MODERN FISHING: Is this the worlds biggest GT?

[Kasey Leong]

Interestingly, Pacu are regarded among the hardest fighting fish of all. I've never caught one but hope to one day.

ika Masta wants to catch this?   

Interesting - they say Pacu fight like GT (but the take on the lure is nowhere near as exciting)

[Brandon Khoo]

now that is exactly the photo I wanted!! That's a beautiful fish, Kasey. I want one like the ones I see swimming around in the aquarium in Singapore. Some of those are as big as a decent GT. Btw, if you want to read something funny, read the below which is currently on Wikipedia. It's hilarious!!

Pacu were introduced in 1994 to the Sepik River, and in 1997 to the Ramu river as a food source, due to overfishing of native species. Local people blame the fish for outcompeting native species, including juvenile crocodiles, as well as for several attacks on humans.

While the pacu is a vegetarian in it's natural distribution, reports from Papual New Guinea claim that the Pacu can grow very large and has turned into man eater. In fact, the Pacu grows much larger in Papua New Guinea that it ever has in South America. Pacu have been reported to have grown to seven or eight feet in the Sepik, although these claims have not been verified. In a recent episode of the Animal Planet's, River Monsters, these claims were investigated. Several stories backed up the claims that these fish do attack humans with a very crushing and painful bite, in many cases biting a man's genitals. It is known by locals as the "ball biter". A pacu was caught close to two feet in length, which is large enough to cause painful bites and tear flesh. While not a man eater, the fish should be handled with care if caught.

In Papua New Guinea.

[Andrew Susani]

Taking into account that info, would this be the best Pacu lure then?   

[Kasey Leong]

now that is exactly the photo I wanted!! That's a beautiful fish, Kasey. I want one like the ones I see swimming around in the aquarium in Singapore. Some of those are as big as a decent GT. Btw, if you want to read something funny, read the below which is currently on Wikipedia. It's hilarious!!

Pacu were introduced in 1994 to the Sepik River, and in 1997 to the Ramu river as a food source, due to overfishing of native species. Local people blame the fish for outcompeting native species, including juvenile crocodiles, as well as for several attacks on humans.

While the pacu is a vegetarian in it's natural distribution, reports from Papual New Guinea claim that the Pacu can grow very large and has turned into man eater. In fact, the Pacu grows much larger in Papua New Guinea that it ever has in South America. Pacu have been reported to have grown to seven or eight feet in the Sepik, although these claims have not been verified. In a recent episode of the Animal Planet's, River Monsters, these claims were investigated. Several stories backed up the claims that these fish do attack humans with a very crushing and painful bite, in many cases biting a man's genitals. It is known by locals as the "ball biter". A pacu was caught close to two feet in length, which is large enough to cause painful bites and tear flesh. While not a man eater, the fish should be handled with care if caught.

In Papua New Guinea.

Seven or eight feet is ridiculous! Do you know how heavy that would actually weigh?

A two-foot Pacu is really only subscon - maybe not even 5kg. I've landed fish to about 10kg, and that was on 8lb braid and a leetle 2000 spinning reel. A real monster class would be something around the 15+kg-size, and garua over 25 - but that would be a really, really old fish. They do have very interesting teeth, quite similar to molars in mammals as they get bigger - and very crushing. I would not put my fingers near the mouth of one.

I suppose, since their natural diet consists of fruits and nuts, that they would go after men's genitals. But really - I'd think you'd need to literally be hanging them out and waving them about for one to have a nip at one!! I'm not about to go wading in Pacu-infested waters though.

No doubt Jeremy Wade is a great presenter, and the editors have to play it up to make it as exciting as they can, but as an anglers you have to watch River Monsters really with a pinch of salt... "When he opened its jaws up with his hands" - oh come on... we're not wrestling alligators here

[Peter Morris]

mmmm.....Sounds like you need a cricketers Box down the Speedo's....

Now that would be a good look..!

Pete

[Brandon Khoo]

you got to admit, it is about the funniest assertion I have ever come upon in a fishing program!   

[Dmitrii Novgorodtcev]

Andrew,
you can make this lure even better by adding the second float!

[Lars Nielsen]

I think it is a great idea to post the measured lengths and possibly girth of a fish and readers can make their own decision on weight. I think if a fish is weighted then you can put the exact size. Personally I don;t like weighing fish as there is a big risk factor to the fish (especially hanging or with sling) and also it takes away time for taking photos of the fish with the client which at the end of the day is more important in my opinion and lasts forever. It is not easy to move a big fish around on a boat sometimes with current, waves, wind and then to put the fish safely onto a clients lap for pictures and then to release, this is all time sensitive to the fish.

