Beginners NON-STOP fishing report - MALDIVES [advice needed]

[roberts kurpnieks]

Hi there.
Few months ago I realized that i love fishing. As I live in Maldives for a couple of years now I decided to get my own gear and spend my free time popping and jigging.
I dont have much clue how to do it correctly and thats why Im here to ask your assistance!

I know that my gear is not good enough. As I didn't know that i will get so addicted I went for a cheaper stuff.
Im ready to invest some more and buy a better rod and reel. What do you think would be a good option for my situation?

Here is what I have now:

POPPING ROD: Shimano T-Curve GT Special
JIGGING ROD: DAIWA SALTIST HYPERJIG (SHJ591MHS)
REEL: Shimano Saragosa 18000
LINE: Power Pro 80lb
LEADERS: Raiglon 100lb / Yo Zuri H.D. Carbon 100lb

Have spent last 24h reading forums here and im just amazed of the information for a newbie like me! After reading thread about poppers and stick baits i went online and bought some nice stuff!

Here is what I ordered:
 
Adhek Goby Green/Gold/Silver       
Adhek Gecko Blue/Silver            
Adhek Goby Red/Black/Silver
Fullscale Kong 180 Pink Nemo
Heru CUBERA Lure 125g Blue
Heru CUBERA Lure 125g Green
Heru WAHOO Lure 125g Blue
Heru WAHOO Lure 100g Pink
Heru ULUA Lure 60g Pink
Heru SKIPJACK Lure 120g Blue
+ many st66 hooks.

So here are some of my results in last weeks:



















Thanks,
Robert

[Simon Bomholt]

hi
I just had my first experience fishing gt on poppers last week in bali. I had ordered a Carpenter Monsterhunter 80H for rod after alot of good advice here in this forum. It is a brilliant rod, but also a bit stiff and handels big lures with no problems. I tryed some other rods, and for stickbaits i really liked endless passion and long reef from carpenters. Another brillint popping rod, that is not so heavy as the mh80h is the Coralviper from carpenter. All are pricy rods, but they are so cool, and super quality.
On reels, it seems to be stella that is the top

[Chris Webster]

Hi Rob,

Like anything mate, this website will give you a lot of opinions, and may i add very much valued opinions based on experience and knowledge,  but there is a lot more to selecting a set up that what other people think.

I recommend that you do ask opinions as you have done, then if you are able to, go to as many shops as you have to (or as many as are available) and try these rods for yourself or if any of your mates have these rods, try them out.

I guess what i am trying to get at is that there is no point buying a brute of a rod if you cannot handle it physically or buying a lighter rod if your fishing hard terrain - you see what I'm getting at?

Perhaps you could inlcude a little about yourself i.e. physical dimensions, what size fish your chasing, terrain and so on.

Cheers,

Chris

[Mark Harris]

Hey Robert. First well done with your initial exploits!  It is great that you are catching fish so quickly into your new sport.

Good advice there from Chris and Simon.

From what I know of The Maldives, the GTs are very numerous but not especially monster-sized.  Also, I understand that casting distance is often a very big issue.

With that in mind (and assuming you will fish mostly in The Maldives?) I would suggest that a popping rod over 8 ft in length would be a good move and you should probably be looking at a PE6-8 type rod and no heavier. Some you might want to consider would be any of the Carpenter Endless Passion range and the Ripple Fisher GT82 - all light rods with long casting characteristics but still capable of handling the biggest GTs you are likely to come across. 

For reels, of course Shimano Stella and you might want to look at pairing a 10000 size with 16000 aftermarket spool with those rods. The 16000 size spool will allow 80lb or PE8 fishing and you could always load the 10000 spool with 60lb or PE6. Fishing PE6 is fine with the rods I mentioned and I suspect would be a lot of fun in The Maldives.

One final note.  I think Adhek Long Goby you have ordered will go well in a Maldives type environment. No need to get too clever with this - cast it and reel in with a high rod tip. In areas of shallowish, calm water with lots of baitfish around, this lure works well when retrieved in that fashion.

The very best of luck!

[Jay Burgess]

I think Mark's summed it up pretty well.

Love the photos... what camera and lense are you using?

[Mark Harris]

Robert I just noticed from your underwater photos that you are using a clip swivel to attach the lure.  I would suggest you stop that right away. Clips are notorious for opening with big pulling fish like GTs.  A swivel and split ring is the way to go.

[Steve Li]

Hi Robert, more importantly, do you have a budget to work on? It will be a lot easier if we know how much you are willing to spend. That will help members recommend tackle in the correct price bracket for you...... No point talking about Ripples and Carpenters if the price is not right for you. 

Steve

[roberts kurpnieks]

Simon Bomholt, thanks for your advice. I will have a look at the rods you mentioned. I have tried throwing some seven seas poppers 180g and with my T-Curve GT Special i find it not so comfortable. The poppers i bought a month ago are rubbish, as I realize now after reading "Recommendation for poppers" written by guru Brandon Khoo. I fount that thread to be AMAZING and immediately went shopping online! As my first experience with heavy poppers was no success I have ordered poppers and stick baits 150g and less...

