Ono island, Fiji Nov 2013
Just got back from my 2 week honeymoon in Fiji, amazing place, especially the fishing on the Great Astrolabe Reef- Ono Island. Ono is located a 50 minute flight south of the mainland to Kadavu then a 1 hour boat ride to Ono Island. I stayed the small Oneta resort which is tucked away on the east side of the island closest to the reef.
While I stayed there for 5 days, I could only get out to the reef on 2 days due to a strong easterly wind which I think is fairly common this time of year (start of hurricane season). The fishing was world class!
Day #1 – managed GT’s up to 20kg, numerous red bass, long nose emperor, many rock-cod species, coral trout and blue-fin trevally. The blue-fin trevally would have to be the best sushi I’ve ever had. The biggest gear I had with me was an 8000 stella with 60lb saltiga braid, so I was way under-gunned for some of the GT’s I encountered. One fish that wondered out to the deeper water to engulf my stick bait stripped more than 100m of line off me before it finally found a bommie.
Day#2 – basically a repeat, but the GT’s got bigger resulting many poppers and stickbaits donated to the reef. Again could only manage to land fish up to around the 20-25kg mark. Also scored a nice green jobfish which made excellent eating that night amongst other fish in a traditional Fijian Lovo (underground oven). All the food throughout our stay was perfect with a large Italian influence from the resorts owners.
Probably the single most important aspect to the fish I caught was the local Fijian skipper – Simeli Nacika, I’ve fished around the world a bit and have never come across a guide as switched on with the fishing. I would recommend anyone going to fish Ono, get onto him and make sure he takes you out.
Also thanks to the guys here on fishwrecked who gave me guidance where to stay, fish and gear to bring ect, especially Tony (LongCast). I’ll definitely be back to fish that reef in the future. If anyone’s planning a trip over that way, I’m happy to help with any questions you might have.
Cheers/Ben
Stevo81
Posts: 1278
Date Joined: 16/04/12
Awesome stuff Mate! Looks
Awesome stuff Mate! Looks Amazing! But how the hell did you manage to take fishing gear on ya honeymoon??? Sounds like you married a great girl!
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EL SYD
Posts: 599
Date Joined: 16/08/10
loving that yellow rod, what
loving that yellow rod, what gear did you use?
surfhead
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 25/06/13
Awesome
Awesome awesome and awesome !!! Sounds like a fisho's paradise
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Sounds great
What is the Ciguetera situation like there?
I would have been cautious eating a jobbie normally.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Longcast
Posts: 123
Date Joined: 07/02/12
Awesome Ben! How's the
Awesome Ben!
How's the outdoor shower pretty cool eh!
JohnF
Posts: 2836
Date Joined: 07/07/10
Yeah, Semili is a great
Yeah, Semili is a great guide. Did you meet his old man Wungu. Nice old fella.
Boston Whaler 235 Conquest......getting the flogging it was built for.
Ben85
Posts: 442
Date Joined: 20/11/11
thanks guys, yes I'm very
thanks guys,
yes I'm very lucky, I let her have her way with all the organisation of the rest of the holiday with the condition I can do some fishing. To be fair I didn't let on how remote it was going to be, but too late once we were there!
El Syd- The main gear I used was shimano stella 8000 with 60lb saltiga casting braid on an Accurate 7ft 65lb rated rod. The yellow rod is Sims (the skipper) apparently a Japanese guy made it himself and then gave it to him after his trip to ono. It was a beast of a rod though, would wear most people out after a full day of casting big poppers. I also had a lighter outfit 6000 stradic on a terez 50lb rod but minimum entry on the GT’s was the 8000.
Best lures for me were Maria 120mm sinking stick baits (red bass, coral trout, emperor + all reef species), ASWB SS90 170mm sinking stickbaits for the GT’s and other larger fish. The standout popper for GT’s was a OTI Komodo 200mm.
Crasny1- good question, surprisingly the only species they are worried about over there is the red bass and large coral trout. To be honest I never knew the jobfish were a worry, luckily it cooked up a treat.
Tony- the outdoor shower is great, I had one of those land crabs in there one morning which I escorted out. Ono island and that reef is a beautiful place. Thanks again for all your help on planning my trip!
John- no I never saw his old man. I heard his brother in-law is also a gun GT guide on the coral coast who comes up to Ono from time to time.
Cheers/Ben
Longcast
Posts: 123
Date Joined: 07/02/12
John Wungu got sacked by
John Wungu got sacked by Piero bit of friction there back in 2013.
Hambo
Posts: 68
Date Joined: 17/11/11
Great Pictures mate. What an
Great Pictures mate. What an awsome honeymoon! you definitely married a winner there champ. You've inspired me to wanna go thats for sure. Might even take the Mrs along for the ride.
**The more I learn about fishing the more I realise how much more I have to learn about fishing**
Gonad Man
Posts: 51
Date Joined: 21/11/13
Wicked
Mate, some cracking fish there and to achieve it all with the handbrake in tow just adds to the fine work. Great pics, place looks amazing, good stuff!!
claymore
Posts: 225
Date Joined: 11/01/11
awesome photos, looks like an
awesome photos, looks like an epic trip, onto the to-do list.
Ben85
Posts: 442
Date Joined: 20/11/11
cheers boys- yeah its a place
cheers boys- yeah its a place every fisherman needs to go once in their life. still having withdrawls