If you are interested in fishing the VMC in June, you better get in quick to secure either a spot or a boat. Nevagivup and Reel Capture are fully booked and Horizon is still available.  So drop us an email to secure your spot.  For more information on the tournament go to www.vanuatumarlinclassic.com

 This January we get up close and personal with our deck hand Tensilary Bule better known as Bulley! He is Reel Capture’s full time Deck Hand and is always in the mood for a good joke especially with our Kiwi anglers. Bulley comes from Pentecost Island and he has been with us since December 2006 and is the young one of our crew. He now lives in Port Vila and is still on the look out for a good wife! Be prepared with your jokes if you are fishing with Bulley!

Later this year we have decided to take Horizon up to Santo for a month to offer our clients another option for Live aboard trips based from the Island of Bokissa which is a 15min boat ride from Santo. If you are keen to fish the surrounding waters of Santo and The Banks, let us know so that we can start planning an awesome trip.

After much discussion and perusal of sea charts between Charles and Fred, it was decided to organize a weekend away on an exploration trip of the sea mounts approximately 70nm from Port Vila in the hunt for Broadbill. The weather was kind and seas to 1 metre, so we departed at 1am on Saturday morning with Horizon and Nevagivup and 6pax on each vessel with enough food and drink to last for a week! Once the sun had risen, we trolled our way to the sea mount and Horizon hooked two Blue Marlin only to have them fall off. We reached the sea mount at approximately 11am and found a rather large long linger working to the south of us. We then headed to the northern part and found some interesting ground. Nevagivup encountered some rather extra large Yellowfin tuna around the 70-80Kg range but were very finicky and raised a Marlin as well while Horizon worked the southern area.

As the sunset each vessel changed tactics and deployed the Broadbill gear, with baits and siloom sticks. Horizon had a solid hook up on the down rigger at 10.30pm only to have the line part At midnight we decided to head into Forari Bay in the hunt for some Dog Tooth Tuna. Nevagivup landed a nice 28Kg Doggie and Horizon ended up with two Barracuda. After a couple of hours we decided to head to Scotts Rock and circum navigate the Island as most of the crews had not been up that way. The water out wide was full of coral spawn and we feel that if the water was clearer we would have had much more success but apart from the fishing, everyone had a fantastic weekend enjoying the scenery and the company on board.

The crew headed out for a fun day out on the water and we decided to fish light tackle just for fun. With Charles Wheeler at the helm, Fred landed this 68 Kg Yellowfin Tuna on 24Kg line. Not a bad effort after 40 minutes and John tagged a Blue Marlin around the 130Kg mark on 15Kg line. A great effort after a one hour fight!

Here Michelle shows the boys how it is done on light tackle.

Here is everyone’s favourite boat, Reel Capture at cruising speed.

Here is a great shot of Horizon under power. She is a great seagoing boat.

Nevagivup is a 34ft Blackwatch powered by 2 x 330Hp Cummins diesel shaft drive engines. She specializes in all tackle records and has many to her name. Nevagivup is skippered by the legendary Charles Wheeler who has been game fishing out of Vanuatu for the past six years. She is well suited for Port Vila conditions and is always ready to chase the next record.

JB from Mooloolaba in Queensland, Australia caught this nice little Wahoo on board Horizon so close to Port Vila that you can see it in the background.