Vanuatu Trip 2007

Back in 2002 I was lucky enough to live in Port Vila for a year. At that stage Pete at Nautilus was just getting going and spent a fair bit of time on deck helping with charters etc, so was great to get back and fish with him on his new Blackwatch, Shogun. His operation is now a very well oiled machine and Pete and Leanne go the extra mile to make sure not only do you hook into some great fishing action, but also have a bloody good time as well.  Lonnie, Bill and Ian were all keen as a bean to have their marlin cherries popped. 

The plan was to head to Epi Island for four days fishing and stay in Lamen Bay each night, returning to Vila for a bit of R&R at the end of the week. The wahoo were in fine form, heaps of specimens up over 20kg The biggest going 26kg. Plenty of nice mahimahi...mmmmmm YUM!  We had plenty of marlin up and all three fishermen were hooked up on marlin. Bill played a big Black on the first morning for 40 minutes unfortunately the hook dropped, Lonnie got a 200kg + Blue to the Boat in just over an hour, in the shadow of Lopevi volcano, and Ian got a nice feisty Blue of about 120kg on the last morning in 25 mins. We spent the week feasting on sashimi, and great local food cooked by the local village, washed down with a few Tuskers  All in all a wicked trip, with great company. The fishing was wicked but the whole experience up around Epi island, the awesome scenery, and the great food made for a very well timed trip at the end of another long NZ winter.