In case you hadn’t heard, Papua New Guinea is home to the biggest baddest bass in the world. Two varieties of lutjanids – a species group that includes fish renowned for fighting ability such as mangrove jacks and fingermarks – are PNG’s black and spot tail bass; two of the toughest fish ever encountered on rod and reel.
A man who knows all about PNG bass is Riccard Reimann, owner of Baia Sportfishing Lodge on PNG’s West New Britain’s north coast. He recently emailed Fisho with some pics taken on a recent exploratory trip. As you can see the jungle rivers of PNG are home to some thumping sportfish.
Reimann wrote in his email:
“When I am not busy at the lodge I like to explore the upper reaches of our rivers and the smaller tributries that branch off possibly leading to nice deep swamps where the giant blacks like to live. Every now and then we discover new and exciting fishing grounds for our guests. My brother in law and myself hit the jackpot on a few trips and managed to land these big guys using surface lures.”
Riccard Reimann with a spot tail bass.
“At one area of the Langa Langa river we decided to use small mangrove jacks of about 23cm for live bait. We only had four jacks in the bucket. Over a quick afternoon session all baits eventually got smashed by unstoppable fish. We failed to stop these beasts despite using 50lb braid and 80lb leader. I have a plan for the next time we encounter these brutes and will let you know how we go.”
He concluded, “A lot of casting and persistence can be rewarding with trophy fish like these shown on the attached photos.”
Any takers?
More at: www.baiafishingpng.com
