Rodrigues 2014

Always good for a surprise!

After the great difficulties we experienced with the currents in Mauritius which brought us nothing but green water we travelled a further 600 km to Rodrigues where things really got exciting. Our first sight of the island from the aircraft promised much better fishing. The sea was calm and the water a deep blue.

We chartered “L’oiseau des Iles II” with skipper Cyril Faure and his crew for four days and fished the drop-offs to the east and west of the island, mainly in search of marlin. In between we regularly stopped to do a bit of jigging at some of the promising spots.

Day 1: We tried our luck to the east of the island but failed to connect with a fish for the first four hours. Then things got frantic. We caught a spearfish on our “Little Grander” lure, then a marlin of roughly 180 lbs. on a “Striker” followed by a yellowfin of 130 lbs. and a dorado, both of which succumbed to our “Magic Shot” lure.

Finally we stopped off on the way back to port for a spot of jigging and caught 8 large snappers.

Day 2: was spent fishing to the west of the island where we caught a 350 lb. blue marlin on a “Big Smoker” and a wahoo of 48 lbs. on a “Magic Shot”. Unfortunately the marlin was severely injured and could not be released. Those two were the only bites all day.

 

Day 3: We tried our luck to the west of the island again and were able to catch 4 wahoo on the way to the drop-off. Additionally we raised 2 marlins, one on a “Striker” and one on a “Magic Shot” but regrettably failed to hook up. 

Day 4: The last day – and the last chance to try our luck off Rodrigues this year. This time we set off to the east of the island and it was destined to be a good day for us. Shortly after departing we caught a sailfish and things just got even better from there on. First a marlin attacked our “Honey Hooker” lure but failed to take the hook. Shortly afterwards we had a double strike on our “Big Smoker” and “Grander 1238” lures. We were able to release both blue marlins estimated at between 300 lbs. and 350 lbs. in perfect condition. We then had a take from a blue marlin in the 500 lbs. class on our “Big Smoker” lure which we also released after a hard fight.

On the way back in we stopped to do a bit of jigging and caught 2 small dogtooth tuna, a 30 lb. GT and a snapper weighing about 15 large snappers. At the end of the day we returned to the marina with wide grins on our faces, exhausted arms and 4 pennants on the mast.

Summary:

Rodrigues is always good for a surprise or two. We thought we were going to catch tons of dogtooth tuna but by the end of the four days we recorded 8 marlin strikes and five blue marlin hook-ups, as well as a tremendous by-catch – what more can a fisherman’s heart desire? We fished exclusively with our own trolling lures and single-hook rigs.

Stephan Kreupl, Februar 2014