Just back from a day of GT fishing with my friend Dede at the main Bali site of Batu Abah.
As a couple of members at this forum will attest (sorry guys
) it has been hard work fishing out there since the excellent run from October 2010 into the early New Year. Today it all seemed right - full moon, swells down below 2 metres, gentle northerlies with waves coming from the southwest and a very convenient high tide time of mid-day. And the day panned out nicely after a slightly disturbing first couple of hours.
First cast of the day and Dede was into a fish, the smallest GT we caught as it turned out and the only one caught on a chugger (Adhek Venus) all day. Several hours of frustration followed with many misses and a couple of major bust offs in true washing machine conditions. This was not made any easier to stomach by the arrival of Adhek's boat and every time I looked across they seemed to be into a fish!
One of the misses deserves a mention- this was the largest GT I have ever seen in Bali. It came at my stickbait 3 times close to the boat and I could only see a VERY large and long back, no head or tail. A fish which could easily have been 50 kg+.
After all that we retired around the corner to gather thoughts, eat and find the energy for another go. Too make the morning even more irritating I had lost my favourite Craftbait GT3.
I was not that hopeful as the raging current had calmed down after high water and notably, Adhek's boat was gone. But perseverance in blistering, sapping temperatures paid off and we landed 5 more GTs including a very feisty black fish which gave me a real workout. All were caught using Adhek Penipen stickbaits, either 140 or 160 gram, with the 140 gram redhead doing most of the damage.
When conditions are like this, GT fishing in Bali is a lot of fun. If only it could be more consistent....
Rods: Carpenter Coral Viper 79/40, Carpenter DJ83MH
Reels: Dogfight and Twinpower 10000 with SOM NL 16000 spool, both loaded with Avani GT Max PE8
Successful lures: Adhek Penipen 140 and 160 gram, Adhek Venus.
Very feisty black GT:
Nice GTs:
Baby GT:
Loaded-up Coral Viper:
