Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) > Reports & Expeditions

Maldives - any info?

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Mark Stotesbury:
Hi David
go heavy with your jigs 300grams anything in white or dark blue .  owner sj-41 11/0 hooks take from  8/0 up.we fish 2 piece 300/4 purglass rods 3m long.[south african manufacturer]and nylon 5oz plugs catch plenty gts in the 10-25kg range.lots of dogtooth in the 15-30kg range expect to work hard for them seem to be located in specific areas on the reefs the locals catch them on live skipjack,follow the lights of the local fishermen at night, mark that area they catch 60+kg doggies and a lumo jig should get smashed.we jig 50lb as well as 80lb never had a problem.sharks can be a problem certain times of year.where are you staying ??
planning a trip to bassas de india again next year got to find the doggies there.       

Lance Ng:
Hey David,

your choice of jigs seem a good way for maldives. we usually don't get strong currents in maldives, so jigs up to 250gm max would be sufficient. take some raiders with you for casting to YFTs & GTs too.

popping tackle of PE4-6 is sufficient. most of the time, you won't need to control them GTs from reefing you, unlike komodo gangsters.. one of the reason, from my personal observation, is that the underwater terrain of maldives reefs generally do not have corals protruding everywhere like deer antlers. Seems like the corals there are more rounded. & there are no sudden uprising rock outcrops to cut u off on too. So, all makes for "friendly" GTs that don't quite reef u much there.

at some spots, cudas at night are as thick & pesky as ausflies in hyperseason. & they can't get enough of lumo jigs. doggies take non-lumo jigs at night too. so, u work out how much experimentation u wanna try with lumo there.

If u're into light tackle, do remember your barra gear.. it can be quite a blast to light-pop shallow reefs on the tender boat with 40-60gm poppers.. on the tender boat, u'll be near water-level.. so u can see them big  mouths come crash your poppers.. u can almost count the number of teeth. woohoo!

and... if u like fly-fishing, there are bonefish, GTs, Blue Trevs, Cods, Darts, Queenies, etc there from the flats as well.

which atoll will you be going mate?

David Sharples:
Hi Lance

I think we're going to South Huvadhoo Atoll, then getting on a mothership from there. I've already got fly gear, light popping kit, heavy popping and jigging. I don't know how I'm going to have time for all this in the 6 days, I feel I need at least a month. Would be great if they could just leave me on an island...

You reckon PE6 is Ok for popping and jigging? The advice they've sent is PE8 but would rather go lighter to cast further..

Also what type of poppers/stickbaits do you use for tunas? I've got GT sized ones but I think they might be a bit big?

Cheers!

David

Kenny Tan:

Hudvadhoo atoll is great. Bring a few heavy jigs along, some spots have pretty strong current. My pals encountered 3 unstopable, one after another within 15 mins at a particular spot.

Night jigging inside the atoll using small lumo jigs (100g) for YFT is fun.

Most of the time I'm using pencils with occasional chuggers. Pencils got more hit from the GT.  ;D

Hope to be there again on my next visit to Maldives.

Lance Ng:
Hi David,

Sorry to reply so late. been pretty tied up lately. I personally feel that PE 5/ 6 is sufficient. a rod like the Hot's  Gipang 83 or the Smith WRC 80/35 would fit the bill just right.

I have always wondered why some blokes use such heavy lines as 120lbs. the max strain a guy can exert with his popping/ jigging tackle is probably not more than 20kgs (to hit such max drag on standup jig/ pop gear, the dude's gotta be some bodybuilder!). which means that very few people can actually break 50lb line with a straight pull. which also means that 50lbs is usually more than enough for most heavy jigging/ popping situations in my opinion.

i personally feel that 50lb line & 120lb line might not make much difference in terms of abrasion resistance. A raging GT which decides to head back home to the reefs will probably cut u off the same on 50lb or 120lb line.

some anglers are concerned about the knots giving way.. well.. there are a few knots now which when tied properly, do deliver a higher breaking strain than the line poundage the knot was tied on.

To me, with 50lb line, u can cast further, & have more line just in case u hook into a yellow fin or a bruiser doggie which threatens to melt your drags on the 1st run.

Huvadhoo is the largest atoll in Maldives, & I reckon u probably won't be able to cover all the spots on that atoll in 6 days. the outer edges of the atoll usually promise bigger fish but might be lesser in quantity in general, when compared to within the atoll itself. the likelihood of encountering YFT is also higher. however, we all know how low the chances are to hit a surfacing YFT school on popping (YFT spend 80% of daylight hours at depths of 100ft & below). However, having said that, if u wanna go prepared for YFT lottery, bring along stickbaits & poppers of 50-85 grams. The Duel sliders, the Shimano Ocea Pencils & Daiwa Saltiga Dorado sliders have proven themselves well. Yo-zuri hydrotigers too.. I have no doubts that they will take well to Heru's wahoos too. well, u get the idea of the size required. remember to bring some raider jigs or diamonds too for casting. they sink well, & we know the larger specimens are usually below them schoolies that we see boiling on the surface.

Hope this long-winded reply goes a good way for ya mate!

Cheers,
Lance

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