the wilderness lodge - Marovo - Solomon Islands - fishing, sportfishing, gamefishing, flyfishing, casting, jigging, FADs, seamounts, bluewater, bonefish, tarpon, marlin, sailfish, GTs, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, skipjack, barracuda, coral trout, amberjack, trevally, rainbow runner, queenfish, spot-tail bass, mangrove jack

SOLOMON ISLANDS the wilderness lodge 8° 47´S 158° 14´E

the fishing

Unexplored ~ to land a mouth-watering table fish, or catch and release a personal best, try.........

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, shark, Sailfish, Dogtooth tuna, many Coral Trout [groupers] species, Blue, Black and Striped Marlin and many other species around the islands just offshore......

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

trolling the five bluewater FADs [10 to 14 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......

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

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

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

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

And who knows what else is out there!

The lodge has two boats available for charter:

21 foot centre console with 225HP Honda four-stroke outboard, setup for offshore trolling with full safety gear - suitable for up to 80lb standup gear.

19 foot Yamaha open longboat with 40hp Honda four-stroke outboard, with rodholders, rodbuckets, gaff, and safety gear. GPS available. Suited to lagoon and river casting, and trolling and diving around the offshore islands - suitable for up to 50lb standup gear.

Your indigenous Marovo skipper Captain John Lave has many years experience trolling these waters for pelagics, is an experienced stand-up angler himself, and brings his traditional Marovo knowledge of fish behaviour to ensure you are where the action is

We recommend bringing a quality saltwater casting or fly outfit, and a quality 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. Plenty of opportunities for fly and light spinning.

The lodge has two 2005 model Tiagra 50W reels on fully-rollered Ian Miller carbon rods and full standup harness for bluewater work, and two Penn 50lb trolling and bottom fishing outfits, a range of lures, and handlines and bottom fishing gear.

Daily fishing for food we use specially designed flatlines with shock absorbers to tame the bigger tuna and wahoo - a big yellowfin is a tough customer even on a handline.....

Lures.....chrome 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, and the smaller Halco Scorpion Crazy Deeps are great along the reef, expect to lose a few. YoZuri Bonita and Killer VIB minnows in orange, and green mackerel colurs in all sizes are also outstanding producers. 165lb 49strand wire leader and heavy hooks are 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 14 inch Pakula-type pushers are very effective on the FADs and tuna schools. Deep jigging is showing signs of being excellent. Tilsan Barras and Killalures are working on the bass and jacks.

more fish photos

Keen on spearfishing beautiful, warm, blue water? go to our spearfishing and freediving page

PLEASE NOTE THE LODGE IS IN A VILLAGE SETTING, AND IN RESPECT OF THE LOCAL PEOPLE'S TRADITION FISHING AND BOATING IS NOT PERMITTED BETWEEN 5:30 PM FRIDAY AND 6:30 PM SATURDAY.

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