HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

The moon moves all things, and today it brings a new year in with the next spring tide! To all Chinese friends and families, we wish you a year of prosperity, health and wealth, off and on the water! May the year bring much joy... and big fish in beautiful destinations!

Bluewater Kayaking!

Had a little fun in the sun in an inflatable kayak against fierce winds and angry seas, but it was rewarding nonetheless. Managed to pull up an angry Coral Trout bent on burying itself in the nearest bommie on a Jackson Pintail 1oz, fantastic lure it is. Also added a nice Queenfish to the tally after that...

Maldives Part2

The days passed pretty quickly when you're onboard having fun and chasing fish. However, we did do the touristy thing with visits to uninhabited isles and even the village isles. Both presented quite an experience to first time visitors and helped made the trip whole.

The calm seas thus far made the trip a comfy one but it was only when the wind picked up a little towards the end that we got into better topwater action. The slight chop gave the fish more confidence to feed on the surface, and we had a few blinding sessions over the last two days with double, triple and even quadruple hook-ups.

All aboard the dinghy, our reef transport

Gin-clear waters coupled with great weather, nothing else mattered

Isla Paradiso!

As simple as getting your first cast in, to the first pod u spot!

Second cast and the reward was a ncie Bonefish, on Keitech 2" Soft Plastic

Released like all others

Freight trained by a reef bully on ultralight outfit

3kg odd Bluefin Trevally - bruiser of the flats and an achievement on such light gear

We visited more than one island, this one was another bonefish hangout

The epitome of fishing

We cast to pods of cruising Bluefins and caught plenty

They weren't big but were great fun nonetheless

A hard fighting Emperor, an occasional flats visitor

We spent some time chasing reefies too - this one an aggressive Snapper on a topwater lure

Another to add to the species-list - a Paddle-tail Snapper
It fought harder than expected, reminds me of a Mangrove Jack

Topwater lures like this Jackson Risk Bait accounted for many groupers too, this one a pretty sizable Coronation Trout

Small Seriola from the depths

Back to popping action, we encountered GTs on a daily basis

Some fought harder and longer

A teenager - they give a good account

Island village of Kurendhoo

Sunsets were unadulterated

Battered harbour wall which bore the grunt of the 2006 Tsunami

Inside the harbour all was pristine

1st cast the next mornin' - teenager GT on a Shakure

Jigging brought us more Cods

Slightly molested Amberjack suggested some bigger predators were in the vicinity

Dinner was never short of a fresh supply

They came in all shapes, sizes and colours

And they never stopped biting

Popping presented another surprise, this guy was headed for Sri Lanka

It was Sailfish season and this frisky one duly oblidged

Flat seas created a great panorama

Good sized Sail of about 50kgs, on a MuraMura chugger

It was back to GT action after that distraction

They took all manner of popper types

Proccession of Cod never ceased

And some Yellowfin thrown in for good measure

A Dogtooth Snapper - nasty teeth!

The sights reminded you of where you were daily

The guys enjoyed some bottom bashing at night
Nice Long-nose Emperor

Monster sized Red Bass

Mean-looking Green Jobfish

Bigeye Trevallies were a fish a cast on light jigs and small poppers

Dogtooth Tuna even got into the action with light jigs

The Bigfoot worked well throughout the trip

The biggest GT of the trip - about 30kgs

Bigger fish started to show up later in the trip

This one in the twenties

There were no escaping the sharks, which were a constant nuisance

But we still managed the odd good fish like this Amberjack

The biggest Rosy Jobfish I've personally seen - over 10kgs
Taken on the new Shout! Shab Shab jig

GTs on jigs as well

Fat Red Bass on FCL Ebipop 140

Small to medium GTs ruled the reefs and weren't afraid to smash big offerings

They lined up to make the day a happening one for surface action

'Any bigger?'

Black Jacks were a beautiful fish to look at

And they live in mad depths
We spent the last session pulling up small to medium sized critters from the deep,

but no one was complaining for it had been quite a week

Civilization