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Aitutaki Fishing , Cook Islands Fishing Aitutaki fishing is always a great way to take in some Aitutaki fun. We offer several types CookIslands fishing adventures out of Matriki. You may fish the reef and almost certainly catch dinner, or try your luck Aitutaki fishing for Tuna, Dorado, and Wahoo. For the more advanced angler we offer you the chance to surf cast for giant trevally! |
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Link Exchange
Visiting Aitutaki Lagoon, Cook Islands for your vacation is one of the best vacation destination decisions you may ever make. The Aitutaki lagoon is as idyllic a place as you will ever find; many poets and writers have spun thousands of lines describing its wonders and beauty. Matriki was built on the foundation that all people should be able to enjoy this splendor without the high costs associated with such remote travel. Aitutaki lagoon offers snorkeling, diving, fishing, whale watching, picnicking on beautiful beaches, sailing, kayaking, and much more. While snorkeling, you can view a myriad of colorful fish and see first-hand the giant clams of Aitutaki and the South Pacific; these clams are now protected in four separate reserves in the Aitutaki lagoon. Bone fishing is a thrill all its own - although we don't eat the fish they are truly a rush to stalk and catch. Fishing for pelagic species outside of the Aitutaki lagoon offers up Yellow Fin Tuna (Ahi), Dorado (dolphin fish), Wahoo, and array of jacks and snapper. Bring some of your catch back for the BBQ at Matriki. At Matriki we practice fishing conservation -
never kill what you can't eat in a few days, and never kill billfish.
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Matriki Sea Adventures
Welcome to Aitutaki fishing, Cook Islands fishing and spear fishing, where endless fun and good treats abound. Aitutaki fishing offers something for all anglers, and all experience levels. After your day on the water you can grill up the days catch on the BBQ back at Matriki.
Equipment: We have a very sea worthy 7 meter (21ft) longboat with 60hp Yamaha 4 stroke motor. The boat is equipped with life jackets, flares, GPS, vhf radio and an experienced captain.
Although we have adequate gear it is a good idea to bring your own if you have your specific expectations for reels and bait. We cover the cost of all tuna tackle, but if you choose to fish for Giant Trevally, you are responsible to cover all tackle costs associated with getting busted off by these brutes. The Aitutaki fishing trips leave before sun up or in the afternoon and usually run 2-4 hours depending on the guests.
Note: If you are prone to see sickness it is your responsibility to provide medication or what have you, if we are requested to return early due to sea sickness the guest is still liable for all costs.
Matriki sea adventures has several options for Aitutaki fishing and spear fishing Aitutaki.
1. For the beginner angler that would like to experience Cook Islands fishing in Aitutaki and take home some tasty table fare, we recommend the inshore ground fishing. No experience necessary, this is where you will be fishing just outside the reef in the small canyons for Peacock grouper, emperor's, queen fish, snapper and even a passing dog tooth tuna or barracuda has been taken, yuuuuumy! We are able to fish the outer reef in comfort regardless of the weather, except for North winds!
2. If you are the more adventurous fisher, we can go out into the big blue and do some Cook Islands deep sea fishing for yellow fin Tuna, Dorado and Wahoo, this is usually weather dependent. The Aitutaki fishing season for Tuna is always on but is best in May-July. Deep sea fishing and Aitutaki fishing in general in the open ocean is an amazing experience.
3. If you can handle a casting rod and have the stamina, there is the opportunity to surf cast the reef canyons for blue trevally, giant trevally, barracuda, and dog tooth tuna. This is for the more experienced angler only, who has the expertise to cast 150-200ft and hold on to rod when the big boys hit. When sport fishing the reef for the above mentioned fish the angler is charged for all lost tackle, as these brutes often rip 50-80 lb toughline to shreds as they rip through the coral after the attack. So best bring your own as with limited supplies on the island we can run out. But believe me it's worth it, as this is one of the most exciting Aitutaki fishing opportunities to be had anywhere.
Pricing: Deep sea fishing, 1-2 people $300.00NZ 3 people $125.00NZ PP
Reef fishing 1-3 people $250.00 4 people $300.00
Surf casting for Trevally Same as reef fishing.
Spear fishing: The reef and FAD's (fish attracting devices) are fast becoming a destination for world class spear fishing. The Government installed 3 FAD's around Aitutaki that can produce wonderful spear fishing results, Wahoo, Dog tooth tuna, Dorado (Mahi Mahi) and other species of sport fish are taken. Best months (May-August). You will have to bring your own gear. Note: Matriki promotes environmentally friendly fishing practices, there will be no killing of some fish species and no killing more then can be eaten in a reasonable time period (2-4 days).
Costs for Spear fishing 1-2 people $300.00NZ 3 people $125.00NZ PP
A few tidbits from Matriki's deep sea fishing trips.
Click image for larger view.
Aitutaki Fishing Report With the wind calm I decided to head out this morning for a solo session to try and bag a nice tuna. I
got up a 5am got ready and headed down to the wharf, it was still dark
so I was a little concerned Once
out on the water I headed to the middle FAD on the west side of the
island. This has been With
no luck I decided to head off to the northern FAD which is only around
3 miles away so it’s a nice short trip, when you think I used to have
to travel 25 miles to fish the fads in Perth it makes for a pleasant Back
to the lighter gear then and trolling again. As I got near the FAD I
had a hookup and this time it So all in all not a bad morning. Tight Lines. Well
the fishing has been a little slow since Lisa and I have taken over
Matriki in January and even the As
I am new to the island style of fishing it has been a bit hit and miss
for me. Don’t get me wrong I can catch fish, but the local knowledge
goes a long way. On most trips out I have managed to at least hook I
took a guest out for an afternoon on the water and listened to the
locals and upgraded to 30lb braid. So far its fish 10, Paul 3. So they definitely have the upper hand. Till next time.
Been to long since last post, guess I was busy! We are running at over 90% occupancy here at Matriki and with just the two of us running it we have our hands full most days...not to mention our lagoon and snorkel tour has become extremely popular. Anyways on to fishing Aitutaki...May was very slow for all pelagics so not much to report there... on the flip side, June has been gangbusters! Morning of the 3rd June, we barely got the second line wet before we had a screamer on, I dropped the second rod and grabbed the first and handed it off to Big John...with only seconds to spare I grabbed the second rod from the floor of the boat just before another fright train pulled it seaward...we had doubled up and it was only 6:30am, the initial runs took us down to the backing...over 800 feet of line, I increased the drag and kept my fingers crossed, we only had 30lb leader, finally the reel slowed and the battle of regaining all the line began. The fish quickly tangled as tuna always swim in a circle when fighting...I could feel the line rubbing when ever the fish made a gain, I figured...no-way we are going to get these two fish to the boat. I ran back to stand beside John and passed my rod under his until I had the tangle out then ran back to the bow to put some space between us and hopefully the tuna below. 30 minutes later we managed to get both fish into the boat, 38 & 36 Lbs of sushi lay at our feet, our backs crying for shiatsu. It was only just after 7 am so I tied on new swim baits and took another pass by the FAD, wham fish on, big run and gone, turned... got both lines out and ran by the FAD, ripper, 26lber, ok time to go in - plenty of eats for awhile.
All month has been like that, morning and night, Aitutaki fishing can be spotty but when they are here and hanging by the FAD's, it's action time for sure. Mahi Mahi are also starting to show in good numbers although I haven't targeted them yet as June was super windy for the first two weeks.
Sorry to report that March was pretty slow for tuna, just seemed that there was not much bait around so the schools moved on. The good news is that the Mahi Mahi did show up, and people where catching a few of this tasty morsels. I took my Mahi Mahi on a soft bait, wild eye swim bait, red head/white body 4", although the local pro's where using live bait if they had the chance. Also saw Jason one of the local operators take some Wahoo off the outside of One Foot Island. Fingers crossed that April holds more tuna for us, will post as soon as the bite is on!
Until next time, tight lines. Fred, email question
We are getting over a week of bad weather and a large storm that really played havoc with our beach and the jetty boat launch. But hey it takes a lot to keep deep sea fisherman off the water, so as soon as the sun peaked out I took out a few fellow Canadians deep sea fishing, this was their honeymoon and I really wanted to boat them some nice yellow fins. We hit the outer FAD at about 6:10 am, first fish 6:20am, the early sun up bite was not bad but petered out quickly. We decided to stick it out and fish even with the seas getting 3-5 ft, good thing too, By 9:30am we had hit 9 freight trains, and I mean these tuna where really pumped, the initial run took half my spool of 40lb Ande Pearl every time. This was turning into one of the most exciting sport fishing mornings in a long time. We only killed 2 nice Tuna in the 20lb class and did a few long line releases on the others, due to the soft bait hooks being straightened one after the other. Like I've mentioned in other reports these lures are not meant for deep sea fishing these brutes, they are meant for small bass and what have you, but the tuna just love them so much. I can't even find an email for the manufacturer to send them a request to make us some with strong hooks in them. Oh well the fights just last a lot longer. Remember to run that piece of fluorocarbon leader to your swim baits, those tuna have eyes!
Until next time, tight lines. Fred, email question
The Weather and fishing are really coming together for January. Lots of 30-60 lb class yellow fin tuna. The deep sea fishing has been good, lots of Yellow Fin action on the surface at the Maina FAD, jumping, slashing, feeding frenzies. The baits producing good fishing action are the Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad, again with the blues being the most popular color, in the 3" & 4". You have to run these baits on light high quality line, 30# fluorocarbon leader is what I've been using for best results, you will be in for a long hard battle with these fish using such light line, but they get boat spooked easily and can see any bad lines in the water. Run these baits pretty slow 2-3 knots, and pump them once in a while for extra action, the tuna don't really hit them like freight trains as they do with regular trolling gear, it's more of a solid constant pull until they realize they are hooked then they will kick it into high gear. I put this down to the fact that the soft baits seem so real and the hooks are so small the fish doesn't get surprised as quick as they would with a large Yo-zuri Hydro magnum with big hooks. Although once they get in gear they will straighten a percentage of the little soft bait hooks. The best fishing has been early, wet lines by 6:00am, yikes. Then again I have had some great last light fishing action recently at the outer FAD, 4 fish in the 30lb class in 11/2 hours, 2 boated 2 bye bye. The occasional Wahoo has been taken also but these are more of a lottery fish as we are not really targeting them at present.
Until next time, tight lines. Fred, email question
Deep sea fishing Aitutaki remains spotty at best, weather has kept us off the water mostly.There have been a few yellow fin tuna and Wahoo taken at the outer FAD and a few more at the Maina FAD. The baits producing some of the best deep sea fishing have been the Storm Wild Eye Swim Shad, soft baits, in the 4" & 3" lots of blue in them are best. These little lures aren't actually designed for big Yellow fin fishing but they sure get eating readily, they will only last one fish per lure as the Yellows rip them to shreds, but its well worth it at 3.50 each. Yo-zuri hydro magnum 71/4 inch trolling lures would be the next best lure for the Aitutaki deep sea fishery, the lures of choice have a lot of Blue/Silver or black with holographic body, run these bad boys pretty fast to get the Tuna fired up.
Until next time, tight lines. Fred, email question
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P.O.
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