Baia Sportfishing Lodge - New Guinea, Baia Lodge

Located in Papua New Guinea on the North Coast of West New Britain in Open Bay is Baia Sport Fishing Lodge. The airport to access West New Britain is Hoskins which is a one hour flight from Port Moresby by F28 Jet service with Air Niugini. Flights to Port Moresby are again by Air Niugini from Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns. From arrival at Hoskins it is about a 30 minute drive to Kimbe to Liamo Resort to overnight. Next morning bright and early there is a very scenic 5 hour boat ride to a small peninsula that makes up part of Open Bay shoreline.

Not only is there excellent fishing for Black and Spot Tail Bass, the offshore waters and reefs are alive with Marlin, Sailfish, Tuna, Trevally, Barracuda, Mackeral, Mahi Mahi, Queenfish and many other tropical reef species in a virtually pristine marine environment.

The Papuan Black and Spot Tail Bass are members of the “lutjanid” family and are related to the Mangrove Jack and Fingermark Bream. They are “ambush” feeders with very hard hitting tactics, tending to come out of their cover and take your lure on the way back. A very successful method of catching these Bass is on surface lures and a Big Bass taking your lure or fly near the surface has been likened to someone having opened a car door underwater!

Fishing from the lodge gives you a choice of 5 rivers from 15 minutes to the nearest to 35 minutes to the furthest one. Beyond this area there are numerous reefs and estuaries that are still to be explored!!

Construction of the Lodge was completed in 2003. There are 6 rooms as well as 2 bathrooms and showers supplied with hot running water. 240V and 12v power is supplied from a generator. A fully stocked bar with soft drinks beer and wine is on a raised covered dining area that overlooks the water. Meals from the kitchen are of the highest quality and certainly maintain the standard set by the fishing and the accommodation facilities.

The boats are purpose built fibreglass construction of 6.7 metres in length and 1.9 beam with centre console. Power is supplied by 60hp, 4 stroke Suzuki outboards. The boats have sealed compartments that make them virtually unsinkable. There is a forward casting platform with plenty of space. The lodge has 4 boats and with a capacity of 12 clients at the lodge each boat will carry a maximum of 3 clients at a time.

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