GT Newbie Fishing TONGA!!

[Chris Hanaghan]

Hi All,

I have a trip coming up to Tonga in only a week and a half.  I am going with a mate of mine who is a keen fisho (marine biologist with masters in fisheries management no less!!) and our girlfriends. Whilst not soley a fishing trip we will be away for 2.5 weeks and heading to Va Vau (top ilsand group and game fishing mecca) for 10 nights. I am very keen to get into some GT fishing however I have not booked any charter time due to the game fishing focus over there.  I will suss it out when we get there though.  My girlfriend has family there so i should be able to get some access to a bananna boat or similar for not much coin.

For GT Popping I am getting a Daiwa Monster Mesh 8'3" PE 6-8 however here in lies the problem.  I do not have the $$ to get anything better for the rod and cannot afford more than $300 for the reel either.  I have had some people suggest Penn SS in 850 size (am taking a 650 for inshore jigging paired with Daiwa MM Pe 2-4). I know the max drag onb the blank is listed as 11kg however I am unsure of a reel at the lower $$ end that can reliably punch that sort of drag.

Other ideas are the Shimano Stradic, Daiwa Sealine Bull (concerned not enough drag) or even the Okuma V System 80 in th lower gearing.

Any thoughts?

Please also let me know anything in terms of tips etc. I am not lashing out on the lures either as I figure no point spending big money if fishing only light relative to some of the GT gear out there.  Rather get reefed to the tune of $10 for a Roosta popper than $40 - $50 for something more expensive.

By the way I am in Sydney and don't own a boat so find justifying big $$ hard on gear I may only use once a year if lucky.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ben Keller]

Id be looking at a okuma vs80a (the a is all important), or an okuma salina 80, a spheros 12000 or 14000 in that order.

I have a spheros and a salina and they both seem alright, salina has alot more drag though and a better handle, less wobble as well.

I like the river2sea dumbells for cheap poppers, but you might want to just run 1 hook on them, or 2 singles, as the head tends to snap off it both hooks bite, and you are pulling the lure away from the fish at a 90 degree angle

Cheers
Ben

[David Noble]

Hi Chris,

Don't forget to take to some high speed minnows, few stickbaits, roosta poppers, and trolling skirts.
Also maybe contact the charter operator that Dan suggested by email and ask him for advice on what works.
It may also be a nice gesture to ask him if he wants you to bring him anything over from Aus, no sweat for you and he will probably put you on the best fishing you could imagine.

Look forward to hearing how it all goes for you guys.

Speak soon,

Dave.

[Sachin Chaudhry]

Hi Chris.
Firstly  I would say that you forget about the Penn 850ssm. It is an absolute piece of rubbish that demonstrates very clearly the quality problems arising from using cheap materials, inferior design and moving the production to China. (this is not the case for all Chinese made production though). I am speaking from the woeful experience of having 2 of the things.
Try the new Spheros 14000FB or 18000 FB reels. the FA really does need a drag upgrade if you intend to use it for large fish. I used my 14000FB over the weekend and it performed very well. Smooth gears and drag with very nice line lay.
Tonga does not make the news very often for huge GTs. They may very well be there but it is not a prolific large fish location like the what New Caledonia or the Coral Sea have shown themselves to be. Tonga does however have some very large Yellowfin Tuna so you may consider using 50 to 60lb braid which will give you enough ammo for the GTs and line capacity for the yellowfin.

[Brandon Khoo]

from what I understand and what very little knowledge I have, Tonga and Vanuatu are on a different tectonic plate to Australia and new Caledonia. The former is a much younger plate and still has regular seismic activity whereas ours is pretty much stone dead. We have cast and shallow coral structures as a result and they have lots of islands and sea-mounts with very deep drop-offs.

[Kasey Leong]

I wouldn't bother with a spheros unless you plan to land only very small ones (again depending on ground and experience of captain) or be very frustrated with many lost poppers and much wasted time retying knots!

Just my observations. You need the drag power otherwise its *ping* *ping* *ping*. With the spheros its just very hard to put the brakes on fish

don't forget good trebles and split rings. and if you're going in expecting to be busted off alot, barbless hooks. easy for the fish to shake off later, and if you're lucky, you'll be able to retrieve your popper.

Good luck.

[Luke Wyrsta]

don't forget good trebles and split rings. and if you're going in expecting to be busted off alot, barbless hooks. easy for the fish to shake off later, and if you're lucky, you'll be able to retrieve your popper.

You should fish barbless all the time IMO.

There should also be some specials now on the Saragosa which is available in shops now. Biggest models feature 44lb of drag.

The new upgraded 'pimped' Spheros isn't far away either, which also has a generous drag.

[Brandon Khoo]

the Saragosa isn't a bad looking reel!