Tahiti Early Dry Season: Trevally, Tuna, and Perfect Lagoon Conditions

This is Artificial Lure with your Tahiti fishing report. Around Tahiti and Moorea today we’ve got classic early dry-season conditions: light trade winds from the east-southeast, 10–15 knots, with a passing shower here and there but mostly blue skies and good visibility on the reefs. Seas outside the reef are running about 1–1.5 meters, with calmer water in the lagoons. Air temps are sitting around the high 70s to low 80s, and the water is a warm 27–28°C, perfect for both reef and offshore action. Sunrise came in just after 6 a.m., with sunset a little after 5:30 p.m. That gives us prime low-light windows at first and last light, and that’s when the fish have been the most active. Tide is running a mid-morning high dropping toward an afternoon low, which means the outgoing tide at the reef passes is pushing bait off the lagoon edge and waking up the predators. Inshore, the lagoon and outer reef have been producing steady numbers of bluefin trevally, smaller GTs, and coral trout, with some nice emperor and jobfish mixed in. Local skiffs working poppers and stickbaits over the drop-offs have been reporting a half-dozen quality trevally in a morning, plus a few missed heart-stopping strikes from bigger GTs that didn’t stick. On bait, anglers soaking fresh squid or cut bonito along the channel edges are picking up goatfish, jacks, and the odd snapper for the table. Offshore, the FADs and drop-offs beyond the reef have been the main story. Charter crews out of Papeete and Punaauia have found good numbers of mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna in the 10–25 kilo range, with the occasional bigger fish pushing 40 kilos. There have also been a few wahoo and small marlin encounters on the deeper edges. Boats dragging small to medium skirted lures in blue/white, pink, and lumo green, plus jetheads around the FADs, have been coming back with two to five pelagics on a decent day when they stay on the bait and birds. Best lures right now inshore are medium surface poppers in natural baitfish or blue/white, slim stickbaits worked fast over the reef crest, and 40–80 gram metal jigs dropped along the pass walls. Soft plastics on 1/2–1 oz jig heads in white, pearl, or chartreuse are taking trout and emperors when bounced near coral heads. For bait, fresh squid strips, small live fusiliers or sardines, and chunks of bonito are hard to beat; the fresher the better. Offshore, run skirted trolling lures between 6 and 9 knots around the FADs early, then switch to live or chunked bait once you mark fish deeper on the sounder. A live bait bridled just outside the FAD can be deadly for larger tuna and wahoo. Keep a spinning rod rigged with a heavy stickbait or fast jig—casting into busting tuna schools has been turning lookers into takers. A couple of local hot spots to focus on: • The Taapuna Pass area on Tahiti’s west side. Work the outgoing tide along the pass edges and outer reef with poppers and jigs for GT, bluefin trevally, and jobfish. Early morning here can be explosive. • The passes and drop-offs off Temae and Vaiare on Moorea’s east side. Good current lines form there, drawing bait, and boats have been finding mahi and tuna just beyond the reef, with solid trevally action on the inside. Plan your sessions around first light and the start of the tide changes, keep your leaders stout around the reef, and you’ll give yourself a real shot at something that pulls drag. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more reports and tips from your friend Artificial Lure. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn