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

Most big GT on some spots and not in others, WHY ?

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Sacco Gerard:
I still have many difficulties to speak in English  >:(  but I would like your opinion on the topic.

Why  a large majority of big GT are fished in places like south  Oman is possible, during my trip there the smallest weigh about 30k, 52k  for  the biggest on scale and the largest estimated at 65 (155x120) while in other places like Andaman, a GT trophy  is quite rare, I made 2 trips there,  about 370 GT in the boat at 2 and 3 fishermen and the largest does not exceed 36k.

Is this an environmental problem, ? of plenty of food, ? this question intrigues me. ;)
If you have an idea on the subject, let me know and thank you to enlighten me of the small fisherman that I am  :P

Ed Nicholas:
Hi Sacco,

It is a question that i have often pondered myself and pretty much what has driven us to launching the first GT tagging programme in the region/one of only a handful in the Word :( to see if we can get some info on these fish.

What i can say is that it is not only the GT that grow huge here but almost every species we come across are contenders for records, especially the various species of Trevally.

As all who have fished S.Oman will have seen there is just a constant supply of bait here. With live wells on the boat we often drop sabiki and pull up the 6 hooks with up to 4 species of bait on them at any period of the season. Add the huge amount of fusiliers at the islands and the predators can feast all day every day.

The summer monsoon is also what makes the Islands so unique with nutrient rich currents battering the islands for 3-4 months of the year. This phenomenon is responsible for the only nonmigratory Humpback Whales in the oceans and also one of the only places where Kelp grows along side Coral reef.

I personally still believe the GTs migrate between S.Oman and Socotra as there is a definite window during the season where they are very scarce. I also note that the GTs pictured in Socotra are of a very similar shape (FAT!) to the Omani ones. That is just my 2 cents though and i may very well be wrong with the fish moving to deep water instead of the very shallow reefs they love here.

One thing is for sure though if you want the biggest angriest GT on the planet you cant really look past S.Oman.

Mark Harris:
I think Ed hits the nail on the head there by identifying that in Southern Oman it is not just GTs. The Golden Trevally, Yellow-spotted Trevally, Talang Queenfish etc are all ridiculously large.  And not just the odd trophy fish which you might find elsewhere - lots of very large examples.  Over-sized is the norm not the exception.

That must mean it is something to do with the environment in which they live, and the never-ending supply of easy food seems the most obvious answer.

Nice snippet about kelp growing alongside coral reef by the way - did not know that.

Andy Rowe:
Have to agree on the diet point put forward by Ed, the food chain in that part of the Indian ocean is extremely healthy and must be feed by very  nutrient rich currents from the south. Better diets mean bigger specimens Sth Omani GT's must be kind of analogous to the Kodiac Island brown bears which have a salmon rich diet and are far bigger than the other members of their species which occur in different geographic regions.

Luke Wyrsta:
In my opinion it's the combination of significant tidal / current influence, deep water access close-by (shelf) [upwellings] and being situated in a convergent current zone. Not only do these places provide an environment rich and diverse in bait offerings but they also attract the strongest and most elite specimens of GT! Find all these and most of the time you will have ticked all the boxes for an area that GT will spawn in.

I think evidence to also support this is for some trophy destinations to be located in "temperate" regions of their given location I.e. New Caledonia is partially sub-tropical receiving both cool and hot convergence of current and weather, as does Fraser Island and parts of SE QLD. This is also reflected to a degree in Tokara, Japan.

There will always be anomalies creating freaks of nature places like Socotra, Southern Oman, Midway etc... Again, put those locations on paper and you'll find most if not all the features aforementioned will be present.

Southern Oman is a magical place but let's not forget trophy locations like New Caledonia and Tokara which also hold world records, including the current AT record. New Caledonia still remains the location where I have seen GT that would make a 65kg specimen look like a guppy!  :o

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