Captain
Russ Housby

Member since August 2015 Port Vila, Vanuatu
Background
Capt. Russ has been born and raised on fishing. Son to a famous angling journalist, Capt. Russ has fished for a variety of species worldwide. Fly fishing for Trout in English chalk streams, going after Porbeagle Shark in the English Channel, then moving onto game fishing in Madeira. Capt. Russ spent his summer holidays lure fishing for Blue Marlin for some nine years. He has and caught and released many of these massive fish. He has also fished around top Marlin destinations, including Cairns, Bom Bom Island, Ghana, and Brazil. He's a specialist in ultra light, light, and heavy tackle, and has worked with some of the most skillful captains around the world. Capt. Russ has been fishing the local waters of Vanuatu for the past 12 years, and has set many world records.
Techniques
Vanuatu offers some of the most exciting and varied fishing in the world and for this reason we use a full range of different techniques to best suit the situation or species we're targeting. That means over the course of single day we often troll lures, live & dead bait, drop Jig's or popper fish. I love the visual aspect, so for me bait and switching billfish on to either fly or conventional gear or casting poppers to Big dogtooth and GT's has to be some of the most fun things we do. Having said that, live baiting or jigging can both be very productive, and always interesting as you never know what you can hook. Live baiting can be particularly successful and whether its outside at one of the FAD's or on top of a shallow seamount, it often produces the best fish. We carry a full range of tackle onboard Nambas from #130 chair rods to popping, jigging & fly rods but also are happy to use customers tackle as long as its of a high quality to deal with the monsters Vanuatu is famous for.

Hey, I'm Captain Russ Housby

Port Vila, Vanuatu
Background
Capt. Russ has been born and raised on fishing. Son to a famous angling journalist, Capt. Russ has fished for a variety of species worldwide. Fly fishing for Trout in English chalk streams, going after Porbeagle Shark in the English Channel, then moving onto game fishing in Madeira. Capt. Russ spent his summer holidays lure fishing for Blue Marlin for some nine years. He has and caught and released many of these massive fish. He has also fished around top Marlin destinations, including Cairns, Bom Bom Island, Ghana, and Brazil. He's a specialist in ultra light, light, and heavy tackle, and has worked with some of the most skillful captains around the world. Capt. Russ has been fishing the local waters of Vanuatu for the past 12 years, and has set many world records.
Techniques
Vanuatu offers some of the most exciting and varied fishing in the world and for this reason we use a full range of different techniques to best suit the situation or species we're targeting. That means over the course of single day we often troll lures, live & dead bait, drop Jig's or popper fish. I love the visual aspect, so for me bait and switching billfish on to either fly or conventional gear or casting poppers to Big dogtooth and GT's has to be some of the most fun things we do. Having said that, live baiting or jigging can both be very productive, and always interesting as you never know what you can hook. Live baiting can be particularly successful and whether its outside at one of the FAD's or on top of a shallow seamount, it often produces the best fish. We carry a full range of tackle onboard Nambas from #130 chair rods to popping, jigging & fly rods but also are happy to use customers tackle as long as its of a high quality to deal with the monsters Vanuatu is famous for.

My Charter Listing

Excellent
5.0 / 5
(12 reviews)
Port Vila
trips from US $209

Fishing Reports

Blue Marlin on Fly in Vanuatu - IGFA 20L
Blue Marlin on Fly in Vanuatu - IGFA 20L
Dec 9, 2019 Port Vila
Terry Carter has fished all over the world armed only with his Fly Rod. Travelling all the way to Vanuatu from Cincinnati in the USA was nothing for a man on a mission. Terry wanted to chase Blue Marlin on the fly and that was what he got. Terry brought all his own gear including his Sage Fly Rod and Mako reel, along with an assortment of tippets and lines. The teasers had only been in the water around 15 minutes one morning when we raised a perfect sized Blue Marlin on the long teaser pole. The short teaser was quickly cleared and the fish teased beautifully to the back of the boat. When the boat was out of gear Terry made an almost textbook cast and the Blue Marlin inhaled the fly and was hooked. Completely perfect! But hey this is fly fishing, as the fish started ripping line off suddenly we were not connected anymore!!!! It turned out Terry's connection from braid to fly line had decided to fail us. Gutted is an understatement. We made good later in the trip raising another perfect sized Blue Marlin which smashed the short teaser. Having that temptation cleared out of his way he switched onto the long and the crew teased him to the back of the boat, the wind had started to pick up but Terry got the cast and the fish nailed the fly beautifully. Line started streaming and off we went chasing in reverse, everyone getting drenched in the process. The fish gave us an incredible show on the surface with countless acrobatics before finally sounding. Terry had to fight hard to lift the fish on the fly rod but he did an amazing angling job and was not going to give in. Terry had decided at the start of the trip that he wanted to release any Marlin he caught on the fly...this is easier said than done as it's not like you have a long strong leader to hang onto. This fish helped us out and the hook pulled boat side giving a perfect end to a great day. It wasn't our last shot either, the following day we raised another two Blue Marlin, the first fish was around 500lbs and really far bigger than you want to mess with on a fly rod. It teased and despite the wind the cast was made but thankfully it wasn't that interested in the fly. It was quite happy swimming around the transom lit up neon blue which gave us a great show. It was joined by a smaller fish that again teased several times but was not loving the fly. Any day you get to see multiple Blue Marlin swimming round the back of the boat is a pretty good day though! Terry is already planning his next trip and we are looking forward to fishing with him next year!
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Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
5.0 / 5
out of 5 stars from 12 reviews
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (12)
Simpy The Best!
4hr trip of a life time
4hr trip of a life time
+9
Angler rating
12
0
0
0
0
Anglers claimed
Good experience
100%
Friendly captain
100%
Recommend this charter
100%
Appropriate for children
78%
Satisfied with the boat
100%
Caught fish
89%
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5 of 12 reviews
Neal T.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Live aboard Fishing Charter

Multiday Trip on November 6, 2016
We arrived in Port Vila the morning of Feb. 6th to start an eight day live aboard fishing adventure down to Santo and the surrounding...
Neal T. recommends Nambas Fishing Charters
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Chris C.
Carnegie, Victoria
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

10/10 BEST FISHING TRIP EVER

Full Day Trip on April 26, 2016
Where to even startโ€ฆ. From the moment I arrived at the airport I was greeted by โ€œRussโ€ the skipper ! We...
Chris C. recommends Nambas Fishing Charters
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Steve And Dana Mcclennan
Auckland, New Zealand
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

6 Hour (half day) trip with Nambas

VERIFIED   6 Hour Trip on July 15, 2017
Great day out on the water, the fish played the game well. Skipper and crew very professional and great to deal with. Have...
Steve And Dana Mcclennan recommends Nambas Fishing Charters
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Phil S.
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

September fishing trip

VERIFIED   Full Day Trip on September 19, 2019
Phil S. recommends Nambas Fishing Charters
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You and 1 other person found this review helpful
Phil S. recommends Nambas Fishing Charters
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1 person finds this review helpful
You and 1 other person found this review helpful

Nick D.
Auckland, New Zealand
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Full Day with Russ on Nambas

VERIFIED   Full Day Trip on December 30, 2016
Russ worked hard to find the workups, and unlucky not to boat 2 x 50kg Yellowfin. The one we landed was magnificent. The boat...
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