Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) > Tackle & Techniques
First GT trip
Brandon Pope:
--- Quote from: Sami Ghandour on August 02, 2013, 01:27:05 PM ---Hi Brandon,
The kids will appreciate if you can bring the colorful Crayon, they were running after us asking if we have any.
i will make sure to bring some with me on this coming trip but any small gesture toward the local kids will highly be appreciated from the local guys, you will be fascinated by the island.
--- End quote ---
I'll be sure to do so. Thanks for the tip.
I've emailed several people who have traveled to the island for many activities, beyond fishing alone, and corresponded with Abduljmeel regarding donations to the school. The recommendations I have received is to make donations directly to the school or a governing body. Local parents aren't happy with tourist giving their children items. I'll be brining medicine to the clinic as well. This isn't entirely altruistic. I do want to ensure the local people see their island as an extremely valuable resource to be preserved and by establishing good relations I can hopefully make a good impression for fisherman and westerners. I can also allow my students to become more aware of the world outside their bubble, which is abnormally luxurious compared to a world standard, even though most of my students are relatively underprivileged by American standards.
Again, thanks for the canyon tip.
Mark Harris:
Brandon, are you doing this trip under your own steam - by that I mean organising everything yourself? If so, would be really interested to hear about the figuring out the logistics and how you put the whole thing together.
Cheers
MARK
Brandon Pope:
--- Quote from: Luke Wyrsta on August 02, 2013, 01:36:50 PM ---Brandon,
If you want to make the most out of this opportunity rather than losing a whole heap of $$$ on bad-ass GTs - Sami and Barry have already outlined some requirements, but here it is.
X1 PE10 / 130lb Class Rod - 7ft+
X1 Stella 18000SW (Stella 10000 will not suffice).
The current can rage in this area, which means the fish is going to pull a lot of line in conjunction with guiding the fish across and out of the current, keeping the fish's head is pivotal to not meeting some of the famous rock and reef. There is a great chance, a trophy class GT will spool a Stella 10K (and a Stella 10K I would not use for anything greater than PE6-8, you will not get nearly enough capacity with PE10).
Leaders should be 300lb Bite Class with minimum of 250lb connected to the PE.
Owner/Decoy Split Ring #11
Owner ST76 Treble 4/0 / 5/0 minimum pending lure size.
Decoy Saltwater Treble 8/0 - 10/0 +
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the info. Is there a thread somewhere from which you took this info? It sucks to realize I'm already starting in an ill equipped fashion. It is not as though I have money bags as a teacher! I work hard and have amassed quite an arsenal for tuna over the years. I have more outfits to handle 200lb+ tuna than GTs. I might be better off bridling a small tuna and bump trolling it outside the currents for black marlin. lol
Luke Wyrsta:
--- Quote from: Brandon Pope on August 02, 2013, 02:32:18 PM ---
--- Quote from: Luke Wyrsta on August 02, 2013, 01:36:50 PM ---Brandon,
If you want to make the most out of this opportunity rather than losing a whole heap of $$$ on bad-ass GTs - Sami and Barry have already outlined some requirements, but here it is.
X1 PE10 / 130lb Class Rod - 7ft+
X1 Stella 18000SW (Stella 10000 will not suffice).
The current can rage in this area, which means the fish is going to pull a lot of line in conjunction with guiding the fish across and out of the current, keeping the fish's head is pivotal to not meeting some of the famous rock and reef. There is a great chance, a trophy class GT will spool a Stella 10K (and a Stella 10K I would not use for anything greater than PE6-8, you will not get nearly enough capacity with PE10).
Leaders should be 300lb Bite Class with minimum of 250lb connected to the PE.
Owner/Decoy Split Ring #11
Owner ST76 Treble 4/0 / 5/0 minimum pending lure size.
Decoy Saltwater Treble 8/0 - 10/0 +
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the info. Is there a thread somewhere from which you took this info? It sucks to realize I'm already starting in an ill equipped fashion. It is not as though I have money bags as a teacher! I work hard and have amassed quite an arsenal for tuna over the years. I have more outfits to handle 200lb+ tuna than GTs. I might be better off bridling a small tuna and bump trolling it outside the currents for black marlin. lol
--- End quote ---
No thread. Just my recommendation.
There are some trip reports here that you can search too.
Brandon Pope:
--- Quote from: Mark Harris on August 02, 2013, 02:30:05 PM ---Brandon, are you doing this trip under your own steam - by that I mean organising everything yourself? If so, would be really interested to hear about the figuring out the logistics and how you put the whole thing together.
Cheers
MARK
--- End quote ---
As I mentioned before, I have been aware of the island since I was young. I read about it in World Book's history series as a child. I read about the island one evening and placed a tack in a map marking it as a location I would visit one day. I continued to keep it on my mind through the past 25-30 years.
I studied biology and ecology in college and knew I wanted to see several of the species found on the island. When the island established an airport in 99 it went to the top of my list, then 9/11 occurred and my wife put a stop to my plans. We had our first child at the same time and she wanted me to stay away from the area. She knows my history of taking solo trips (I've hitchhiked through Mexico/Central America fishing and looking for reptiles and amphibians) and thought I might just strike out and never return.
Once I saw Sami's post from last October, I grew serious again. I began reading travel blogs and emailed a few people who had been. I read about the visa process, which airlines flew to the island and their schedules. I eventually contacted Abduljameel as many people who arrange trips actually go through him. He had many contacts for a lot of other things I wanted to do and I asked him to get guides for these activities. He put it together and here I go. I want to feel like I am as far from the modern world in the most biologically diverse location possible when I travel. Merging this with a relatively unexplored fishery is an just incredible prospect.
I've fished the Pacific from Hawaii, to Canada down to Panama. I've fished the Caribbean through the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Straits. Aside from Hawaii, which has a over-exploited GT fishery, I've no experience with these monsters. I'm about to experience it the hard way, just as I like it. I'll be back to the Arabian Peninsula soon. Southern Oman is on the list. I would like to catch the GTs there as well as the pelagics and it has many species of snakes I want to see.
I don't see myself giving up tuna. I don't really care about marlin. They jump a lot, but a dorado does that and tastes great at the same time. Too be honest, the long-tailed and dog-tooth tunas would be the two fish I would like to catch the most in the Indian Ocean. So far, I have 8 species of tuna under my belt. I would like to increase it by these two, but my primary target will be GTs and other reef fish this trip. I don't think we can actively target either species of tuna with the boats available. Oman will fit this bill and add more GTs to my life at the same time.
Anyone else who would like to go is welcome to join me. Just be ready to put of your "big boys." I'll be wearing mine. Think of me as I'll be fishing while you guys open presents Christmas morning. I hope Santa Claus is good to me.
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