-lovers dream in taste and texture, soft and creamy, and effectively boneless as the skeleton remains intact.
A decent sized corocoro will be 8 or 9 inches long.
 here's a pic when I googled red reef fish .  Coral reef fish

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## Maanaam

> massive grey colored fish name forgotten, would circle the boat all night.


Possibly a saqa (GT) or ogo (giant barracuda). Even walu (spanish mackeral).

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## Maanaam

> The locals used to catch a long thin fish which swam in shoals by throwing a heavy three pronged hook


We used that method for mullet but I'm not sure what fish you're referring to when you say "thin". Possibly garfish or piper?

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## Maanaam

Mullet. There were two types where I lived. The common grey one also found in NZ and Aust and Thailand, and another one, not quite as large, that had yellow fins.

In the mornings I would get up and if the tide was high, walk along the beach with my 6-pronged bamboo spear. The mullet weren't always around, but when the were, it was great sport spearing them. Get a couple for breakfast, and life was good.
My FIL had a casting net and he taught me to use it. That too was fun and could net a few dozen mullet in a single cast.

The spear. Shaft made from bamboo, a bit thinner than a broom handle and about 2m long. The bamboo is cut (I used to have to get mine from Taveuni as there was no bitu vatu (stone bamboo) around home), and then hung in a smoky outdoor kitchen with a heavy rock hanging from it.
After a few months seasoning and straightening in the smoke, cut to length and do the fine straightening over a fire, rubbing the kinks and bends out with a coconut-oily rag. Once as straight as a pool cue, it's time to insert the prongs. These are made from number 8 fence wire.
No8 is quite soft, so you first have to strengthen it and this is done by tying one end of a length to a fence post and the other end to a stout stick. You then pull and wind, pull and wind. It gets very straight and becomes stiff, with a slight spring to it. If you've wound it enough you will see the spiral thread running the entire length. Cut into 10 inch lengths and sharpen. Insert the bundle of 5, 6, or 7 prongs (depending on the inside diameter of the thick end of your bamboo). I liked to have 6. one in the middle and 5 surrounding it snuggly. Then whip it with fishing line, very very tightly.

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## crocman

> I intend to build up to what was probably the climax of my fishing experiences and learning: Catching a marlin on a handline from my canoe.
> A bit lazy now to continue writing, but to be continued.....


When I was on Malolo a fella pulled in a marlin on a hand line, an incredible feat.

I loved fishing in Fiji, catching yellowfin tuna, wahoo, job fish and GT 's

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## Maanaam

Number 8 wire. This brings me to a highlight of fishing: Futifuti (pull pull), a style of jigging.
Prepare a 1.5 metre length of wire by winding it straight. Turn a small "eye" at each end and tie a swivel to each eyelet. A strip of sheet lead around the "top". 3m of trace line, around 30lb breaking strain tied to the bottom swivel and a long hand reel of 90lb line to the top swivel.
Lures are made with 4 long slender neck feathers of a white rooster tied on with red cotton to a (nz)#6 or 7 long shaft hook. I don't know why red cotton, but FIL insisted and he was right, other colours never seemed to work. Red appears grey at the depths we fish futifuti, so explain that!
To futifuti properly, you have to do it from a canoe and drift, although I have done it from boats with mixed success.
Paddle out, way out beyond the reef to wherever the water is between 25 and 40 fathoms. Too shallow and it just doesn't work, too deep and you're working too hard. 30 fathoms is ideal. I usally went a few miles straight out (eastwards). Blue water. Tie your lure to the 3m trace at the bottom of the futifuti rod. Drop it over and let it free-spool off the reel, but holding the line between your thumb and fingers. You have to be onto it! As soon as the line goes slack (the heavy end of the rod hitting the bottom), start hauling it up again with fast long jerks upwards until you've retrieved about 4 or 5 metres of line. Drop again, repeat. If you have not had a strike within 3 or 4 goes, move. There's nothing down there.
I've pondered this long and hard: what's actually happening down there? well, I got my BIL to do it in shallow water 15m while I dived down to watch.
The heavy end of the rod hits the bottom, and when the hauling up starts, the rod flexes and the light end (with the trace on it) turns down as the top end is pulled up. This makes the trace turn in a long arc, and the lure actually "swims" horizontal to the bottom for about 2 metres just above the seabed before starting to follow the rod up. Unlike modern day jigging which just has an up and down action, this futi rod makes for a very realistic sardine swimming fast in a natural direction.

In Fiji, it is common to catch barracuda night fishing. People rarely catch them during the day, but futifuti would reap many. Barracuda were the most common catch, but other types of fish were plentiful too. Occasionally you'd get a big one which would snap the trace.
When the barracuda were there, they were voracious. Many a time I've pulled up just a head, and a few times actually caught the preying barrcuda still with it's jaws sunk into the one I'd caught. 2 in one blow!

