[625122]

Hi there, I've just returned form the Maldives where we had an intense week of inshore fishing. Giant Trevally were the main target, and GT we caught. Big time. It is the second time for me there, first time was a scouting safari and we caught a good bunch of fish. I came back anthusiastic and put together a group of anglers for a secon trip. Eventually, this turned to be much more successfull that the first one and everybody had a ball. Not only we had hundreds of strikes, lost a lot of poppers, got spooled and broke rods, we also landed massive specimen, like this one I'm reviving after a strong fight. It was a near 100lb baby, a big GT by all meanings, caught on a Hab's 4oz prototype popper.

If you guys ever have the chance to make such a distant trip to the Indian ocean, don't miss the opportunity to fish the Maldives, is paradise on earth and full of wild critters.

Ciao

Caranx

 

[Crazy-Al]

Ciao Caranx, Como estas amigo?

Welcome back buddy and thanks for the wonderful report! If you could… don't leave out the juicy stuff… please elaborate a bit more on the " got spooled and broke rods, we also landed massive specimen".

"Crazy" Alberto
[email protected]

 

[625122]

Alberto, your spanish is improving, I'm impressed . Well, you know how the members of the jacks family are: wild, strong and unrespectful. GT are the wildest and biggest and baddest of the whole bunch and they punish you big time, if you dare to challenge them. Just for you to have an idea, have a look at the tackle.

Rods around 9ft, stout, heavy and able to cast properly 4,5oz, I mean really doing it. Strong and powerful reels like Stella 10000, Saltiga 4500 and Team Daiwa 5000. Drags set at the last click, around 25 to 30lb, 65lb braided lines, 130lb monofilament leaders, 130lb snaps, 150 to 200lb split rings and 3/0 and 4/0 ST66 Owner Hooks 4X, the strongest available. With this equipment in their hands, the guys travelling with me were kinda wondering if that wasn't too much, nobody could really believed 100% what I was saying but fortunately they followed my suggestions....just in case. After the first afternoon, the guy who had an old model of the Stella 6000 (wouldn't buy a 10000 despite my advice), realized he was absolutely lost and couldn't have a chance to land a very big GT. Everybody came back to the boat, after only less than half afternoon, pretty much beaten up and with few casualties in the plugs box.
Follow me: you move with the boat parallel to the reef, casting from 70 or 80yds towards the edge of it. All of a sudden the water opens up, a dark hump come out and a black shadow start chasing your lure. After the strike, you have nearly 0 seconds to realize what is going on because it turns like a cat and head back into the reef. Is a matter of few seconds and if the fish is a big one, let's say over 50lb, you might either be spooled or break off in the coral. The guys lost over 50 poppers in one week, and 2 reels were spooled, including mine with a 65lb Rapala Thermic Braid.
As far as the massive specimen chapter, have a look at what this man landed. The poor guy almost fell off the boat, they had to grab him an dput him into the guide's seat, helping him pumping the fish. He's been lucky, the fish did not head towards the edge of the reef and he could manage to battle him in more open waters.

Maybe next time you should come with me, is a nice and safe country and the cruise is absolutely awesome.

Ciao

Caranx

 

[614668]

Caranx, nice fish, I was fortunate enought to have worked for the airlines and married a fellow airline employee. We went for 2 weeks on our honeymoon to the Seychelles. All I can say is some of the best fishing I have ever experienced. Short rides to some of the deepest clearest water I have ever fished. Tuna schools breaking water the size of football fields. We hooked up with countless fish that would leave people in disbelief. For anyone reading this post I can only reitterate what Caranx mentioned. IF anyone can afford or manage to travel to the distant waters of the Indian ocean it is well worth it. Not only in the quality of the fishing but the experience of the travel, the remote beaches and friendly people. The Maldives has more of an Indian culture whereas the Seychelles has more of an African culture yet each island group has their own mix of European/Asian/Indian/Arab/African races.

Frank B

 

[625122]

Ciao Frank,

the Seychelles are now rated among the best spots for Bonefishing but they also have a great fishery for GTs and all those tropical critters we all love. Talking about Tuna frenzies, have a look at this one.... 4 hours in a row of breaking fish, heaven for any angler

Bye


Caranx

 

[625122]

By the way, this has been the biggest GT of the trip. A real nice fish, not too far from 100lb I guess

ciao

Caranx

 

[Crazy-Al]

Ciao Caranx,

Congratulations!!! That's a very impressive fish bud!
BTW: Is that a new Habs popper?

"Crazy" Alberto
[email protected]

 

[625122]

hab's popper

It surely is Alberto, an underwater secret agent friend of us stole it from Hab's secret room (unfinished yet, no epoxi coating), flew it to Panama where it was stolen once again by me, flown into the Maldives, used to land the biggest fish, and chewed by the other fish he caught. He now holds a special place in the Lures Memorial Box, I have in my apartment...

