DESTINATION: PAPUA NEW GUINEA
36 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019F
ew places on earth feel truly remote. Our
closest neighbour to our north, Papua New
Guinea, is one exception.
While PNG is far from undiscovered,
the country’s rugged terrain has meant many
areas remain seldom fished and that’s a big draw
card for anglers looking for real adventure and
world class fishing.
A LIST FISH
Black bass have been at the top of my bucket list
for a long time. It all started with a cancelled
black bass mothership trip almost 20 years ago.
Two subsequent trips to PNG – one for game
fish, the other an exploratory journey looking for
black bass and barra – whet my appetite for
catching these iconic freshwater fish.
I’m not alone. Ever since the days of Vic
McCristal, Rod Harrison, Dean Butler and Lefty
Kreh pioneered and put PNG black bass fishing
on the map, Aussie anglers have yearned for these
exotic fish.
Interestingly, while PNG is Australia’s closest
neighbour, few Aussie tourists visit this beautiful
country. That is unless you’re there for work or
fishing. Flying into Port Moresby and landing at
Jackson International Airport you’ll notice a
funny mix of travellers. There’s the Aussie
worker f lying through to remote camps working
in mines. Then there’s the fisho, easily identified
by a long rod tube, a giant heavy bag, and an
excited look on their face. That was me!
WEST NEW BRITAIN
The f light from Port Moresby to Hoskins airport
(Kimbe) is less than an hour. Then it’s a 40
minute ride from the airport to Liamo Resort.
Here we freshened up and enjoyed the sunset
with a few drinks in the beer garden. After
dinner we made our way on board Ultimate One.
Ultimate One, Baia Sportfishing’s 72 foot
luxury mothership, was anchored just off the
resort. Ordinarily a trip such as this would depart
that evening, waking up in a remote location
ready to fish. Unfortunately, two Americans
joining our trip – Doug Olander, editor in chief of
Sport Fishing mag, and his mate, tackle industry
veteran George Large – had a delayed f light and
wouldn’t arrive until the following day.
Thankfully and not surprisingly Baia
Sportfishing owner Riccard Reimann and his
daughter Tiana had everything under control.
The local rivers fish well for black bass and
Riccard made a few calls for access. The following
morning we woke, ate bacon and eggs, and were
steered onto the long boats for an 1.5 hour ride on
the glassy Kimbe Bay towards a river.
I was sharing the boat with Mal McCully, a
seasoned travelling fisho and eight times visitor
to New Britain. Mal has fished all over Australia
and the high frequency of return visits to PNG is
testament to the quality of fishing and
professional operation from Baia Sportfishing.