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PNG Adventure: New Britain 2014

Angus

By Angus
in Saltwater

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Angus Rookie

Angus

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Well where to start...

This was easily the most epic trip I have been on. Always being a massive fan of estuary over blue water this was a chance to estuary fish nonstop, but for extremely sizable critters. It was a long time in the making and although expectations were high, they were utterly blasted out of the water. It was a truly amazing country, amazing guides, amazing locals and simply epic fishing.

New Britain is an interesting place as although Black Bass occur all over New Guinea, New Britain has the most sizable Spot Tail Bass population, and spot tails in the largest sizes. This meant we had two awesome and huge estuary fish to tangle with as well as a plethora of other species. It is not often you get to call Jacks, Trevs and big cod unwanted by catch! There were also archer fish, jungle perch and other species of semi river/semi shallow reef fish to had in numbers.

Of the 4 gents who attended this trip we all had our targets in the bag by day 2 and could spend the rest of the time worrying about upgrades and having fun. The fish count is lost of me but it was a lot! The guides were all native and exceptional often calling a snag for species and offering exceptional advice on tides, lures etc. All in all a perfectly rounded package. The lodge was amazing and had a perfect “remote” feeling with all the creature comforts one could want. I could not recommend this trip enough!

I learnt so much from this trip that I cannot wait to put into practice... If I have my way next year! So who wants to come? :)

I know what people probably really want to see are pictures so below is a short list of some of the better fish. Sef and Damo will no doubt have plenty to add. These are just the average pictures as I am saving some for a couple of articles but it will well and truly give you an idea...

Jacks were prolific at this size...

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This bass stayed my PB until the last day...

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Plenty of river side farmers. Crops included pumpkin, sweet potato and heaps of fruits. We often traded fish for these goods (and Beetal nut for our guide :) ).

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Tim with a nice spot tail...

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My first spot...

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Lunch in the jungle. The boats were awesome for this style of fishing...

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Tims best black for the trip....

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The PNG oysters were EPIC!

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Our three options beer wise... I recommend anything but the ICE for anyone going.

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Damo with his 2nd best for the trip...

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My best spot for the trip... 13lb....

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More spotties...

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I am pretty sure this was Tims best at just over 10lb

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Not my biggest but really hard fought in the snags...

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My biggest for the trip... I was really chuffed to get this on my new Nordic Stage 10-22lb rod. It weighed just under 20lb and caught on easily the lightest bass set up for the trip...

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Lots of cool creeks.

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Another blacky...

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Lots of these "speckled cod" in the rivers. Fight very well.

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Trading with some farmers.

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Another bass on my lightest set up for the trip... A 14lb Nordic Stage Scout...

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Prolific jacks make good eating :)

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Sam with a nice Spot.

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The colours on the bass is far more pronounced straight out of the water when they are angry. Another freaky thing is how their eyes track you around as you are getting lures out etc.

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Smoked spot tail for lunch.

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A local dug out canoe. All one log.

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The jungle perch in the upper reaches are huge and hit the same lures as the bass...

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Triple hook up of smaller fish. Two spots and a black.

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Sam got this one off the surface...

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Cruising back to the island at days end.

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My last for the trip.

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P.S

For anyone wanting to make an inquiry to this lodge by the way here is the website:

www.baiafishingpng.com/index.html

And Riccards direct email.

scorpio@global.net.pg

We will def be planning another trip back, maybe with some tweaks. If you want me to take down your email address so I can send you info for the next trip please PM me. I will forget otherwise :)

Angus

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youngy Newbie

youngy

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Great report Angus, just makes me keener than ever.

Have booked a trip in January and August for next year, i notice you are using 5,000 Stradics is that right and were they ok for the fighting ability of the fish.

What size lines and leader are needed if you don't mind answering mate, well done again on your trip of a lifetime, cheers wayne

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Angus Rookie

Angus

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Great report Angus, just makes me keener than ever.

Have booked a trip in January and August for next year, i notice you are using 5,000 Stradics is that right and were they ok for the fighting ability of the fish.

What size lines and leader are needed if you don't mind answering mate, well done again on your trip of a lifetime, cheers wayne

Wayne I was under gunned no doubt but was keen to use my range of rods.

The Stradic had 30lb leader and and 50lb leader (on a 10-22lb Nordic Stage Cheater) on in and I got blown away a couple of times. To be fair it was more often lure failure (rings being pulled about, plastic split etc) that caused losses as opposed to gear. You do not even want to consider not upgrading your trebles, and choose lures where possible wired right through or molded with plates.

Tim was running 85lb braid and matching leader and still lost fish as well. He was running a Wilson Venom Black Bass rod rated 40-60lb I think. He did land some nice fish on a Stella 4000 and a Nordic Stage Dynamic F1 10-20lb as well. I think a 4000 is fine as long as you have at least 30lb braid, 50lb leader and do not high stick!

It massively comes down to what sort of snag they are in etc. The biggest fish i got, 2nd largest for the trip was still on my lighter gear so it is doable. This fish was rubbing me on palm fronds and the leader held. If it had been a big lay down timber I would have been stuffed.