Some members of my "Famiglia" are going to pay a visit to el señor Hab and "encourage" him to do more of those 4oz prototypes. I'm pretty sure he will be convinced soon

Ciao

Caranx

 

[624445]

Caranx- Tackle selection questions

Great report, sounds like fantastic fishing. I do have some questions about your choice of tackle for this fishing.

quote:
Rods around 9ft, stout, heavy and able to cast properly 4,5oz, I mean really doing it. Strong and powerful reels like Stella 10000, Saltiga 4500 and Team Daiwa 5000. Drags set at the last click, around 25 to 30lb

Why do you have a need to use such a long rod while fishing from a boat ?
This long lever can only work against you, allowing the fish greater leverage.

Why do you choose to use spinning reels to fight such large fish in close proximity to a reef ?
Wound'nt a conventional reel work much better in this situation ?
I know it is easier to cast with the spinning reel, but an educated thumb can cast as far with conventional tackle. Since you are fishing in such a rich fish enviornment, strikes should be often, so why sacrifice your fish fighting ability with the reel for the advatage of casting ?
I would assume you spend most of the time fighting fish and not casting lures.

I appreciate your answer to these questions.

 

[625122]

tackle selection answer

TogHole, while fishing those tropical reefs you both need a rod strong enough to play massive fish and still able to cast 4+ oz poppers sometimes 100yds away. To give you an example, we fished an area where the GT were absolutely jammed, it was a place where the surf was pretty strong and we couldn't get that close to the reef (like most of the time). The best way to entice those fish to a strike was to cast up to the edge of the reef where they where all sitting and drag them away from it. A cast too short would only deliver you the scraps. The pole we use, call it Zenaq, Daiwa, DPSG, Tenryu or any major GT rod manufacturer, are usually among 7'6" to 10' (more often 8 to 9'), most of them one piece with an offset handle, some 2 piece. If you don't try them you probably won't realize how strong they are (have a look at the picture), I own a DPSG (french brand) 9', is quite a cheap rod (the components are not the best) but has a great blank that is able to pull a GT like the one you see in the picture or turn big cubera's heads or alikes. I'd love to use shorter rods, they could probably deliver an even better backbone and also be lighter but there are very few available unless you like to cast with one of those short japanese jigging rods, something you can actually do, with the disadvantages we mentioned before.
As far as the casting/spinning reels question, I would be happy to switch to a casting reel (lighter, might hold more line, better fighing abilities, doesn't hurt the line that much etc) when I will find one able to resist those furies. I might not have a complete picture of the market but whether you pick a Calcutta 700 or a Penn 975 (right handle, I hate it) none of them has a drag strong enough for the settings we use in those areas. A Stella 10000 or a Saltiga 6000 GT have drags settings up to 65lb, not that you use such power but we always stay around 22 to 30lb and not so many reels deliver this performance. Also, even if the abundance of fish is high, you still have to cast the whole day, and far away too. I wouldn't be particulary happy to have a bird's nest in my casting reel with a 5 oz popper flying towards the reef.....

I hope this helped a bit, thanks for asking

ciao

Caranx

(This post edited by caranx on 04/26/2003)

(This post edited by caranx on 04/26/2003)

 

[KILSONG]

Caranx, that is very nice GT. Many Japanese and Korean go to South Pacific in persuit of GT and tuna. In addition to topwater fishing they specialize in deep vertical jigging for them. Actually Stellar and Saltigar reel were developed for the vertical jigging purpose to fight big and powerful fish like GT and tuna. Stellar 10000 is more polular than Saltigar Z6000. But serious fishermen prefer Soltigar Z6000. What is your opinion on them ?

 

[621448]

Lost how many poppers?

The Maldives are a remote untouched spot which explains why the fishing was good in terms of quantity and quality. Were you using barbless hooks? Lost poppers, spooled reels and broken rods equals a lot of dead fish to me.

 

[625122]

Kilsong, I own a Team Daiwa HIA 5000 and a Saltiga Blast 4500, for the heavier fishing I use the first, is the previous hi-end reel made by Daiwa before Saltiga and it holds up pretty well. For what I understand Saltigas are better reel than Stellas, tougher and tecnologically better developed with better components but this is what I can read in the various forum where I lurk. I'm thinking about getting myself a Saltiga 6000, is quite a bunch of money to put into a reel but when it comes to tropical fishing they're well worth it.

Bigdog, I understand and apreciate your concern. What I do, is not only to file (or squeeze) the barb of every single hook, but also, whenever possible, I tent to use single siwash hooks in the back and double hooks for either position. We also used quite a lot of Rangers with their single hook configuration and they did a great job.
To confirm how good barbless hooks are, we had the chance to collect some poppers lost by other members of our group few hours before or even the day before

Ciao

Caranx

 

[621448]

Barbless Hooks

Glad to hear you were switching out the hooks. Sounds like an awesome trip, I would like to go there for GT's and Bones someday.