Nick, you know I have huge respect for you, so please do not take this the wrong way, but have you ever actually weighed a GT in a weigh sling? There is no risk at all to the fish, and weighing it honestly takes a small fraction of the time of taking measurements. Land the fish, shoot the photos (fast), put the fish in the wet sling, weight it and release it directly from the sling. It is back in the water in seconds that way. You might even keep the fish inside the sling in the water for a second if you need to make sure it is OK.

I wish I could understand why we keep guessing fish weights (and keep debating them!) when there is such a ridicilously simple solution.

(Starbait makes several huge weigh slings up to 220 cm. Let me know if I should ship down one with your next Scandinavian customer.  )

[Simon Bomholt]

I have to agree with Lars here.. It has worked for decades wiht carp, and works with alot of different and alot more fragile fish than GT. So why not just make this as a standart on the different boats

[Will Wragg]

I worked on Lake Nasser in the 1990s, and we weighed Nile Perch up to 96kg in slings. This year in Uganda we used a modified carp sling on fish up to 77kg with no issue. European anglers routinely weigh huge Wels catfish in slings.
I have weighed GTs, admittedly not big ones, in a carp sling, and it works extremely well. It makes returning fish to the water a piece of cake, and can in fact be used to land fish too.
I'm repeating what I said in an earlier post, but one of my major concerns is damage sustained to fish by thrashing against hard boat floors and gunwales. Again, a sling can help prevent this, as can soft matting or carpet.
If we choose to return fish, we might as well give them the best possible odds.

[Jon Li]

In the past we often consider " sling " but even on a Bertram 42C we can not find a strong enough anchoring spot above the cockpit area that will support the whole " sling " + fish on it , I think the floor scale is still a much better proposition .

Another consideration the rocking of the boat  which causes whatever being weighed will be swinging thus making it difficult to read the scale while the floor weight will be more stable .

Jon .

[Mark Harris]

Lars and Will, in theory I would love to see more widespread use of slings for GTs and other pelagics. As you both indicate, these have been refined in Europe to the extent where truly huge fish are given a lot of protection. Some of the freshwater fishing regulations that are in force in Europe put the pelagic sport fishing industry to shame, and we have a lot to learn in that respect.

However, the variable with GTs has to be the swaying boat and I suspect that is why there is some reluctance and no mass take-up of slings in our sport.  This should not be insurmountable though, and smart design solutions have to be out there.

If either of you have pictures of slings suitable for GTs in place on a boat, I would love to see them.

As an aside, Will you are so right about mats. I know these are compulsory at most Carp fisheries in the UK (for example). A simple neoprene mat to place a GT onto rather than a hard deck, is a cheap and simple initiative which would certainly protect the fish.

[Karl Nelson]

A simple neoprene mat to place a GT onto rather than a hard deck, is a cheap and simple initiative which would certainly protect the fish.

Common sense should come into play when handling fish, In my opinion You should know how to handle a fish before you start trying to catch them. Have a plan in place to Boat the fish, so when you do get a fish boatside its not all panic stations like Ive seen before. rods, lures, gaffs going everywhere with the fish somewhere in between.
Its  easier to have a plan in place before you start fishing.
Its been said before, but if we are so worried about harming the fish then we should not fish for them at all.

A Foam mat and a trained deckie is a good idea Mark.

Karl

[Lars Nielsen]

However, the variable with GTs has to be the swaying boat and I suspect that is why there is some reluctance and no mass take-up of slings in our sport.  This should not be insurmountable though, and smart design solutions have to be out there.

Getting an accurate reading on the scales in big swells is definitely the weakness of the weigh sling method, but still it is a lot more accurate than guesstimates or formulas.

I have been weighing GT for the last three years (last in Oman with fish up to 42) and there is no going back.

Jon, in stead of hanging the weight on the boat I would suggest just using some kind of pole like a gaff handle to lift the weight.


Starbait Monster Weigh Sling: This sling is easy for an angler to bring on a trip as it weighs only about one kilo and folds neatly into the rod tube. Weighs even huge GT's, they just need to have the tail outside the zipper, which works OK.


Starbait Specimen Weigh Sling XL: This model is much heavier with steel braces so probably not an option to carry around for an angler, but one you would keep on a boat. Lenght is 220 cms so try catching a GT that is too big for that one. 

And sure we should use unhooking mats too!  I just did not dare to mention that after going on and on about slings and knotless landing nets.

[Mark Harris]

Very well explained Lars and thank you.

The portable option does seem kind of straightforward.

On mats, I recently gave one to a boat I use a lot (a simple piece of stitched neoprene) and can see myself doing that a lot more in future.