Cook Islands report

Hi Guys, just back from Raro, had a great time as usual over there. I did not fish very much, I had a day out with Captain Moko and managed the best fish of the day, after the other guys took pity on me and let me have the last strike of the day!here it is. http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/p...keMahimahi.jpg I did manage to take the fly rod for a walk a couple of times and had great fun catching all sorts of reef fish like these. http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/p...gonGrouper.jpg http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/p...Cornetfish.jpg From close to the coral, just casting off the sand. Those Cornet fish grow to some impressive sizes, the biggest one I managed was not far short of a metre long and actually managed to pull some line of the reel. The last time I took the rod out I fished one of the outlets from the lagoon and managed to hook about six of these in an hour and a half, landing 4 and losing two. http://i399.photobucket.com/albums/p...luefinTrev.jpg As the day came to an end I changed from a biggish streamer to a small tan gotcha thinking to try for a few more reef fish and got absolutely smashed by a big Bluefin Trev in the 12 to 15lb bracket that took the fly about 40ft out and ran between two coral heads before tearing away towards the horizon, the fly line shot through the guides at a very fast rate and even burned my finger before the last six inches of lose fly line flicked up and looped around the reel handle bringing everything to a very sudden end as the 15lb tippet broke with a very load crack! Bugger!! Still it was fun while it lasted. Have to say the Lagoon fishing up there just seams to get better and better, other than the above no real monsters but lots of reef fish and lots of fun. The snorkeling is superb, my wife and I saw Turtles, Huge Moray eels and a big school of Long Tail Stingrays as well as loads of Goatfish, Flame Tailed Snapper, Peacock Grouper and too many others to list, it really is like swimming in a fish tank. Add to that lots of Sunshine, very friendly locals and some great restaurants and you have a superb holiday! All the best. Mike.

Wow Mike that is by far the biggest Dorado I have ever seen. Congrats on a great trip and thanks for the report.

Beaver

That's a great report. Glad you could get away for awhile. Nice fishes. Jim

Great pics, and cool fish species! Well done!

Great! Fishing is not so important if you are in Paradise.
Thanks for the report.
R.

Wonderful to see - we are so blessed to have you folks from outside the US that let us see the wonders you have!
Thanks so much, really appreciated.
Hugs, LF

Thanks LF, it is funny but we do not see many Americans when we visit the Cooks, lots of Kiwis, Australians and a fair few Italians but not many Americans, despite the fact the flights are regular and the Bonefishing in Aitutaki is superb but hardly touched. The fishing is realy starting to take off over in Aitutaki with about 4 or 5 guides and plenty of resorts so I guess it will eventualy get busy. There are other Islands in the group that rumour has it have even better fishing but they are hard to get to and there are no resorts. Makes me wish I had a nice big sail boat, I will have to buy a Lotto ticket!
All the best.
Mike