Sports Events in Îles Tuamotu et Gambier

With thousands of dollars worth of equipment in tow, their own documentary cameraman, and strong will for some Bone sighting, our Aussie friends returned from their all-day outing empty handed.

Their only mission to come to Fakarava was for the sport of Bone Fishing.

These professional fisherman travel all over the world to engage in this fly-fishing sport, and they have a magazine published in Australia about their excursions.

Bonefish inhabit tropical and warm temperate waters worldwide, and the fisherman had much success the prior year finding them in the nearby islands of French Polynesia.

Alas, Fakarava produced no game for them.

Nevertheless, sun-drenched, sunburnt, and famished.......our feast back on the "Robinson Crusoe" island proved to be the welcome lift of their spirits that they needed.

As "Keeper of the Boat" I was being highly entertained at seeing the spear fishing taking place a short distance ahead.

One by one, I saw the fish being tossed into the bins (yes, the one Christian was trailing alongside him). Those fish were relentless and tried wholeheartedly to jump back into the water!

Being the fearless Sybarite, Christian made every attempt not to let one of those creatures go. I saw him diving and bobbing his head in and out of the waters..........while swimming away from the school of sharks that were quickly circling him!

He made the heroic "rescue" of this little guy, diving straight down into the deep despite the sharks, to place him back with the others.

It was an "adrenaline rush" he says. For me it was sheer panic to watch it all take place!

"Can't we just stick to frozen fishsticks?" ;-)

As the men made their way through the deep waters, catching fish, I bravely designated myself the *official* "Keeper of the Boat!"

I made sure those freshly caught fish in the cooler didn't.........er........get away or get swiped by pirates !!!

Okay, okay, so I was being a sissy about going into the shark-infested waters ! ;-)

As a consolation, my guide re-assured me: "Don't worry, if you come into the water, the sharks won't come after you. They'll be after CHRISTIAN 'cuz he's the one carrying the bin of the freshly caught fish!"

SAY WHAT??!!!

They say A Polynesian perfected the underwater spear-gun and underwater fishing grew at pace. Hook fishing on the far edge of the reef and collective fishing were slowly abandoned.

Now I could see why.

As we moved our boat from place to place, trying to reel in more fish for lunch, the fish just didn't seem to be taking the bait.

So our guide took the men and made a dive undersea for some serious game.

Spear fishing requires a combination of strategy and technique. Although it seemed in these waters, even just a little technique was sufficient.

Once the fish came face to face with the tip of the spear guns, rather than make a run for it (as is the norm)........they froze still in their tracks making it quite easy to make the catch.

One by one they were caught. All in a matter of minutes.

However, as they were speared and caught......the scent and trails they left behind left room for those "unwanted" visitors: Les Requins !!!

Equipment: One shouldn't go out spear fishing alone. It's always good to have one doing the fishing, and another collecting the catch !

We were on a roll ! There was one point during our boat trip where the fish were just hooking our bait like there was nothing to it! Then again, there were some areas of the water where the sharks (yes sharks!) would mooch off our prey.

At one point we hit a dry spell, and no fish were being caught.

So what's the answer???

Bring in the BIG GUNS!!!

One of our most memorable days on this island was spent on a boat, touring the outer motus of this area.

Our host at the guest house invited us to come aboard his fishing boat to drop off the other guests, a group of Bone-Fishing sportsmen from Australia.

With their heavy load of expensive gear, we dropped the Aussie crew off to their remote locale to seek out Bone Fish, while we took off (with our rusty hook, string, and stale squid as bait ) to catch lunch !!

I made my contribution to the menu (3 times!) with this lunker!

Equipment: All you need is a boat, some string, a hook, and bait. Oh, and it helps to bring along 3 or 4 strong able men to help you reel up the BIG ones !! ;-)

Oh! Don't forget to lather on the SPF also! The sun can be a monster out there in the middle of paradise!