Hi all.
First time post to introduce myself plus add a few pics and some questions.
I live in Cairns and grew up in Far North Queensland. I've fished since I could walk but am mostly a bait drowner when I fish the reefs up this way. For a while though I've wanted to tangle with some big GT's using poppers so when the local tackle store had some cheap stick baits and poppers I grabbed a stack full with the intent to toss them at a bommie one day.
Late last year on a typical bait fishing trip a good mate who was fishing with us and also who had bought a heap of the same lures at the same sale decided in between bommies he'd get one or two casts in with the stick bait (a Gillies GT minnow 80g). We figured not much was going to happen but incredibly on about the 4th cast a decent GT climbed on board his lure about half way back to the boat. It was an awesome sight but we called it for a fluke. We guessed it for around 13 kilos and after a few snaps released it fine. Moffy kept tossing the stick bait out and to our amazement another GT struck a few casts later. This time I couldn't resist and tossed on one of the Captiva poppers in gold colour and started blooping. Within a few casts I had a good fish around the same size as Moffy's in the boat and was ecstatic. Not long after a bigger fish smashed the popper and I was on again. This time it went around 20 kilos and the adrenalin was really rushing.
I've caught countless GT's over the years with the biggest around 40 kilos but never like this. What a rush it is when they strike!!
We didn't cast for very long so three fish and several strikes in a short time frame was prett cool. The main reason we stopped was due to the gear we were using. Moffy had a Daiwa Capricorn 4500J with 50 lb braid on a Shimano T-curve Deep Jig 200. I had a Daiwa Saltiga expedition 6500 with 80 lb jigman braid on a T-curve 400. The reels were ok but man it was hard casting with those rods!! Obviously distance was a factor as well.
I've just ordered a T-curve GT special along with another mate who's keen to get into this sort of fishing.
Now for the questions:
Any thoughts on the lures we used plus would anybody know an accurate weight on the poppers we used? There is nothing on the lure or packaging but I'm guessing around 140 grams.
I was also wondering about knots. I've checked this forum and it seems the knots you guys use are a bit different to mine. I use a Bimini twist but my leader is tied to the double using a Yucatan knot. Until reading this forum I was very happy with this knot so wanted to hear your thoughts?
What about the general set up I am soonto have, the Saltiga with 80 lb braid on a GT special?
Any other advice you could give me is apprecaited.
BTW what is the minimum picture file size?
Thanks, Mark.
