PAPUA NEW GUINEA

During my recent fishing adventure to Papua New Guinea, the group stayed with the locals in their small village under the guidanace of Jason Yip, www.pngsportfishing.org.  The tribal people of Papua New Guinea get a bad rap by falsely being said to be mean, unrespectful, etc.  I found all of the tribes we encountered to be very friendly. Each day while travelling down the river we would pass by various villages of which the locals would run out of their huts to wave hello to us.  I was able to visit a local school which was practically a roof with a few boards and a blackboard.  The students put on a great show for us and the locals invited us into their village.  As you have read in the other posts, the fishing in Papua New Guinea is awesome!  However, one of the favorite parts of my trip was meeting the local tribes. 
During the trip we gave out numerous shirts, hats, duffel bags, notebooks, and soccer balls to the various tribes due to generous donations by Cargill and Tom Ashby of the American Legacy Fishing Company.  Our group sent in donations to help buy the local village school some much needed supplies.
Papua New Guinea is probably the last remaining unexplored land on earth.  Headhunters and cannibals still exist with tribes having never encountered an outsider.  How long will this last, God only knows, so get to PNG as soon as possible for dream trip of your lifetime.
Contact Steve Yatomi at www.adventuretravelalliance.com for more information on PNG and other fantastic fishing destinations throughout the world!

BARRAMUNDI OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

During our recent fishing adventure to the jungles of Papua New Guinea for black bass, we also encountered another battler, the barramundi.  The barramundi is closely related to a snook and Nile perch.  One of the barras most notable characteristics is its pinkish-red eyes which glow brilliantly at night.  Barras are extremely tough fighters and often use head shaking  jeaps in an attempt to toss a lure.  Our top lures for the barras were Super Shad Raps and Rapala Mag15.  Barramundi are excellent food fish.  Barras are mostly caught trolling shorelines and casting among the snags where the big barras hide.  The current world record according to the IGFA is a monster 98 lb 6 oz caught out of Queensland Australia.  For more information on Papua New Guinea black bass and barramundi fishing contact Steve Yatomi at
www.adventuretravelalliance.com or email him at zato1@earthlink.net.  Steve currently is leading a group Nov 2 to 11th and has 1 opening remaining.

SHIMANO TRANX PG

During my recent trip to Papua New Guinea for monster black bass and barramundi, I fished with the new baitcaster the Shimano TranX PG.  The TranX is a giant sized rounded reel which boasts a powerful gear ratio of 4:6:1.  The reel puts out an amazing 25lbs of drag pressure,  This was needed to turn these PNG black bass out of the various logs.  PNG bass are amazing!  They simply can described to a freight train that swims!  Teamed up with 200lbs PowerPro, the TranX was able to subdue monster black bass up to 40lbs and also big barramundi which swim in the same water as the PNG black bass!   PNG is am amazing, unknown fishery.  I have been fortunate to fish all the amazing freshwater species on this earth and rate the strike of the PNG bass to be at the top.  I was literally knocked on my face after my trophy bass hit my Rapala Giant Shad Rap.  For more information on PNG fishing contact STeve Yatomi at www.adventuretravelalliance.com

Papua New Guinea--Baddest Bass On Earth!!

Recently returned from a dream fishing trip to Papua New Guinea in search of PNG black bass (Papuan Black Snapper) and bonus barramundi.  After months of preparation we decided to go with Jason Yip of Wild River Fishing PNG, jason@sportfishingpng.net   Jason leads a few groups each year into the virgin rivers of the Gulf Province where the biggest bass on earth swim!  The veteran group of fishermen included friends Steve Ryan, Cole Lundquist, Kevin Cleary, Jim Reed, and John Cross all of whom have fished for many of the toughest freshwater fish on earth during previous adventures.  We put months and months of prepartion into this trip.  Well known fisherman, Larry Dahlberg, advised us to use shor/stout saltwater jigging rods, strong baitcasting reels like the Shimano TranX HG spooled with 200lbs PowerPro.  We were to replace all hooks with superstrong Owner ST-76 and replace all lure split rings with the strongest on the market, Wolverine triple coiled rings.  We used fluorocarbon leaders to 200lbs, 300lbs mono leaders, and 300lbs Kevlar leaders. 
The trip began on July 22nd when we flew from Chicago to Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia, then to Port Morsby PNG when Jason's crew greeted us.  The next day Jason took us for a 5 hour drive to the Gulf Region.  We started fishing near the rivers mouth landing a few barramundi.  John landed the first bass with a respectable 20lbs, but lost 2 others as his drag could not hold up and the fish broke off.

