Advice- Fishing the Cook Islands/Raratonga

 Hey guys,

 

Trying to plan a fishing getaway/holiday

Has anyone ever had any experience with the fishing charters in the Cook Islands, can recomend anyone?  Or if theres any other must do's whilst there?

We've got 2 weeks late July early August and have no idea of what to expect.

 

Cheers, 

Jess.

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 Just one more cast


anypuddle's picture

Posts: 594

Date Joined: 22/01/12

Rarotonga

Mon, 2015-05-18 21:38

Great place,  charters are pretty basic, I got an american guy that runs a decent boat out of the main port, I mentioned to him that the hooks on his skirted lures were pretty rusty, he laughed and said dont worry, yeah hooked a big marlin and lost it shortly into the fight.

You can go down the harbour and get a local to take you out if you pay for fuel and give him most of the catch, take your own rod and reel and diving lures etc, the best was trolling poppers!.

Get a flight to Aitutaki - paradise...  only got a few small trevelly and charlie courts inside the lagoon but did see some big bonefish. Two brothers run a boat out to the Fad. They catch yellowtail and livebait for yellowfin tuna.  some good fish to be caught.  The locals and international fishing fleets hit the place pretty hard. There is quality pelagic fishing but dont expect it to untouched.

 Oh and watch out for falling coconuts...

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Anywhere anytime

pgreen1's picture

Posts: 395

Date Joined: 20/02/08

 Hi jess. Heading over there

Tue, 2015-05-19 06:44

 Hi jess. 

Heading over there in 12 days for a couple of weeks. Third time I've been there now. I bypass Rarotonga and stay at aitutaki the whole time. If your after bone fish on fly its the place to be. ITU Davey is the guy to hook up with for that. As mentioned their pelagics are yellow fin, mahi mahi, wahoo and marlin. There are also plenty of big gt's to be had. Pm me your details and we can chat. Accommodation can be expensive if you don't look in the right place but there are plenty of good cheap places to stay. Prices start at around $80 a night through to $1200 a night for over water bungalows. 

Mike from Black pearl charters is the best guy for pelagics and gt's. There are 4 fads around the island all within 15 minutes of the harbour. I have heard of some massive dog tooth as well but not seen one yet. Maybe this time. 

Cheers paul

jess_is_hooked's picture

Posts: 7

Date Joined: 16/09/14

cheers

Tue, 2015-05-19 07:09

 

Hey thanks heaps.

Yeah we were not expecting it to be untouched, but seemed better than Fiji for catching marlin and yellowfin which were our target fish.

 We had looked at spending the $2700 each to go to the monties for a week, and we dont have a boat anymore, so if we were to do the monties wed have to consider hiring a boat for the whole other week/accom too.  So wanted to explore the other fishing holiday options that were international as well, if we were thinking of spending that amount on just one week plus extras.

The info that you guys gave is awesome, and its just made me seriously consider this to be a really great place to commit.  Might but my own skirted lures and hooks then to take with me on the charter just in case theres are rusty. Id probably die inside if I lost a marlin in fight coz of the rusty hooks. ha ha.

And Paul, I had briefly checked out Black Pearl charters and it was the one that looked the best for the fishing we wanted to do so thanks for the reccomendation, we will definitely go with him for pelagics now.

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 Just one more cast

pgreen1's picture

Posts: 395

Date Joined: 20/02/08

 Mike has some realy good

Tue, 2015-05-19 07:35

 Mike has some realy good gear but lures would be a good idea. I brought over my own poppers last time for the GT's. Brush up on your fly casting skills as well. The bones arent small over there and go like the clappers. Aitutaki is a very relaxed place where as Raro is more active. We can catch up for a chat and I can tell you more if your interested. The snorkelling in the lagoon is out of this world and the diving on the outer reef is amazing.

Guardy's picture

Posts: 381

Date Joined: 09/08/12

Jess, try Mauritius

Tue, 2015-05-19 13:02

 I understand that it is cheaper than flying to Phuket for a holiday. Some good charters being advertised as well on the net with great reviews.

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

We were there in 2010

Tue, 2015-05-19 10:44

 Went over for my daughters wedding in 2010--weather (October)was full on howling easterlies and rain for over a week, only let up on the day of the wedding (phew) We did an afternoon on a charter, (28ft bertram?) with an Aussie guy. All top quality gear. The deep water is very close and all around, some FADS are out, we could easily see the boats working them from our accommodation up the hill a bit. Weather was beautiful, but fish wouldn't co-operate at all. He was wary of putting out the baits too close to the harbour mouth because of truck size GT's that took quite a while to subdue on 130lb !  Younger son stayed on for a few days after we left, went out again, and got onto some big bull Dorado and Wahoo with him. There was a guy specialising in deep drop charter, only a small boat, because he was literally only a few hundred meters from the harbour mouth in 200 metres of water.