March 19 2011 - the lunar perigree

[Mark Harris]

Sadly, I cannot see that that picture Mark.... sounds very exciting!  Anyway you could stick it up as an attachment?

Pak Salin is the best captain here outside of the few specialist fishing guides, so  I am not surprised he picked up a very good fish. 

[Mark Harris]

Can now see it.. thanks a lot Mark.  Very nice fish! It is not the fattest but VERY long... 55 to 60kg?

I have NO idea where that is though - it is not any part of Nusa Penida I know, unless it is in the Ceningan Channel.  Would be very interesting to know.  I am even thinking that it looks more like Lombok.

(and a gripe.. why is such an experienced angler holding a GT by the tail like that?  Horrifying ).

[Kaiser Pro Shop]

Yeah, they think it's 60kg!

Yes, not the best handling techniques.

[Mark Harris]

I will whizz that picture around a few likely sources and see if the location can be identified .

[Ben Furness]

I'm happy to try out new spots if you are!

[Mark Harris]

Yes, not the best handling techniques.

Fisherman should know better. Using a picture like that in an advertisement sets a terrible example  .

[Mark Harris]

Mark R and anyone else interested: I got some comments on this from someone who was familiar with that picture.

The location is western Nusa Ceningan (MarkR - i.e. where we fished late on Day 2 in November 2010 and where Ken caught a nice GT). The picture is 4-5 years old and that's what threw me as the low cliff-front in the background is now developed with several houses on it and looks completely different! Yes, the fish is certainly big, but if it were really monstrous one person would surely not be able to lift it like that? The fish is quite a way off the deck.

Mystery mostly solved it seems!  It is an old pic.

[Kaiser Pro Shop]

Hi Mark,

It's not an old picture, the fish was caught in Nov 2010 (see link below) around the same time we were fishing together in Bali. That was a good month for GTs!

Note the K guides on the FISHERMAN Rod and the Delta 10 lure. I thought it was an old pic too until I spotted the K guides.

You are right about Suzuki's monster GT caught 4-5 yrs ago. This is his second monster GT from Balinese waters and probably at Ceningan. Pak Salin loves that spot!

The write-up was in the Jan 2011 issue of Saltworld and browsing through the FISHERMAN website I found this:

http://www.gt-fisherman.jp/11deruta.htm

Must make it up to Bali soon, perhaps with Pak Salin this time 

cheers,
MarkR

[Mark Harris]

Ah!  So same place, same fisherman, same captain, same size fish but different pics!  Those factors fooled both messrs Adhek and Agus who I showed it to.

You are dead right about the K guides - that is a giveaway. The background is still freaking me out a bit though as I am sure there are now houses built in that spot 

That spots deserves more attention though for sure. It is rarely fished. The major surf break just to the northwest and all that water rushing through the narrow Ceningan Channel creates a lot of messy current action. Fishing with Pak Salin is definitely no bad thing.  Cheers.

[Jon Li]

Hi Mark ,

This Nusa Ceningan , is it on the Lembongan side of Toyapakeh strait ?

Jon .

Ah!  So same place, same fisherman, same captain, same size fish but different pics!  Those factors fooled both messrs Adhek and Agus who I showed it to.

You are dead right about the K guides - that is a giveaway. The background is still freaking me out a bit though as I am sure there are now houses built in that spot 

That spots deserves more attention though for sure. It is rarely fished. The major surf break just to the northwest and all that water rushing through the narrow Ceningan Channel creates a lot of messy current action. Fishing with Pak Salin is definitely no bad thing.  Cheers.

[Mark Harris]

Hi Mark ,

This Nusa Ceningan , is it on the Lembongan side of Toyapakeh strait ?

Jon .

Yes Jon. It is the tiny island between Penida and Lembongan - west side of the Toyapakeh Strait. This spot is on the south western tip.

On this map, the spot is just above the final "n" of the Nusa Ceningan label: http://wikitravel.org/en/Image:Bali-Southeastern-Islands-Region-Map.png

[Jon Li]

Hi Mark ,

Strong current in Toyapakeh strait so big GTs do lurk in that area , a friend of mine went diving around the floating platform of the Quicksilver boat and was flanked by a couple of big GTs almost as long as him + the flipper , that is around 2m in length !  , according to the crews of the Quicksilver , these 2 big GTs are residents of the floating platform .

Jon .

Hi Mark ,

This Nusa Ceningan , is it on the Lembongan side of Toyapakeh strait ?

Jon .

Yes Jon. It is the tiny island between Penida and Lembongan - west side of the Toyapakeh Strait. This spot is on the south western tip.

On this map, the spot is just above the final "n" of the Nusa Ceningan label: http://wikitravel.org/en/Image:Bali-Southeastern-Islands-Region-Map.png

[Mark Harris]

Yes Jon many stories of monster GTs in that channel, all the way from the Quiksilver terminal in the north down to that spot where Suzuki-san hit the big ones.  Personally I have never caught or seen one caught there much over 20 kgs.  Equally, the spot is not really convenient if you are fishing at Batu Abah which is where most anglers including myself gravitate to. Therefore it is very under-fished. Must make a mental note to make the effort to stop there and try a few casts more often.

[Bernie Keys]

There is a fair bit of (very) woolly science and astrology-babble flying around about the lunar perigree on March 19th.
....snip....
It struck me that this could be an especially good time to be fishing for GTs. I will certainly be out throwing lures into the spin cycle currents tomorrow.  Anyone else planning?  It could be very interesting to see if results during this phenomenon are notable in any way.

well what is the consensus now? Did it make any difference in either catch rates or average size of the fish?

[Mark Harris]

There is a fair bit of (very) woolly science and astrology-babble flying around about the lunar perigree on March 19th.
....snip....
It struck me that this could be an especially good time to be fishing for GTs. I will certainly be out throwing lures into the spin cycle currents tomorrow.  Anyone else planning?  It could be very interesting to see if results during this phenomenon are notable in any way.

well what is the consensus now? Did it make any difference in either catch rates or average size of the fish?

Well, I caught way less than would be expected at Full Moon and they were small!