Chris Webster, there are very poor choice in high end rods and reels in Maldives so i cant try them in the shop. My mates are divers and we do not even talk about fishing! Basically i wil have to choose rod without trying it.
I was born in 1985, Im 183 cm, 86 kg, I can handle some pressure. I work for water sports company and i consider myself to be in a good shape.
What im chasing here? I want to land some big GTs, red snappers and what ever i can get on my hooks!

Mark Harris, I have made like 150 dives here and have seen some big GTs as well. Also I dont know what do you mean by monster sized, but you are right - there are much more teenagers than big mamas...
Regarding the casting distance, you are right. I have spent like 40 hours casting from a bot with a daiwa 11 feet surf rod and I got much more fish than with my T-Curve GT Special. I could throw my lures much more further!
I have noticed that many anglers here use Stella 10000 with 16k spool. Why? I have noticed that it has a tiny bit better ratio and less wight. Why not to go for 18000? Why would it be more fun? I have been really thinking about it. Talking about Adhek Long Goby - I ordered normal goby, not the long one... Is there a big difference? Or is it the same long goby and in some shops they just call it differently?

Jay Burgess, Im using Canon 60D and most of the shots posted here were made by Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. I also use Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L.

Mark Harris, yeee, i realized that yesterday while reading forums here... I already ordered split rings and wont use clip anymore. Thanks!

Steve Li, I would be ready to spend USD 2000 for my next rod and reel.

Thank you all for your great replays! I REALLY appreciate it!

Robert

[Simon Bomholt]

On Adhek lures, i can only say i am impressed. I fished with 5-6 different models, and also some test ones last week, and they are brilliant. I really like the venus as well. Brilliant lure.
For 2 k you should be able to get a stella and a carpenters rod i think, but as mentioned by the other guys, there are alot of other brands. I just tryed different carpenters and fell in love. I allready know i will be saving up for some more, and some more stellas as well

[Steve Li]

Hi Robert

$2K is decent but I doubt you can get a Stella and a Carpenter for that. Unless 2nd hand is an option..... Also, you looking at a chugging rod or a stick bait rod? Some rods you can take a look at are Temple Reefs, Smith, FCL, Hots, Shimano Kaibutsu series and Daiwa Saltiga GT series........

I have fished Maldives a few times and can frankly say you don't even need to chug 150gm poppers. We got away with using 125gm and even 100gm poppers and landed decent fish with them. But getting good distance with the casting there IS crucial! I will say a PE8 outfit is sufficient for use in Maldives. I will be heading there in Jan actually!!! 

[roberts kurpnieks]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for your reply.
Tell me why  getting good distance with the casting there IS crucial? Because of the shallow parts of the reef? Because of the waves? What is the reason? Im very familiar wit the Maldivian reefs and waves, swell, channels, currents etc... But i lack the knowledge where exactly to cast... Quiet important, right? hehe

[Steve Li]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for your reply.
Tell me why  getting good distance with the casting there IS crucial? Because of the shallow parts of the reef? Because of the waves? What is the reason? Im very familiar wit the Maldivian reefs and waves, swell, channels, currents etc... But i lack the knowledge where exactly to cast... Quiet important, right? hehe

Hey Robert

Distance is important if you are fishing from a mother boat. As the big boats usually keep a safe distance from the reefs, you will need to cast far enough to reach the reef / edge of drop offs....... Aside from the obvious reefs / edges, look out for bait boiling at the surface. I have noticed that casting way over the reefs will tend to end up with Red Bass or Trouts there.  Thus I try to get my lure to reach just before the reef edges to avoid them and try and target GTs exclusively..... 

Steve

[roberts kurpnieks]

Got some of my new lures!
They look absolutely orgasmic!
Cant wait to make them wet!

One question.
I have owner st66 hooks - what size should i use for:

ulua 60
wahoo 100
wahoo125
cubera 125
skipjack 120

[James Wang]

I just came back from Maldives 2 weeks ago. Yes, casting distance very impt becoz we were fishing on a 75footer boat so she has to keep a safe distance. If u are fishing on a small boat then no problem. Max PE8 was used. I was using a PE4-6 and even Blue Sniper PE2-4. Biggest GT landed on our trip was 18kg and mostly 5-12kg. Dunno why the mamas are not there. Lures that we use were Yambal GT Harrier, Tailwalk Gunz and Maria Loaded being the most productive. 95% of the catch were on stickbait floating and sinking. I can't comment much on chugger over there as most of the time everyone was using stickbait. The motherboat is constantly moving when the anglers is casting and I do find it moving quite fast. U launch out the chugger, prolly chug 5-7 times and ur lure is already behind the boat and out of the zone. We were not using the sweep actions on the stickbait. More like horizontal jigging, constantly twitching and cranking. U ll have more fun on light tackle.

[Mark Harris]

You can play around with sizes a bit Robert, but for ST66 I would suggest:

ulua 60 - 2/0
wahoo 100 - 4/0
wahoo125 - 5/0
cubera 125 - 5/0 or 4/0
skipjack 120 - 4/0