One time I was futi fishing and got a huge strike. A real big fish. I played it and played it, letting out more and more of the 90 lb handline, mindful that the trace was only 30lb. I started running out of line, so got a bit tighter with letting the line spool out. Of a sudden, the line stopped pulling and I had lost the big one. Hang on, no, there was something still struggling down there, which I quickly (for the 60 fathom of line I had out) hauled in, line coiling around my feet in the bottom of the canoe.
I had pulled in a large remora! I can only surmise that the remora had taken my lure and immediately re-attached itself to it's host shark but had finally let go when I had increased the resistance when playing the big guy.

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## Maanaam

> When I was on Malolo a fella pulled in a marlin on a hand line, an incredible feat.


There's a secret to it which will be told when I get to that style of fishing.

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## Maanaam

I forgot.....harking back to the first story about night-time full moon slow trolling. A guy from the village would do it with just his finger. Never saw him actually do it, but I have seen him return to shore with several fish, and no fishing tackle in the canoe. Everyone in the village believed it, and knowing these people as master anglers, I have little doubt he was the real thing.

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## Begbie

> Originally Posted by Begbie
> 
> massive grey colored fish name forgotten, would circle the boat all night.
> 
> 
> Possibly a saqa (GT) or ogo (giant barracuda). Even walu (spanish mackeral).


Giant Trevally, is that Saqa? Most about a meter long but at night a few two meter monsters would appear and swim with the sharks.

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## Maanaam

An amusing story:
Aside from using a lure, futifuti can use a strip bait. A triangle of bait about 4 or 5 inches long and a half inch wide at the base. The hook goes through the tapered end once (through the skin and flesh), is twisted once, and then through the strip about a third of it's length down. White belly parts of a barracuda best, but any strip will do.

The routine for a day of futifuti was in the evening before, get your tackle ready, lures tied etc. Wifey would get up about 2 am to cook breakfast and lunch and I'd be up and ready to go by 3. There was a reef about 4 miles out that I wanted to reach just on sunrise to do some heavy trolling for walu.
The procedure was to reach the reef, do some light trolling around it for bait. Almost any fish would do for trolling bait, (but a whole barracuda was best). The idea was to put your #1 hook twice through the bait (through the eyes, pull right through past the hook eyelet, then hook into and through the body to create a realistic lure.

Anyway, this morning I set out, paddling east towards the reef. I got there just as the first glimmer of sunrise appeared over the horizon (incidentally, where is was was only a few miles west of the actual 180th meridian, so I would have been one of the first to see the sun rise that day (and every other day)).
Beautiful dawn, time to start trolling for bait. I turned around in the canoe to get my light trolling line from my kete (fishing kit bag) which I keep behind me (in front is kept clear for pulling the handlines in)....Oh no....I had left all my gear on the beach! A long paddle for nothing, and too late to come out for heavy trolling, plus Grandma-in-law was staying with us and it was incumbent upon me to provide something to eat. Damn.
Then, in the morning gloom, I saw the silhouette of a frigate bird, sitting on a pole that someone had placed as a beacon to mark this small reef in the middle of nowhere.
Hmmmm....dinner to be provided?
I paddled slowly up to the beacon, stood up wielding my paddle like a tennis racquet, and whacked the bird off the pole. Not a killing blow, but I had broken a wing. The bird flapped furiously, going round in circles on the water. I finally got it and wrung it's neck and headed back home.
Wifey plucked it and we boiled it up for lunch. Lunch time came and I pulled the cooked bird from the soup. sliced a bit off and tried it. Yuck! Imagine shoe leather boiled in fish soup.
Ok...no meat for lunch, lets boil this thing some more for dinner.
Dinner time, and looking forward to the by now tender fowl.
Wrong again. Still unchewably tough, and still reeking unpleasantly of bird-cooked-in-fish soup.
Lesson learned: Don't waste your time trying to cook frigate birds.

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## Maanaam

> Giant Trevally, is that Saqa? Most about a meter long but at night a few two meter monsters would appear and swim with the sharks.


Hmmm, I don't know. If it was deep sea and not reef fishing, I would hazard dogtooth tuna.
Possibly walu if it was near or above a reef.....but I have never seen them swimming close to sharks.
I tend to think giant barracuda, but have never seen them in schools, nor with sharks.

