New Caledonia GT Popping - Locked Up In Lagoon

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   Ocean Blue Fishing Adventures

Inside the Lagoon: New Caledonia GT Popping

David Noble

Heading to New Cal to sample some of the intense GT and surface fishing this place has available is such an exciting event. My recent December trip came up as a last minute opportunity too good to pass up, I definitely finished last year off on a high! Before I knew it, I was packed and loaded up with a few clothes bundled into a bag, along with a decent popper selection and rod tube, and I was in a cab headed for the airport. On the flight over my excitement grew as the group of anglers, Ocean Blue’s Anthony Pisano, his brother David and fishing journalist Gregg Haythorpe were just as eager as me to sample one of the best GT popping fisheries in the Pacific. 

2.5 hours after leaving Sydney we were welcomed at the airport by Sebastien Davignon from Nautilus Tours. Soon we were making our way north towards our first destination, Nekweta Lodge. Seb’s middle name should be ‘no problem’ and he is in charge of all the logistics over there, making sure everything happens smoothly and easily on our adventures. 

We arrived at Nekweta, which is a great little base for angler groups, and met up with friends and hosts Manu and his partner Stephanie. The reunion was complete when skipper Etienne Picquel arrived and we all enjoyed a few drinks and a great meal together.

The conversation immediately turned to fishing, covering the local gangs of GT’s, the areas we’d be fishing, recent trips, new fishing tackle we’d bought along to try out, the weather forecast etc. I started rigging up various spools and tied my first braid to leader knot for the trip. This was the first of countless knots I tied, it felt like I was at it all week! A combination of me fishing light tackle and my offer to help the other 3 anglers with wind knots and re rigging kept me busy and gave Etienne a break. It earnt me the nickname Johnny Knotsville for the whole trip!

The following 2 days we fished the lagoon system around Bourail out of Manu’s spacious open dory. With Manu’s incredible local knowledge we were able to head to some areas he and Etienne have wanted to check out for some time. At times I think the 4 Aussie’s onboard all looked nervously at each other and our jaws dropped, as Manu confidently maneuvered his boat over the shallow reef with only centimeters of water between the hull and sharp reef below; impressive stuff!

On day 1 we stopped at a ‘warm up ground’ about a 30 minute run from the launch site. It didn’t take long till Gregg Haythorpe got the first runs for the trip on the board! Surprisingly it wasn’t a slab of GT that hit his Halco Haymaker but a solid Jobfish which came onboard. Gregg then proceeded to bring a small GT to the boat a few casts later. ‘OK’ we said, “we’re warmed up, now lets chase the big boys!” 

Late on day 1, I hooked onto a big GT which took a favourite gold and pink cup faced chugger which had been very effective for me! I was never really in the running, the GT put its head down and made a powerful deep run to cover and cut me off on the sharp reef, the 200lb leader came back frayed and in tatters. So it was back to tying more knots!

We fished what seemed to be an endless series of complex reef systems, passages and bommies all inside the pristine lagoon. We were pretty much continually working fish-holding structure. By the end of 2 days fishing we’d all had a taste of what New Cal GT popping is all about. Sure we had to put in the effort to find fish, and at times they came on and off the bite, but we were fishing in paradise and had the place all to ourselves! The GT’s didn’t disappoint, with fish landed up to 32kg, plus some raised, hooked and lost which were well beyond that in the scary category. Halco Haymakers seem to be an effective lure inside the New Cal lagoon, and these caught the bulk of the fish on our trip. Etienne has 6 or so favourite colours for different areas and conditions. Orions, FIshermans, Heru Cubera’s and Adhek Goby stickbaits also worked well for some of us. Anthony and Gregg did particularly well, both getting back-to-back fish on day two and pulling them out of some pretty nasty territory.

Along with the GTs, we caught plenty of mean red bass and some big coral trout which were very partial to leaving the cover of a bommie and belting the crap out of our helpless poppers. At lunch time on day 2, with our energy reserves running low, we all put our rods down to enjoy another highlight of the adventure – the food that Stephanie prepares is delicious!

Manu then took the opportunity to pick up one of the Illex / Dogfight combo’s which Etienne provides to anglers and have a few casts. Well he belted out cast after cast, punching out the FIreTiger coloured Haymaker 90 meters downwind. Persistance paid off as he got a big hook up and now had to bring the fish to the boat, and as we’d anchored up for lunch we couldn’t do anything but watch him! After an intense battle which had the Illex rod fully loaded up, Manu guided a solid 28kg Napoleon (Maori Wrasse) to the boat, one of 2 landed during the trip.

With Etienne, each time an angler hooks up, he and the crew would prepare a canvas landing pad in the boat, in effect a saltwater bath along with a wet towel to cover the fish during the quick process of weighing, tagging a quick photo and safe release. The amount of care for the fish these guys take is first class and a credit to their dedication to looking after the fishery. The GT tagging program Etienne has initiated has already seen close to 90 GT’s tagged in the 2 locations, and already he has recaptured some of his tagged GT’s. 

After 2 days of fishing Nekweta, we headed down to Ouano for another 2 days of GT popping action. Local skipper, surfer and angler Franky joined us for these days as Etienne’s crewman, so we had another life long local who is only to happy to share his passion and knowledge of the local area. 

From Ouano, we cast surface lures and also had access to some nice deep water in the reef pass, which allowed us to get the jigging gear out for a nice session! David Pisano was the angler onboard who was rewarded first, with a nice Spaniard, which took a 150gram SeaRock jig. Just to show us he could do it again, he soon followed it up with a 15kg GT shortly after, which stubbornly came to the surface after a slog fest up from the deep. David’s beaming smile proved the effort was truly worthwhile.

Back at Ouano Lodge the final evening, we wrapped up an excellent week with a few bottles of French red and a great meal with our friends and hosts. We had packed so much into the last 4 days, with some sore muscles and a downsized popper collection to show for it. The flight out the next morning saw me gazing out the window and the endless reef structure along the west coast of New Caledonia, making a few mental notes and preparing for a return trip.

David Noble.

http://oceanbluefishing.com.au

Edited by Ocean Blue Fishing - 17/May/2010 at 5:18pm