Fishing in Fiji with Captain John Llanes

Last April I got the opportunity to travel to the beautiful islands of Fiji for some vacation and play (holo holo) time. My wife Cynthia and I met my son Trevor and daughter Christina in New Zealand. After a tiki tour of northern New Zealand, we flew Fiji Air to the island of Vanua Levu, then took a tiny jumper plane to the pristine island of Taveuni.

Wow, Looking at Taveuni across the ocean. http://kauaifishing.com/

Taveuni is known as the Garden Isle of Fiji, just like Kauai is known as the Garden Island of Hawaii. The island is wet, rugged, and has a feeling of old time Hawaii. The locals walk around everywhere in flip flops or barefoot, many carry cane knives for working in the fields, there is very little car traffic, and all the shops are tiny and usually run by the Indians. It is an amazing and friendly place.

On Taveuni we met up with Captain John Llanes, whom I had read about on Hawaii Fishing News back on Kauai. John Llanes is a third generation fisherman from the Big Island. He loves deep sea fishing. He moved to Taveuni, after visiting the island, being reminded of old Hawaii, and drawn by the virgin waters full of game fish!

Christina, John, Baba and Trevor with a nice Ono. Christina's was even bigger! http://kauaifishing.com/

We went deep sea fishing twice with Captain John Llanes and his great deckhand Baba. Trevor and Christina caught many nice Yellowfin tunas (Shibi/Ahi), and some trophy size Wahoos, which we call Ono in Hawaiian, meaning delicious! It was such a blast. We later ate a fresh and delicious dinner at John Llanes' resort Makaira, with John as the cook and his wonderful wife Roberta a perfect host.

We caught so much fish we shared with the village. As an offering, we gave a tuna to the chief of the village we were staying in. He then invited us to drink Kava (a bitter fiji beverage) with him during a celebration called a 'meke'. The whole village danced and sang.

Taveuni Fiji is such a beautiful place, the people are nice, and the fishing is unreal. We highly recommend fishing with Captain John too!

Captain John Llanes of Makaira and Captain John Nakamura of Kainalu Fishing. http://kauaifishing.com/

For Kauai Fishing, visit us on the Garden Island of Kauai for some great deep sea fishing. Visit http://kauaifishing.com/