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## Maanaam

Giant barracuda. I am pretty sure this is a species different from the small schooling cudas. They get huge.
One day out heavy trolling, I got one.
Heavy trolling is done like this: Very long 300 pound line on a large hand reel. swivel and a metre of 200lb trace. A number 1 hook.
pull the hook through the eyes and hook into and through the body of a bait fish. You can also go in through the mouth, out the gills, and into the body. On this day I was using a kabatia....somethng like a bream, about 8 inches long.
I actually used a 500 lb braided line. It was thinner than 300 lb nylon and I had heaps from Dad's days long-lining.
Start paddling, letting out line as you go until you have maybe 20 fathom of line out. Wrap the line a few times around your foot, and paddle. Paddle, paddle paddle. Not fast, and you can go slow. This is out in the blue water.
An hour or so of this and strike!
The fish dragged the canoe backwards before I had a chance to unwrap the line from my foot. Beginner's mistake. Like a scoop, the stern of the canoe filled the craft with water. No biggy as the wood is sort of like a hardish balsa and floats even when fully emmersed. However all my kit was awash and I was losing caught fish over the sides.
A bit scary, miles from land and a huge fish pulling me and my sunken canoe.
Anyway, I regrouped my wits and started hauling in the fish, hoping to high heaven it wasn't a shark. This is the secret of catching big fish with a handline: You don't actually pull the fish in. In your light canoe, you are pulling yourself to the fish!
Not so light, now, my canoe, being full of water, It still worked and soon the monster was beside me. At this point I saw it for what it was, a very big barracuda.
Handline washing around my knees, I struggled to reach my cane knife (which is part of every good fishing tackle kit)., I got it, and after a brief fight, managed to chop the fish's head and killed it.
Time to clean up and get things in order. I tied the cuda to the outrigger pole and then labouriously untangled all the line and wound it up. Gathered what possessions I had and tied the kete to the pole also.
The way to bail a submerged canoe is ingenious. Straight out bailing doesn't work as water is always coming in over the sides. You have to jump into the sea, and start slowly pushing the canoe fowards, then backwards, gathering momentum as you go. This is a sideways action, as you are facing the boat with both hands on the sides.
Slowly forwards, slowly backwards, and a wave starts to form inside, sloshing water over the bow, then sloshing water over the stern. Before long, enough water has been ejected, that you can use a bailer and bail, then climb back in and continue bailing until it's all done.
I tried to make a quick job of it as there was baracuda blood and a whole lot of dead fish (that I had caught earlier) floating around...It's not a comfortable feeling out in the blue water to have your legs lolling around down there.


So, my first big one. Everything was shipshape and the SE trade wind started. Every afternoon at 3:30 the wind would come from the south east. I hoisted my polynesian rig triangle sail and headed home with the wind directly behind me. I put the trolling line out again and just before home another strike and another barracuda!

I never weighed fish as I had no scales so it was always a measurement...a guess as to length in inches/cms, feet, or metres, a forearm's length, an arm, spread arms, etc. The bigger fish that day, when I had it with my hands under it's gills holding it to me and it's snout well above my head, had all it's tail flat in the sand. I stand 183cm, so it was at least 2 metres long.

That was my first biggy from trolling. The marlin was the same minus the drama of getting swamped. Future trolling, I wrapped the line only once around my foot, and was always constantly ready to release it. I have also caught GT and walu trolling from the canoe. GT are much harder because they dive deep and it's a real struggle, but the pelagics generally don't dive, so they are easy to pull yourself to and whack on the head.

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## Maanaam

Salala. A kind of mackeral. I think it's the bla du of Thailand, though bigger than the ones you see in the markets with the bent heads.
During the day you would often see the calm water have a patch of white, disturbed water. A school of salala, heads sticking out, trying to make like birds. You know there is a predator or predators underneath them, driving them to the surface.
One time I threw my spear into the massing school. Couldn't miss, and didn't. The spear shook and wriggled....and slowly sank. My bad. Should have tied a string to the spear.
Never known salala to be caught during the day, but at night, it was a different matter. There were two ways to catch salala, by handline with a bait of flour dough mixed with fish oil, or scoop net.
I would tie a forked stick to the side of the canoe or boat to hang the Coleman lamp off, over the water. This attracted lots of small fish: sardines, garfish etc. But also schools of salala. When they came this close, scooping them up in a basket made from woven coconut leaves was the way to go, sometimes netting 3 or 4 at a time. If they weren't schooling so thickly, they would be prowling all over the place, and a line with baited hook was the way. Some nights I could bring in over a hundred.
Nice fish to eat raw, and awesome bait.

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## PeeCoffee

Great fish stories and a wonderful background on your early years.

I have a friend that used to surf a at Tavarua. It's probably a Club Med destination by now...which would be very sad except for potential job generation.

Keep on fishing...watch out for the great white. ;-)

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## charleyboy

Great thread. I'm gonna have to come back and read more of your stories!

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## Davis Knowlton

Great thread, indeed. Fishing memories of my childhood.......when times were simpler.