We then drove about 2hrs downriver to the outpost camp where we lived with the friendly native tribe.  We fished during the way.  I hooked into something similar to a freight train.  The fish literally pulled me to the front of the boat and knocked me on my face.  After regaining my senses, I kept the monster out of the logs and netted a monster PNG bass which pegged out my certificed 35lbs scale.  We put a 40lbs weight on this beast!!
The next few days we fished various sections within a few hours of the outpost.  All were greeted with arm busting action as Steve, Cole, and Kevin landed bass exceeding 40lbs.  John and Jim landed monster barramundi which pegged out the 60lbs certified bogas and we estimated each over 70lbs.

Jason Yip landed the bass of his dreams a monster 46lbs which if certified, will beat the current World Record Papua Black Snapper currently at 42lbs 5oz.

The trip was really more than expected.  Having the opportunity to fish for practically every freshwater fish on earth, the PNG black bass kick ass!  These brutes become lure shy and know how to use every log in the river to their advantage.  They are super strong and destroy tackle.  Sure everyone wants to land monsters, but this trip exceeded everyone's expectation as all landed fish of their dreams.  Highlights of the trip were being treated to a welcome by the local tribe at the lodge.  We later were giving the golden rulers at the local school, had a great ceremoney before presenting the principle with a few gifts for the school kids.  Jason camp is one of the best organized in a very remote environment I have seen.  The natives are super friendly.  The guides, staff are super nice and will put you on big fish as evidenced by our results.
We are already talking about a return trip!  For more info contact Steve Yatomi at www.adventuretravelalliance.com or email at zato1@earthlink.net.   Jason Yip at www.sportfishingpng.net or email jason@sportfishingpng.net or give me a call at 219-659-1740 or write doradokiller@hotmail.com

SHIMANO WAXWING

One of the hottest new lures on the market is the Shimano Waxwing.  This unique lure consists of  a jigging body with an upper wing which gives it a zigzag motion while the lower wing acts like a rudder to prevent rolling.  Simply point your rod at the Waxwing and reel as fast as possible to put out a tremendous amount of action which fish cannot resist.  The Waxwing has a double tinned Owner hook as compared to a treble to prevent snags.  The Waxwing comes in sizes from 0.5oz to 4.4oz so should catch everything from largemouth bass to giant saltwater species.  I will see shortly if I can tempt a few montster Papua New Guinea bass into stricking the Waxwing.  Check them out at the Shimano website or go to youtube for lots of videos on this new exciting lure.

KLURES FOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA BASS

Recently got some great looking poppers and Daly divers from Kermett Adams of http://www.klures.com/ to try and land a few monster Papua New Guinea bass.  Kermett is experimenting with adding a swivel to the rear hook which is normally very suspectable to breakoffs with tough fishing fish such as golden dorado or PNG bass.  This option will allow the hook to rotate thus preventing the back of the lure from breaking.  Also Kermett has made some great poppers to fool the PNG bass on the topwater.  These along with a large variety of peacock bass, largemouth bass, golden dorado, etc.. are available from Kermett.

Contact Kermett at kkadams@aol.com for more information on his lures.

THEERASART LAKE, THAILAND

Theerasart Lake in Thailand recently opened in June 2012.  This lake is located next to the fabulous Ratchaburi Predators Lake where you can catch monster red tail catfish till your arms fall off.   Theerasart Lake holds mostly carp and barb species.  It currently holds Mekong Catfish up to 180kg, Giant Siamese Carp to 60kg, monter Jullien Prized Golden Carp, and numerous others.  On the next trip to Thailand I am planning on splitting a half day fishing Ratchaburi and Theerasart and am sure monsters will be landed!  For more information on these lakes and other great fishing opportunities, contact Capt. Francois Helias at

fishasia@ksc.th.com plus check out his site at http://www.anglingthailand.com/