Fiji Charter recommendations?

[Bear001]

Lucky my girlfriends know me well enough to expect me to sneak off for a fish while they are getting their massage's ...lol.........::) ;D

Staying at the Warwick Resort on the Coral Coast last week in August.
Has anyone been on a charter in this area?

Thanks
Cindy

[rosco1974]

g'day
i stayed at the shangri la a couple of yrs ago which i think is bout 20min drive from where u are staying it had 3 charted boats didn't fish but checked out ther catch most days,they mainly targeted dollies,wahoo,most trips they got 10 or so fish for a half day trip,we stayed there in may
cheers rosco

[Dantren]

Hey Cindy

I was there for my honeymoon last May. I just walked the marina, checked out the boats & decided on a 9m plate centre cab, twin 140 zukes. Very flexible operator. What ever you want-fishing, snorkeling, etc- he'll do it.

Be warned - ask for the boat owner before you commit. Anyone else will charge 20% commission on top of the owners rates. We paid $950 when the direct rate was $750 for a day charter.

We went out with Nadi Fishing Charters. John Francis is the owner.
His no is 991 6544, 999 3474. Email. nadifishing@connect.com.fj

Take Huge Poppers!!!!!!!

[Crunchy]

Avoid the resort based fishing out of their small long boats i.e. "2 hour reef fishing"...the worst fishing I have ever encountered. The locals pcoketed the largest fish which was about 2 inches long.

[Si]

yes crunchy, this is what i want to avoid. Im going Plantation Island Resort in two weeks and asked them all sorts of questions. all i got back is they go 'game fishing' which could mean something entirely different to what i would expect.

[CRAFTY24]

Very interesting,

I am going in mid April and staying at the shangri la like Rosco did.

i will let you know how I go but anymore information from other users would be great.

Dave

[Seamus]

My best men shouted me a half day charter at Shangri La a couple of years ago, and I wouldn't recommend it. The old story 'you should have been here the other day...' It's enough to say that once my mates had paid the $ over, the skipper didn't care whether the fish bit or not. Absolutely not interested in trying something different or a different area.>:(

Hope it is a better spend for you and the rest of the trip goes well.

Regards
Seamus

[Smithy]

One of the places I know about that is fair dinkum about their fishing is Mantaray Island Resort. Never been there, dunno where it is but I know the Irvines are a fishing family from back here.

http://www.mantarayisland.com/gamefishing/

The other one that pops up magazines all the time is Adrian Watt's boat Bite Me.

http://gamefishingfiji.com/

The other guy to track down is Greg "Mudguts" Edwards who was driving the 44' Assegai Megumi. It might have been sold. Dunno.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/yasawa-island-resort-and-spa-fiji/story-e6frg8io-1111118123552

[Pistol_P]

One of the places I know about that is fair dinkum about their fishing is Mantaray Island Resort. Never been there, dunno where it is but I know the Irvines are a fishing family from back here.

http://www.mantarayisland.com/gamefishing/

The other one that pops up magazines all the time is Adrian Watt's boat Bite Me.

http://gamefishingfiji.com/

The other guy to track down is Greg "Mudguts" Edwards who was driving the 44' Assegai Megumi. It might have been sold. Dunno.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/yasawa-island-resort-and-spa-fiji/story-e6frg8io-1111118123552

Adrian Watt would be an excellent choice however it is a bit more involved to get there.
Its an extra flight involved which goes over to Kadavu Island.

The fishing there though is pretty spectacular.

Pete

[Frank OO]

I went to the resorts in Denarau last Christmas and found a guy who was the best value I could find. The cost of Charter boats is unbelievable and I certainly couldn't afford the $3,000 they wanted.

Bobby took three of us out for a half day charter and we agreed on $600.00. I took a load of plastics and knife jigs and at 11:00am I started to get a bit on edge as we had not seen a fish.

Bobby must have noticed because he said "Don't worry mate, We will not be going in until we have caught some fish.

We trolled for Marlin, Dolphin Fish and eventually came back to the reef for GTs.

We caught Job fish, Big Yellow Fin Tuna, GTs etc and had a great day.

Bobby's number is 9994 399.

Frank OO

[CRAFTY24]

Awesome info, Thanks guys. I will keep that number handy thanks Frank OO.

[Bear001]

Thanks everyone for the info. I emailed the Warwick Resort and they gave me the phone number of an operator 3min from them, but will wait till I get there & see with my own eyes I think!

I have also contacted these guys, who got back to me and seem to be the go in my area. Anyone used them?

http://oceanbluefishing.com.au/fiji-coral-coast-sportfishing-adventures/

[ashh]

speak to the locals, yeah they look scary but they are (mostly) nice. Avoid the indians lol.
We were invited and had a cava session with some of the local village people just down the road, wow what an experience that was but thats another story.
Whilst there I was offered a fishing trip out in a canoe out onto the reef near to the resort we were staying at but we were flying out early next morning so couldn't go. They were telling stories of catchinf big BIG fish using only handlines.... spose it depends how adventurous you are though lol. Enjoy ;)

[Little Mac]

Hi Cindy,

I stayed at the Shangri La & matamonoa last march. The charter boat there was very expensive, we asked some locals about trying to find a local fisherman to take us out, they said its possible but they wouldn't recommend it (boats are a bit dodgy). Best thing I found was that some of the island resorts offer free fishing and snorkeling activities every afternoon.

Chris