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## Maanaam

Night diving: I didn't have a waterproof torch, so what I would do is the forked stick tied to the bow of the canoe thing and hang the coleman lamp from it. A short painter, and I would trail the canoe behind me while I snorkeled in the lead. Enough light cast for up to 3 m deep.
The so-called Hawaiian sling was a length of #8 fence wire about 1.5 m in length, sharpened one end, and flattened the other with a notch. A speargun rubber sling, one end with a length of cloth whipped to it to wrap around your hand, the other end a 22 guage tie-wire loop, to fit into the notch of the spear. Aim like a slingshot, release. A pretty dangerous weapon, much quieter than a speargun, but with the disadvantage of no string attached. I've lost many, to deep water or a poorly aimed hit on a big fish.
Night snorkeling was exhilarating. The crackling noises of the reef are much louder at night, and fish eerily loom into the small circle of light, but outside that circle is dark mystery. Imagination can spoil the serenity.
Crayfish are a common score at night. You can get them during the day if you spot their antennae sticking out of a hole, but at night they roamed the bottom.
Another nice common score was the 7-11 crab. Very hard shells, so they would just be picked up.
The good thing about trailing the canoe behind me was my catch went straight into it easily.....heh, reminds me of an octopus I speared one night. I did turn it inside-out before throwing it in the bottom of the canoe, but at the end of the evening's dive, the octopus had escaped over the side.
Occasionally I would score a turtle. The thing with them was to aim for a flipper. Even if you're not quick enough to grab it and it escapes, it swims in circles and must come up for air, whereupon you can grab it.
Best one I ever got was huge. I was out with the boys from the next estate, specifically looking for turtle, and had a speargun. I shot it in a flipper, but the thing was strong. It dragged me down and I wouldn't let go. Luckily the others saw what was happening and came to my aid, but even with 3 of us it was a battle to get it to the boat, and even harder to get the heavy thing into the boat.

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## Maanaam

Thanks guys. It was a unique experience and one that has left a legacy in my body, mind and soul.
Just a quick break from the sea, but still "seafood": Land crabs. We didn't have the hordes of them as seen on Norfolk Island (I think?), and there were those small ones but also a larger variety. You could go "torching" for them or trap them.
Torching involved making several torches from dry coconut fronds tied up. Light one end, and it burns down not too quickly if you've tied it up tight enough. Be careful of the cinders though! Taking several torches, all you do is wander around in the forest near the beach looking for them. Grab, throw in a sack.
Or you could trap them. I used a large Breakfast Cracker tin. I can't remember what kg tin it was, but lets say the tin was about 40cm square, and a bit deeper. cut the top off to create a square "bucket". Dig a hole to fit it in, with the top edge matching the surface of the ground. Simply place a stick across it, and hanng a piece of coconut kernel from the middle of the stick. The crabs come along and reach for the coconut and fall in, but the sides are too slippery for them to crawl out. Easy, and can last for a year or more before the tin rusts out.
Really delicious if boiled up, de-shelled, then the meat returned to the pot with coconut cream and onions.
Fijian name, "lairo". 
The big crabs would sometimes come into the house at night and steal stuff. Quite freaky the first time you hear it.
One might come into your bedroom and steal your undies on the floor, or a flipflop, or anything, and as it's larger claw is holding the "booty", it would lift it up, stretch out sideways, and plonk it on the floor, then scramble the rest of itself up to it's out-stretched claw. So what you would hear in the dark of night was, "Clunk, scuttle scuttle, scuttle. Clunk, scuttle,scuttle, scuttle".
Quite enjoyed the reactions of visitors to these midnight incursions.

Are there land crabs in Thailand? There must be.

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## Maanaam

> I have a friend that used to surf a at Tavarua.


I think the only place to surf in Fiji unless you want to get dumped onto a reef.
I did try surfing off our reef....ONCE. Although it looked surfable during a storm, the fact is the waves would draw all the water from in front, and thus as you caught the wave, it was nigh on bare coral that you rode down to. Not good at all.
Having said that, I did enjoy a mild surf on the canoe when conditions were right. If you have a look at the map in photo mode,  (16°43'25.6"S 179°54'34.2"E) you will see the reef extends outwards,directly north of the house. A break would occur on that spur and gently roll shorewards. Catching a wave in the canoe was fun....once I had learnt what not to do.
Being 18 by then, I was full of testosterone and of myself. I had looked at the outrigger and decided that instead of a pointy small log, a wide flat float would be even more stable. And it was. I cut a flitch of wiriwiri (relatively hard balsa-like wood) and fashioned what could be described as a very thick surfboard to act as outrigger float. It worked well. Slid through the water with ease and gave very good stability.....until you had weather. As soon as that flat plane got a bit of water over it, it would act like a paravane and dive.
I could probably have tinkered with the design, fashioned a high prow and/or attach it slightly upwards-pointing, but my first surf with it was a disaster and I ended up being tossed into the brine. My second experience was during weather, and it was touch and go whether I would get home, so I gave up on the idea.

