It had been several years since we had been out to Tahiti and French Polynesia. My wife Teresa and I love the islands and particularly the people. We have made many very good friends
there over the years and had missed not seeing them. We therefore decided to return for the tournament this year. Unfortunately I was the director of an annual conference at my hospital in Valdosta which conflicted with the latter half of the tournament so we could only stay for part of the festivities. We went out there early though so we still would have the opportunity to see our friends and enjoy the beauty and relaxation of the south Pacific.

Fellow Valdostans Ian and Debbie McTurk made the trip with us. It was their first excursion to the south Pacific and they loved it! The grandeur of these volcanic-born islands jutting up out of the cobalt blue water of the Pacific Ocean and the utter beauty of the many atolls with their turquoise colored lagoons and awesome reefs makes French Polynesia an absolute MUST VISIT location. And when you add to that the at times spectacular marlin and tuna fishing you can understand why we just have to keep going back!

The tournament this year was held on the island of Raiatea where we have a number of old friends. We arrived four days before the tournament was to start so we got to fish a few days on
our own. We were fishing with my friend Jean Luc Liat on his 28-foot Bertram Te Manu Ata. The weather was beautiful although it was quite warm. The fishing though was not as hot as the sun. We fished two days without so much as a strike. It was very quiet and even the commercial boats were seeing almost nothing. When the tournament started on Monday it remained
fairly slow but I did catch and release a small 200-pound male early in the afternoon that we tagged. The second day unfortunately returned to the same pattern we had experienced before
the tournament and was without any action. The next day was the lay day of the tournament and the day we had to return to the US so our chances for a big fish were over. We had had a
spectacular time though and could not complain. The fishing picked up after we left and a number of fish were released during the last two days of the tournament. So those who could stay
did have considerable success.
 

Ian McTurk	Ian & Jean-Luc	Jean-Luc Liat
Terry	Teresa	Debbie

Hotel Hawaiki Nui	Debbie & Ian	Tournament Festivities

Te Manu Ata	Downrigger for live-bait fishing	Tagged fish ready for release
Tournament Bimini start	Hotel pool	Day 2 start

Raiatea Scene	Raiatea Scene	Raiatea Scene

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