Another good thing to note is that although the guides like to have a troll every now and again, all the best fish I caught by far were on the cast.

Where and who are you going with next year?

We will 100% be going back and ill will be looking for crew in the new year. Prob not many spots as most of the lads that went this time have already indicated they will be returning!

Angus

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Damien2Rad Newbie

Damien2Rad

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Was absolutely awesome. Will post some photos from the PC later on.

On the subject of gear I was using a Venom Black Bass spin rated 40-60lb using 50lb PE and 50-60lb leader (5000 Stella) and didn't get busted off but got smoked on the troll on my baitcast set up which was the Venom Barra Monster rated to 50lb with 85lb braid and usually 60-80lb leader.

But must agree most fish caught on the troll were a smaller class of fish. But you just never know!

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Angus Rookie

Angus

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For anyone wanting to make an inquiry to this lodge by the way here is the website:


/>http://www.baiafishingpng.com/index.html

And Riccards direct email.

scorpio@global.net.pg

We will def be planning another trip back, maybe with some tweaks.

Angus

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youngy Newbie

youngy

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Thanks for the info Angus, Jon and Damien, very helpful when going to somewhere new.

The trips i have put my name down for are with Sports Fishing PNG, they are on Facebook as Wild River Fishing PNG.

January trip is a River and Sea trip to the east of Port Moresby and the August trip is to the Fly and Aramia Rivers to target Bass.

These trips are on a mother ship called K2O, sounds great time will tell.

If you need someone for next years trip by all means let me know, i would always be interested, cheers wayne

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Angus Rookie

Angus

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Thanks for the info Angus, Jon and Damien, very helpful when going to somewhere new.

The trips i have put my name down for are with Sports Fishing PNG, they are on Facebook as Wild River Fishing PNG.

January trip is a River and Sea trip to the east of Port Moresby and the August trip is to the Fly and Aramia Rivers to target Bass.

These trips are on a mother ship called K2O, sounds great time will tell.

If you need someone for next years trip by all means let me know, i would always be interested, cheers wayne

Cheers Wayne. Yeap I have heard they are a good operation as well although I do not think you will be able to target Spot Tails with them. Looking forward to hearing how they go though!

Angus

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jon Contributor

jon

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first fish for the trip, we were over the moon

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quickly followed by another in short succession

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this place is loaded with awseome bycatch like this guy, amongst jacks,cods,trevs etc..

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it was tough conditions on the run across the bay to the rivers from our tropical island each day

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best crapper ever

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jon Contributor

jon

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Some cracking shots Sef cheers man.

Angus

P.S. Withdrawals much?

Cheers mate.

Withdrawals? Yeah fully, I'm back at work and am stills thinking about tactics and things I wanna try next time. What I wouldn't give for a few more casts at that log jam

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jon Contributor

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Epic trip boys! Did you guys put out any casts from the front door of your accommodation?

Those fish look like brutes and the weather looks like a dream.

Yeah man ask Damo , he had an interesting ( hectic) hookup on surface during breakfast one morning

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Angus Rookie

Angus

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Angus can we have a before and after pics of the lures you took over???

Mate only really got this shot. Lost a couple of lures never to be seen again. I did not lose as much tackle as I thought though.

This was my favourite FCL for the trip. Caught quite a few fish but got crunched by my biggest. I retired it immediately after as a trophy...

Photo does not really do it justice but the actual moulded foam was shattered...

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Tybo Newbie

Tybo

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What a great looking trip! I've always wanted to fish the Fly and the Sepik, but after seeing these pics as long as it's river in PNG that holds bass I don't care one bit. I'd be happy catching the by catch. I'd be very interested in a trip next year with my old man, a diehard 'jacks on hardbodies' fisherman, so will take a look into the options available.

Couple of questions though? I noticed you mainly used spin gear Angus, and Damian you seem to use overheads. When using lures in the mangroves and accuracy is important I've always used overheads, but for everything else I prefer spin gear. Between the pair, what's the better for this type of fishing? Is accuracy vitally important, or is it an each to their own sort of preference?

Also how does the weather shock affect your fishing? I'm guessing heat and humidity are through the roof? Do you fish all day, or morning and afternoon? Or do you just push through it on constant excitement?

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Damien2Rad Newbie

Damien2Rad

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I used spin for casting and bait cast for trolling, same with Sef (jon), Tim was on baitcast and angus was spin..

Our conclusion was the majority of fish were taken before midday (black bass at least) as the humidity built up. Early arvo usually had a breeze, a shower then back to humidity haha.

We still got bass in the late arvo and the middle of the day though so it was all systems go all day.

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Angus Rookie

Angus

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Here is a picture I thought worth posting... Just to show what shear units these fish are...

That esky it is on is one of those big drink eskies. The length and height of the fish is impressive and that does not even to the thickness justice.

The crazier thing is this is my 18lber so imagine Damo's 27lb!

Angus

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