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## Maanaam

With mention of the map.....you will notice a black wavy line extending out from the beach in front of the house and going eastwards and returning back southwards to shore.
That is a moka, a low stone wall, used as a fish trap.
It works like this: At low tide, go into the moka pool and turn over rocks, exposing the small critters living underneath. At high tide, the sea easily covers the wall and fish come in to scrounge around. Busy scrounging, as the tide recedes, they are trapped.
Walk through with your spear. Fish in a barrel.
The nice thing about this system is that it is perpetual, and if you don't hunt in it, the fish swim out next tide and live another day.
Sometimes a school of parrot fish would get trapped. Fish in a barrel. Sometimes a large predator. Fish in a barrel. Once my brother got an octopus that was so big we actually measured it...7 foot from the top of it's head to the tip of the longest tentacle.
I'm allergic to octopus...I come out in hives, so I did not partake of that feast.
(Oddly, I can eat squid with no problems).

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## beerlaodrinker

> Anyway, this morning I set out, paddling east towards the reef. I got there justplus Grandma-in-law was staying with us and it was incumbent upon me to provide something to eat. Damn.
> Then, in the morning gloom, I saw the silhouette of a frigate bird, sitting on a pole that someone had placed as a beacon to mark this small reef in the middle of nowhere.
> Hmmmm....dinner to be provided?
> I paddled slowly up to the beacon, stood up wielding my paddle like a tennis racquet, and whacked the bird off the pole. Not a killing blow, but I had broken a wing. The bird flapped furiously, going round in circles on the water. I finally got it and wrung it's neck and headed back home.
> Wifey plucked it and we boiled it up for lunch. Lunch time came and I pulled the cooked bird from the soup. sliced a bit off and tried it. Yuck! Imagine shoe leather boiled in fish soup.
> Ok...no meat for lunch, lets boil this thing some more for dinner.
> Dinner time, and looking forward to the by now tender fowl.
> Wrong again. Still unchewably tough, and still reeking unpleasantly of bird-cooked-in-fish soup.
> Lesson learned: Don't waste your time trying to cook frigate birds.


or sea gulls. Not that tasty. Love a good fishing story :Smile:

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## Maanaam

Parrot fish. This was fun. Parrot fish would graze on the coral in tightly packed schools. At low tide you would sea all their tails flapping out of the water as they nosed down to the coral. Try and sneak up close enough to throw your spear, and you'd more than likely scare them off before you got within range. The slightest crack of breaking coral beneath your feet and they'd speed off and disappear over the edge of the reef. Lucky if you got one.
One day my dog came with me. He couldn't contain himself and charged madly at the school of flapping tails. Well, this sudden fright made them panic and scatter briefly, and instead of fleeing, the entire school would simply "hide" by leaning against a rock or sticking a head under a coral shelf.
Walk into the area, and you see all these blue fish ridiculously trying to be invisible. You could step right beside any one of them and they'd remain frozen. Drum (the dog) was a laugh: He'd bury his head below the water and bark at the petrified fish.

As you can imagine, it was slaughter. Spear them one at a time at my leisure.

After that, this is what I did every time. Don't try to sneak, but rush them and panic them.

We had a small (like bar fridge size) kerosine fridge, so no cold storage for fish. Bountiful fish catches were either taken to a village nearby to sell, or were smoked, and the smoked fish sold whenever.

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## NZdick1983

^ We both grew up with our grandparents... my Grandad (RIP) was a gunner on a MTB boat in WW2... was like (or more) than a father to me... damn, I miss the old bugger.

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## rickschoppers

Maanaam, you had a very lucky childhood and count your blessings that fishing entered your life at an early age in such a fish rich environment. I started around the age of five and my grandfather, father, mother, aunts and uncles all loved to fish. They all started in Texas along the Gulf Coast and then moved to California where the fishing was excellent back in the 40s, 50s and 60s. I began in the early 50s since my grandfather and father always had fishing boats. Much different fishing than what you experienced, but the enjoyment factor was the same.

I had numerous fishing pictures in the US going back to the 40s, but they are not here in Thailand. Once I begin telling some stories, I will see if I can locate some that I do have here. Thanks for starting a fishing thread since I still consider myself an avid fan.

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## Maanaam

Small digressionional anecdote.

