Gamefishing Asia

2 days ago

Zeyn had fished with us back in October and vowed to do another trip after he had a taste of fishing for the Andaman GTs. This time he had put together a group of South Africans who were all fishing addicts. However, apart from Zeyn all of them were on their first GT trip. They had only heard and read what GT fishing was all about and wanted to get a first-hand experience. Zeyn had made sure they were fully kitted out for their trip, with a selection of Ripple Fisher popping rods and an array of Shimano Stella reels. For jigging they were equipped with Yamaga Blanks Galahad rods and Shimano Talica reels. The thing is, as almost always happens, these newbie groups get so taken up with the topwater action that our Andaman GTs provide that we hardly do any jigging for the full trip.

We could not have asked for a better start to the trip for the group, as we quickly ran into a GT feeding frenzy. Almost every cast was being followed or hit and at one point we had all the clients on fish more than once. If you want to quickly get used to what GT fishing strikes can be like, then this was a perfect opportunity. Moving from one spot to another, the action continued albeit not with the same intensity of a feeding frenzy. Coming up to one spot, as we started the drift, Ahmed who was fishing from the back of the boat had a take from a fish that at best looked in the 20-kilo range. Knowing that this size fish can be feisty, we were not surprised when Ahmed said the fish was putting some hurt on him. But then the fish took off with far too much power for a 20-kilo fish and after a proper battle we put on deck a GT of 135 cm and 51 kilos on the scales. What an achievement for a 66-year old angler!

Accurate casting plays a big part in getting the lure into the right place at the right time. Given that Giant Trevally are also ambush predators the angler who can put a lure into the right spot accurately will get onto more fish than anglers who blind cast. This was the case again when an accurately cast Gamma 140 landed in the right zone, next to a rock formation. A few twitches and there was an explosion on the lure, setting the hook as the fish ran in an arc from shallow to deeper water which effectively meant that if the tackle held up the GT would be boated, and it did, much to everyone’s delight and Hanif had put another 44-kilo weighed GT on board.

With the GTs having done their part for the trip, we decided to jig and managed to get multiple small dogtooth tuna, but the guys wanted more popping action, so I guess that we will be seeing them back again in the not-too-distant future for the next round.

Till our next report,
Tight lines,
Team GFA

Tackle Used

Popping Rods: Ripple Fisher
Popping Reels: Shimano Stella 14000, 18000
Popping Lures: Patriot Design, Carpenter Gamma, HammerHead, Hots Keiko, Heru GT Mania, FCL Labo TBO,

Jigging Rods: Yamaga blanks Galahad
Jigging Reels: Shimano Talica
Jigs: Shout, Seven Seas

Species Landed: Giant Trevally, Dogtooth tuna, Barracuda, Bluefin Trevally, Bohar Snapper ... See MoreSee Less

Zeyn had fished with us back in October and vowed to do another trip after he had a taste of fishing for the Andaman GTs. This time he had put together a group of South Africans who were all fishing a...

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Gamefishing Asia

1 week ago

Merv, along with friends Raislin and Bernard, was joined by Wee Lee from the Lure Connection in Singapore. Last time around the guys had missed out and were back this time to try and make up for it. The weather forecast looked ok for the first few days of the trip but looked like it could turn on us the last few days. Changing weather at this time of the year is expected as the summer heat builds up in the tropics. We have had flat, calm seas for the last week or so. Rain and a bit of wind could be a double-edged sword that could temporarily put the fish off feeding, but the benefit could be that they would turn on again once the weather abated.

We started off with some jigging action and were immediately into fish - plenty of small dogtooth and GT’s. We were all using lighter jigging gear and it was great fun to hook up on the PE 3-4 and have some blistering runs. There were a few substantial fish that we had to follow but they all managed to bust off, one even after we managed to follow it for over a quarter of a mile. We moved over to a popping spot for the last fishing hour of the day and had three hits that were converted, with Bernard getting his PB on day one.

Following the weather closely, we tried to get out to our best spots so that we would could get in as much action as possible. This was a good call as Raislin managed to connect with a proper monster that smacked his popper and took off. It was a short thick fish that pulled scale down to 53 kilos! We managed to raise another two big GT’s; one bust the PE 10 line on the take and another burst onto the lure but failed to connect and did not come back. There was plenty of action through the day with some fun-sized GT’s to keep everyone going.

Over the next two days we had lots of action, along with some double and triple hook ups. Wee Lee showed us some jigging techniques which worked very well here. He also got a really nice fish estimated at 38 kilos - by the formula - on topwater casting. The action however was in short sessions and it could be from the fact that fish were moving so that each time we caught up with them we would have hits in quick succession. The jigging also resulted in solid fish hooking up, that screamed off even on PE 4-5 but dropped the hooks shortly after.

