NJFishing.com Your Best Online Source for Fishing Information in New Jersey - Dogtooth Tuna Adventure in Vanuatu (Dec 9-13)

I often can't tell you why I become obsessed with catching a particular species. Or when the bug started. But for me, dogtooth tuna have been at the very top of my list for at least a decade. They are actually the largest member of the bonito tribe, and they're just a badass fish. All the power of a tuna, coupled with those massive teeth. Lastly, the difficulty in landing them. They frequent reefs and drop offs and will cut you off in a minute if given the chance. However, they are only found in the southwest Pacific and Indian Oceans, often in remote areas that are difficult/expensive to get to. I started doing some research in December 2018, and I found Ocean Blue on the island of Efate in the nation of Vanuatu, on the eastern edge of the Coral Sea. They're a serious fishing operation with a solid reputation. And they specialize in dogtooth tuna. After some back and forth emails with the owner, I settled on a fishing package for Dec 10th - 13th of 2019. I was all in.

Getting there was not going to be easy or particularly fun. With layovers and flights it took around 35 hours one day to get to the island. But whatever it took to get a shot at the dogtooth tuna.

Vanuatu itself was amazing. The fishing resort was a few cabins on the beach, surrounded by rainforest. Because it is a tropical volcanic island thrust from the abyss, the water depths plunged into blue nothing about 20 yards from shore. The water was crystal clear, with around 80 feet of visibility.

While you can catch dogtooth many ways, we mostly targeted them by trolling flying fish off a downrigger over the reef in 140 to 200ft of water. My first dogtooth, and the largest of the trip, was just an insane fight. The fish took the bait off the surface in a giant explosion before we could clip to the downrigger ball. The reel screamed as the fish tore off to cut me off on the reef, quickly putting me deep in the braid backing. Immediately upon hookup, the captain gunned the center console towards deeper water in an attempt to pull the fish off the reef. Then, we doubled back and circled the fish to gain line and keep it coming up through the water column. Not an easy feat as the fish kept digging with the power of a big tuna. Pure insanity. Luck was on my side and I got the mono topshot on the reel, but the battle wasn't won yet. Finally, we saw color. The fish was still very green, speeding around under the surface, but I was able to steer it to the gaff. I finally had a big dogtooth tuna...worth every second of travel.

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In addition to trolling, we also jigged and fished topwaters. The action was a little slow, but I also managed to catch green jobfish, yellowfin tuna, and two species of barracuda on topwater, and I caught coral trout and dogtooth tuna on the jig. We also missed a few giant trevally. Just an amazing trip.

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