My dad was Fijian Liason Officer to the Australian Consul. Being both Australian by nationality and Fijian by birth, Trinity College (Sydney) and Sydney Uni educated, he was an ideal appointment when we first moved from Sydney to Suva.
But he was no desk jockey, and soon bought a ship and a copra plantation to escape the rat race. This put him in debt, and we were henceforth poor. Money-wise but not in life.
MV Leleo was a 45 m vessel with crew's quarters sleeping 5 and a saloon with bunks for 4.  She had a mast with a big square rig sail, really only suitable for running before the wind to save on fuel, but I loved it when Dad hoisted the sail whenever the wind was favourable.
On Leleo, we traveled all over Fiji...Initially based in Suva, our first forays were to Beqa and Kadavu. I have fond memories of over-nighting at Beqa and fishing through the night at anchor in some isolated bay. What great fishing! Trevally and jacks, barracuda, in my memory, it was these pelagics, not reef fish, that were the main catch, yet it was not blue water, only deep harbour.
Later trips were from Suva to Narewa (the copra estate), and Taveuni (my dad's ancestral home).
There were two ways of getting to Taveuni from Suva. Straight out through the passage to open sea and sailing east then north on open water, or a slower route through the Rewa delta, coursing up rivers until coming out near Ovalau. The Koro Sea....what an abundant and wild place. I recall one time travelling to Suva through the Koro Sea and encountering a school of manta rays. Mantas for as far as the eye could see. we cruised over them, and at times it seemed that a single ray was wider then the ship. Another time in the Koro Sea, a pod of whales....whales everywhere. We had no choice but to sail through them. There where whales and porpoise. Bump. Bump. Thud. We could not avoid but hit them, they were so abundant. Amazing looking out in every direction and seeing only whales and porpoise for kilometres.

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## Maanaam

> my Grandad (RIP) was a gunner on a MTB boat in WW2


My grandad served too, and is still living an active life in Onehunga, He'll be 96 this year.

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## Maanaam

Pigs.
Fiji's gun laws were quite strict even back then before any coups. You had to have a reason to own one, eg owning a farm and needing to protect the chooks from mongoose or to slaughter a beast. Your ammunition was rationed to 500 rounds per year. We initially had a Winchester .22. Mum lost it overboard one day while trying to shoots a goat that was on the headland. That got replaced by an old BSA .22 bolt action.
The BSA had a problem. There was a small spring-loaded "hook" on the bolt that hook over the rim of the cartridge and pulled it out of the breech. The spring was gone, and so the old blunderbuss would often backfire as there was that gap where the hook should be.
One morning I went out for a pee, and there under the mango tree was a wild pig. Not a big one, perhaps 40 cm at the shoulder, skinny and tough-looking, he had the beginings of tusks emerging and so was dangerous. I went and got the rifle. I had one bullet.
I circled around so that he was between me and the sea, and I had the forest at my back. I took aim, bang! Damn thing backfired, filling one eye with soot.
The pig was unscathed. He went off to the right, heading for the forest. I cut him off, so he switched left. I cut him off again. By this time my sulu (sarong) had fallen off and I was buck naked, dashing left and right. We had visitors over night, a couple from a nearby estate, and they and my wife came out at the sound of the gun. Must have been quite a scene.
Anyway, the plucky little boar stopped, put his head down and charged me.
I was never into cricket much, but that morning I gave a very good impression of Martin Crowe. As the pig came at me, I sidestepped and holding the barrel swung the rifle butt at it's head. He went down. 
Our visitors stayed another night and we all enjoyed boiled wild boar.


I often had no ammo. I used to use it shooting wood pigeon for the pot, and mongoose and hawk as they preyed on the chickens.
One morning there was a large wild boar just behind the house. No ammo, but my large turtle spear was handy. I snuck up close enough to spear it, and got it good and deep just behind it's front leg.
Round and round it ran, squealing (like a stuck pig, funnily enough).  I could do nothing as this fella was dangerous and angry. It tired to get through the fence and got stock....here was my chance, so cane knife in hand I chopped it on the back of the neck. Mistake. Probably the thickest toughest skin on the animal and hardly hurt it. So I pushed the spear in deeper. That did it, and it slowed down and eventually gave up.

One day, Drum the boxer dog brought a pig home. He had it by an ear and steered it all the way to the paddock beside the house, pushing and pulling, he did not let go. I went with the wood axe and dispatched it. Good boy Drum. This was after my parents left and before I'd got married, so I was by myself. I cleaned the pig and boiled up the meat, had a feast with Drum.
That night I was as sick as a very sick dog. I was very sick for a few more days, hardly able to even crawl to the door to go to the toilet, let alone reach the outhouse. I put the big pot of boiled pork on the floor for Drum to help himself and stayed in bed. High fever and just sick. On the third day, I heard a boat passing, so I mustered up all my energy and went down to the beach and waved my blanket at the people. They, in true hospitable Fijian style waved smilingly back and disappeared around the point. I collapsed.
I woke up in bed at the neighbours house. It was the labourer boys who had gone by and when they got home and stuck into the kava, one of them was unsettled. He said he saw me sit down on the beach just as they disappeared around the corner, and he felt something was wrong. Bless them, they got back into the boat and came back to find me unconscious on the beach. A few days later and I was fine.
Damned undercooked wild pork, I think.

I don't have a tally of the number of pigs and goats I shot or speared, but it was quite a few.

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## fishlocker

Good stuff here maanaam. Did you keep a diary as this has the makings of a good book. 

I often wished I had as I have a few fish stories as well.

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## Maanaam

Revenons a nos poisson, to paraphrase.

