Tim Simpson, Editor of the specialist offshore gamefishing magazine BlueWater has claimed a new World Record wahoo on 4kg tackle while fishing in Fiji recently.

The fish, weighing 31.6kg (69.66lb), was caught off Kadavu Island, Fiji, aboard Bite Me, a 31ft Deep Vee flybridge boat, based at Matava Resort in Fiji. Tim was fishing with skipper Capt Adrian Watt and acclaimed American angler, photographer and BlueWater contributor Bill Boyce.

The team was on a mission to attempt world records during the phenomenal light-tackle winter fishery for enormous wahoo and sailfish in Fiji. Both anglers were fishing exclusively with 4kg gamefishing tackle while trolling the deep outer barrier coral reef around Kadavu Island. This is an area renowned for monster gamefish so to fish it with 4kg tackle would, to most fishermen, seem like suicide.

But, for these two experienced and dedicated light tackle specialists, it was just the type of challenge they love.

Tim has been chasing the wahoo record with special tackle and strategies for more than four years. On many occasions the attempts have been thwarted by atrocious weather and the difficulty of even hooking a tooth-laden mouth like those of the wahoo ‘razor gang’ with just 4kg tackle. More frustrating, other fish species often took the specially prepared Halco Laser Pro 190 trolling minnow lures which are phenomenally successful on the wahoo species.

In the lead-up to the world record wahoo, the team landed a considerable number of Fijian national gamefishing records for other gamefish species.

Tim’s huge wahoo was part of the second triple strike aboard Bite Me on a calm but overcast and rainy day. They were fishing over an offshore seamount, 30 miles from base, in 200 fathoms!

As often happened, the first triple were all sliced off by fish crossing lines, or through lines being bitten off by other wahoo in the pack. During the second pack attack, one of the triple was again bitten free but the other two made it through the strike phase and so the long battle began.

Having two wahoo hooked up on 4kg at once meant that both anglers had to fight the fish from a standing boat - far from helpful. Both fish sizzled off with more than 500 metres of the fragile and hair-thin 4kg Platypus ‘Lo-Stretch’ line in opposite directions – often straight down!

After more than an hour, both fish were finally battled to the boat but not before the extreme strain, compounded by hundreds of metres of line, had blown up Bill’s reel. He had to handline the exhausted fish – on 4kg line – the last 15 metres to the boat. That alone was testament to Bill’s skill in a tricky situation. Luckily, it was a mill-pond-calm day.

Bill’s wahoo was around 25kg while Tim’s weighed in at 31.6kg. Once ratified by the International Game Fish Association, it should smash the old 4kg world record of 25.71kg – which was caught off Bermuda a decade ago!

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 July 2009 )