As predicted, the weather started to turn and on the last day we had to cancel our intended fishing area and dodge lightning and thunder storms as the skies blackened and the heavens open up and dumped some torrential rain around the islands. The changing weather put the fish off for the rest of the day and we found the going tough and we resorted to trying everything. Our efforts paid off with a dogtooth tuna on a mackerel live bait to call the trip done. A big congratulations to Raislin again for putting big mama on deck; it’s going to be a tough one to top.

Till our next report,
Tight Lines,
Team GFA

Tackle Used

Popping Rods: Carpenter, Ripple-fisher, FCL
Popping Reels: Shimano Stella,
Popping Lures: FCL, Carpenter, Hammer Head, GPC, Amegari, Pin 150

Jigging Rods: Posideon, Yamaga Blanks, Major Craft
Jigging Reels: Shimano Stella, Accurate
Jigs: Shout, Fisherman Andaman, Seven Seas Hooker, Yo-Zuri

Species Caught: Giant Trevally, Coral Trout, Grouper, Bohar Snapper, Dogtooth Tunas, Gold Spot Trevally, Green Jobfish, Sweetlips, ... See MoreSee Less

Merv, along with friends Raislin and Bernard, was joined by Wee Lee from the Lure Connection in Singapore. Last time around the guys had missed out and were back this time to try and make up for it. T...

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Gamefishing Asia

2 weeks ago

Clarence, Russel, Ray, Rainer, Daniel, Tim, Brian, Thomas, Wong Guo, Ibrahim, Xiang.
This was a trip much anticipated after last year’s awesome big fish trip. We broke up the group into two groups the over 40 years age group and the below 40 age group. There was much ribbing as to which boat would take top honours; brawn versus brain apparently was to be the tactics to get the most and largest fish on board.

As has become the expected norm, the action was great in periods of high intensity and slow when the current was not moving. The big GT’s made the show they were called unto to provide, but there were just too many misses. Missed opportunities mean that a big GT is not going to give you another chance and you will need to wait till another one takes a fancy to your lure on a particular day.

We had some highlight moments as well with Rainer hooking up two fish on one lure, a grouper and a GT; what a great double header.

Ray, who has recently discovered the delights of micro jigging, managed a very creditable dogtooth tuna of 15 kilos on PE 0.6. Ray was also not to be outdone on topwater, when his GT Harrier was inhaled by a 35 kilo GT, which he put on board in short time.

Just before the trip began I had a chat with Brian and told him that a big GT would make a terrific picture if it sat on his lap; he did just that for us with a his PB GT - a 36 kilo fish

Tim put himself on top of top-of-the-week chart with a 38 kilo GT. Agreat take followed by a really scrappy fight meant it was truly a well-earned fish.

Russel, the quiet assassin, it must be said - as we have always seen him quietly fishing from the casting station at the back of the boat from where, over the last few visits, he always hooks and lands some nice fish and this year it was no different.

The lure of the trip was the Kokari popper which worked in both the 130 and 160 configurations and put all the big fish on deck. Another thing to ensure our formula’s accuracy for the discerning angler - we have additionally been weighing fish over 130 cm and so far the results have been spot on.

In the end though, it did pan out that brawn (sorry guys no offense) or the below 40 age group did trump this trip both in numbers and in the size of the GT’s landed. The old warriors will need to lick their wounds and return to have another go, one more time, in an epic rematch that you will need to stay tuned for. Till next time, enjoy the pictures.

Tight lines,
Team GFA

Tackle Used
Popping Rods: Carpenter, Ripple-fisher, El-Toro, Hammerhead Faube
Popping Reels: Shimano Stella, Daiwa Saltiga, Penn
Popping Lures: FCL, Kokari, Cubera, Amberjack Lures, Carpenter, Hammer Head, GT Harrier

Jigging Rods: Posideon, Yamaga Blanks, Ripple Fisher
Jigging Reels: Shimano Stella, Daiwa Saltiga
Jigs: Shout, Fisherman Andaman, Seven Seas Hooker, Yo-Zuri

Species Caught: Giant Trevally, Coral Trout, Grouper, Bohar Snapper, Dogtooth Tuna, Bludger Trevally ... See MoreSee Less

Clarence, Russel, Ray, Rainer, Daniel, Tim, Brian, Thomas, Wong Guo, Ibrahim, Xiang. This was a trip much anticipated after last year’s awesome big fish trip. We broke up the group into two groups t...

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