We had a Hartley trailer sailer that Dad had fibreglassed up the centreboard hole and strengthened the transom which we used as a runabout with a 5.5 horse longshaft Seagull. I know it went at around 7 knots, as it took an hour to get to Taveuni which was 7 miles away. Taveuni was where we went for shopping, the mail, and the hospital.

Anyway, FIL was with us and one day he said we'll go fishing tonight. Fair enough, nothing unusual about that, but this time he wanted lots of bait and for me to get some off the reef. I got several baby octopus and swag of bream-like fish. Not enough, he said, so I had to go off the reef fishing.
He also wanted a very long anchor rope, which I had but didn't normally stow on board. Also, he wanted a rock, not the usual spike anchor.
We set out on the runabout late afternoon and traveled east for about an hour and a half. He was looking for "spot X", lining up hills and other landmarks. Took ages but finally he was satisfied. Drop anchor and start fishing. It was about 45 fathom. The night wore on, and things were very slow. The occasional ruby or o'pakapaka (Hawaiian Snapper). I was wondering why we had come all this way, and soon dozed off. At 2 am he woke me. Be ready, he said, they'll be here soon.
Bang! Big heavy strike. Just a great weight, not much fight. When I got it on board (it floated up the last 20 m or so with it's airbag coming out it's mouth through non-decompression), I beheld a fish I'd never seen before (nor since). Spotted, and round rather than flat, sort of mullet shape except for the head which was average fish head. About a metre long. Nice fish. Then FIL got one. And another, and so did I. This went on for about an hour and we had 12 of these monsters on board. then they stopped and FIL said that's it, no more, lets go home.
Now that was the 2nd strange thing he'd said tonight, the first when he was so certain that they would be along soon, and now certain that they'd gone. He was certainly not a man to miss the chance of getting more, but he knew it would be useless.
We went home but didn't have time for sleep as we wanted to set out to Nawi Village to sell our catch. At the village, we had to cut them up as nobody wanted or could afford a whole one, and it was then I noticed the pink flesh, salmon-like, but paler. FIL called them "ika vaitafe" which means creek fish or river fish. He claimed that when young, they can be found in the creeks on the island. But they were definitely not salmon....too big and, well, just not salmon. Very different. But the pink flesh and the fresh water juveniles makes me wonder. I still don't know what they were.
Back home for sleep. That afternoon I suggested we go out again. He said no, they're gone, have to wait for the right time next year.  
I went to spot X sometime later without him. Got a few pakapaka, and waited all night. Never caught another one since. Never went with FIL again.

The questions in my mind, then and now: What were those fish? How did he know where to go and when to go? He was only 2nd generation Kioan, so this local knowledge was gained in that time. It's a big sea, with lots of great spots for ordinary fishing...how did they learn?

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## sabang

Great stuff Manaam. You had quite a childhood, compared to this ten pound pom!
Used to be a keen fisherman myself, when I was in the Navy. Mainly fished Jervis Bay, NSW.
I suppose I've got some fishy tales, such as catching a few monster shark, but was never able to bring them in onto a jetty. I just let them go, hook and all, much to the consternation of swimmers at nearby Hyams Beach!
Anyway, carry on- really enjoyable thread.  :Smile:

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## Maanaam

Night fishing from a boat was almost always good. There were the dull nights when almost nothing was caught, but the good nights were really good.
Normally used a 90 lb line.
FIL had this fantastic burley method: Whenever we'd go out, he'd take a basket of fist-sized rocks and a pile of breadfruit leaves.
Breadfruit leaves are fairly "stiff" and if you fold them they return to being flat.

Barracuda was the usual bait: It was plentiful and it was good bait. Take the fillets off for bait and keep the skelton (with head) for burley. This was made by rapid chopping up on a heavy chopping board (just like you see minced pork being made in Thailand).

Normal line setup: Main line, sinker, swivel, trace, hook..
Burley setup: Take a handful of minced barracuda carcass and a rock and place on a breadfruit leaf. put your baited hook, all the trace, and your sinker on top of the mound of burley. Fold the leaf up like wrapping fish and chips, then wrap your line around the parcel a few times, finishing off with a loop inserted under the line. This loop slips out easily, so when you lower the burley parcel overr the side, you need to make sure all your line is free to flow.
Gently lower the parcel into the water and then quickly toss your loose line over, letting it all out. (You have previously been fishing, so the amount of line at your feet is just right.
Just before you reach the bottom, grip your line firmly and pull. This undoes the line wrapped around the parcel and releases your bait in a cloud of burley. The rock and the leaf drop away. Any fisherman can imagine the effectiveness of having your bait, in position, in a cloud of burley. It was a great way of getting your burley to the bottom.

Years later night fishing in NZ I tried this with newspaper. Abject failure as the newspaper was far too soft and would tangle around the line and the loops of line would tangle. Breadfruit leaves, large and stiff (and biodegradable) were perfect.

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## hallelujah

Great thread, Maanaam.

