trolling for Yellowfin, Skipjack, and Bigeye Tuna, Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel, Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, a dozen Trevally [jack] species, 3 Barracuda species, Rainbow Runner, Red Bass, Green Jobfish, sharks, Sailfish, Dogtooth tuna, many Coral Trout [grouper] species, Blue, Black and Striped Marlin and many other species around the islands just offshore......

Hot GT action on oversized poppers and stickbaits at Malemale Island just five minutes from the Lodge - 5X trebles and rings, 80lb braid and a big Stella or Saltiga are essential to stop the bigger GTs. Bone-crunching strikes as XL GTs crash lures over metre-deep coral heads.

trolling the seven bluewater FADs [10 to 16 n.m. from the Lodge], Matikai ocean reef, and Kavachi submarine volcano for Wahoo, Mahimahi, big Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish and Blue, Black, and Striped Marlin. The Solomons has the most intact tuna stocks on Earth and gamefish numbers are commensurate with this food supply......

click here for our gallery of sportfishing pics

teasing up Sailfish, Wahoo, Mahimahi and tuna for SaltWaterFly action - click here for pics of Ian and Deborah Smith's bluewater adventures on fly.

hunting Spot-tail Bass, Mangrove Jack and other species on the Gevala River and tributaries.....

bottom fishing for all kinds of reef fish......

deep drop bait fishing for longtail snapper and unique deepwater species

casting lures for Blue, Papuan, and Bigeye trevally, queenfish, and coral trout......

exploring the thousands of acres of sand and coral flats of Marovo Lagoon on fly......

And who knows what else is out there!

The lodge has three boats available for charter:

19 foot Yamaha longboat with 40hp Honda four-stroke outboard, rodholders, rodbuckets, gaff, and safety gear. GPS available. Suited to trolling and diving around the offshore islands, offshore work in fine weather, lagoon and river casting - suitable for up to 24kg standup gear [left at top]

22 foot Yamaha wide southwind-type open longboat with 2010 model 50HP Honda EFI four-stroke outboard, setup for GT casting, jigging, saltwater fly, and island & bluewater trolling up to 24kg tackle [left at middle]

21 foot centre console with 225HP Honda four-stroke outboard, setup for island and bluewater trolling up to 37kg tackle [left at bottom]

The lodge has two 2005 model Tiagra 50W reels on fully-rollered Ian Miller carbon rods with Black Magic and Braid heavy tackle standup harnesses for bluewater work, and two Penn 50lb trolling bottom fishing outfits, some Halco Laser Pros and skirted pushers, and handlines.

We recommend bringing a quality saltwater casting or fly outfit, and a quality lighter trolling outfit. Lighter trolling outfits provide plenty of fun but be prepared to lose fish to sharks and be spooled by tuna - 50lb standup gear is the ticket if you want to target big fish in this ultra-deep bluewater environment. A range of options for fly and light spinning.

One suggestion here - the new breed of bluewater spinning reels such as the largest [slower retrieve ratio] models in the Shimano Stella and Daiwa Saltiga Expedtition make exceptionally versatile outfits out here - paired with a shorter heavy jig-type graphite rod and spooled with 80lb braid - can be used for everything from pitching baits to teased and tailiing billfish, throwing poppers and stickbaits for xl GTs and yellowfin, jigging the seamounts for dogtooth tuna and deepwater ooglies, bottom fishing, and even trolling........bring a spare roll of braid, be prepared to crank the drag up until it hurts, and be prepared for some very satisfying hand-to-hand combat

Lures.....we recommend bringing your own lures and terminal tackle - some suggestions:

Metal jet heads with pink, red, lumo or black skirts

Halco 190 Laser Pro Crazy Deeps [very deep diving bibbed large minnows] in most colours catch absolutely everything - these are our staple lure - as well as the standard deep diver 190 Laser Pro, and the smaller Halco Scorpion Crazy Deeps are great along the reef edge, expect to lose a few.

YoZuri Bonita and River2Sea Killer VIB bibless minnows in orange, and green mackerel colurs in the largest sizes are outstanding producers.

140lb 49strand wire leader is essential around the islands with the prevalance of wahoo, Spaniards, barracuda, dogtooth tuna and sharks, as are plenty of spare skirts - the razor gang are unforgiving here.

10 to 12 inch pusher-style skirted lures are very effective on the FADs and tuna schools.

Deep jigging is showing signs of being excellent - heavy knife jigs to beat the current and get down to the XOS doggies and powerfuly jigging outfit for the retrieve.

200mm [8 inch] poppers and stickbaits with oversize trebles and ultra HD rings are the go for the GTs

smaller poppers work well on a range of reef species incl blue trevally, coral trout and red bass

Tilsan Barras and Killalures are work well on the bass and jacks in the estuaries and freshwater.

PLEASE NOTE

THE LODGE IS IN A VILLAGE SETTING, IN RESPECT OF THE LOCAL PEOPLES TRADITION, SPEARFISHING, FISHING, AND BOATING AREN'T PERMITTED BETWEEN 5:30 PM FRIDAY & 6:30 PM SATURDAY - SNORKELLING AROUND THE LODGE, PHOTOGRAPHY, BUSHWALKING, SWIMMING AND RELAXING ARE THE ORDER OF THE DAY.

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