Weren't you concerned about sharks in that part of the world? One bump of the tiny canoe and you're bait.

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## Maanaam

Thanks. I was concerned. There are some mighty big sharks around that area.

Great story about a Kioan named Kenimalava. He was out fishing and a shark followed a fish he'd caught up. Then wouldn't go away. It started bumping his canoe.
Keni thought that the only thing to do was to try to control the beast, so he baited up his heavy trolling line and caught the shark. Things got out of hand, and Keni had to shout for help. Several canoes in the vicinity came and helped him and they finally got it and whacked it on the head with cane knives.

I was in the village that day. Keni towed the shark back and got friends to help beach it, whereupon they started to cut it up.
The Tuvaluan tradition is that when a particularly large fish is caught, villagers will take coconuts to the fisherman and he in return gives a big hunk of fish.
I heard the buzz of activity and saw people going down to the beach, and by the time I'd got there, the shark had been cut up, so I have no idea how big it was. One indicator was the cut-off head; it reminded me of a 44 gallon drum. It was a big shark.

FIL had a similar experience but never got the shark. He too shouted for help, and had to abandon his canoe as it had been damaged and the shark was just not going to go away. Luckily there were other canoes nearby.

I myself have never even seen a shark while in my canoe. Seen plenty when diving, seen plenty cruising over the home reef, but I have never had a problem. Never caught one from the canoe either, but I have caught plenty from the beach.
My father's family have the shark as a totem. Allegedly, they won't eat us and we don't eat them. Haven't eaten shark ever, but also haven't dared put the legend to the test  :Wink: 

If you're interested, the shark totem is Dakuwxxqa. I'm not allowed to name him, hence the xx's, but if you google dakuwa.....    some words ending in ...qa will come up.

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## Maanaam

Around November/December, whales would come through. Hang around for a few days, and leave again.
Out in the dinghy or canoe, it was best to keep away from them. The problem was, they would surface randomly. Had a few close calls.
In the Hartley, I was not concerned much, but still would move if they got too close.

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## Maanaam

> Did you keep a diary as this has the makings of a good book.


Cheers Fish. No diary, just memories. Wish I'd had a camera though.

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## nidhogg

> Burley setup:


Interesting thread.  Thanks.  Never heard the term "burley" before, but it seems to be what I would call "chum".

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## Maanaam

^ yep...chum is burly.

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## hallelujah

> Thanks. I was concerned. There are some mighty big sharks around that area.
> 
> Great story about a Kioan named Kenimalava. He was out fishing and a shark followed a fish he'd caught up. Then wouldn't go away. It started bumping his canoe.
> Keni thought that the only thing to do was to try to control the beast, so he baited up his heavy trolling line and caught the shark. Things got out of hand, and Keni had to shout for help. Several canoes in the vicinity came and helped him and they finally got it and whacked it on the head with cane knives.
> 
> I was in the village that day. Keni towed the shark back and got friends to help beach it, whereupon they started to cut it up.
> The Tuvaluan tradition is that when a particularly large fish is caught, villagers will take coconuts to the fisherman and he in return gives a big hunk of fish.
> I heard the buzz of activity and saw people going down to the beach, and by the time I'd got there, the shark had been cut up, so I have no idea how big it was. One indicator was the cut-off head; it reminded me of a 44 gallon drum. It was a big shark.
> 
> ...


I've only ever seen reef sharks when snorkeling off the coast of Thailand. They were clearly more scared of us than we were of them because they darted off as soon as they saw us.

Surprised there aren't more frequent incidents with sharks and people in Thailand, given the number of people in the sea each day and the fact that there are tigers, hammerheads and bull sharks out there.

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## Maanaam

I saw a hammerhead once. Tiger sharks are the ones that are the most dangerous and common around that area. The reef sharks are plentiful, brown with a white tip to the dorsal fin. They're quite funny as they seem to be almost blind and will swim very close, and then get startled as if they had no idea you were there.
Out at the point of the reef there was a hole. It made a fairly large pool at low tide, around a metre deep and 5 metres by 2m. One low tide I was spearfishing with Drum and when we got to the pool there were 5 small reef sharks trapped in it.
Drum couldn't hold himself and jumped in, chasing them.
It was hilarious watching them scared shitless darting everywhere but trapped, and Drum with his slow ponderous doggy paddle trying to get them, barking and paddling all over the pool.

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## Maanaam

I mentioned catching a remora. Here's another remora story.
When you go spearfishing/snorkelling, occasionally a small remora will swim at you and try to stick to you.
If you are alone, it's very annoying. They're like a persistant fly buzzing around your face. But if you are diving with friends, there's a funny phenomenon: as the remora approaches you and gets close, point to a friend. It follows your arm, sees the other person, and swims towards him. He then points back at you or to someone else, and it turns around and swims back or goes off to the third person, and so on. You can play remora tennis for ages but they will finally get bored and swim away.

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