First GT trip

[Brandon Pope]

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.

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]

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 +

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]

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 +

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

No thread. Just my recommendation.

There are some trip reports here that you can search too.

[Brandon Pope]

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

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.

[Brandon Pope]

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 +

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

No thread. Just my recommendation.

There are some trip reports here that you can search too.

Much appreciated.

[Brandon Pope]

I guess I should ask before worrying about it. I replaced the drag washers in my gosa 18000 with carbontex washers to help dissipate heat and make it smoother. The reel never gets used and is in mint condition. Could I get away with this reel for 4 days and then sell it? I was going to replace it with a new one anyway. It generally serves as a back up. 
I'll start looking into a PE10 rod soon.

[Trevor Skinner]

Brandon,

I have a Gosa 18000 and it's a good reel for the money. You may get lucky and put one or two alongside the boat before it locks up or it may just explode on the first fish. I suspect the latter.

Regards,



Trevor

[Mark Harris]

Brandon, the very best of luck with this trip. Socotra is surely one of the most fascinating places imaginable and I am sure you will have a great time.

On the Saragosa 18000.... I have one with upgraded drag as well and hardly ever used.  It might or might not last your trip - you may get lucky.  A huge risk though.

For Long-tailed tuna - do not necessarily write them off. Certainly just up the coast at The Hallaniyat Islands they are frequently caught in shallow water very close to land.

[Luke Wyrsta]

Brandon, totally understand your position.

Some sage advice for you: beg, borrow or steal a Stella 18K, or, surely you must know a friend that could lend you one for a Six-Pack!

You might catch (luck-out) and catch a decent GT, if you catch a GT over 30kg in this environment on a Saragosa - you will be an extremely lucky dude (buy a lotto ticket)!!!.

Sort your combo, tie top-notch knots and pratice some power casting! Big, cup-faced poppers over 150g and 200mm and BIG stickbaits over 250mm.

PS. It's okay to cry!

[Nick Bowles]

Hi Brandon,

Socotra is an amazing place and I think the way to trying to plan the trip is a good one if you want to enjoy the island. Yes your GT gear is under gunned but if thats what you sticking with and not going to upgrade them make the most of it and give it a go but the chances of getting a beating are quite big! Just be aware not to leave loads of lures in fish with trailing line from being reefed, need to now when to call it quits if you are under gunned. But at least you will now for next time what is the score and will hopefully land some good fish. We have mainly focused on the GTs and these areas are very small in relation to the whole island. If you want to target the GTs then PE10 is a minimum and I was using 400lbs leaders which still got smashed. So take PE10, Owner ST76 5/0 hooks, 500lbs+ Crane swivels and as many GT lures lures as you can pack.

That all said this last trip I did a lot of light tackle fishing and it is awesome. You can walk along the beaches and have shots at bluefin trevally and off the boats over shallow reefs is really good fun. To be honest if you are only fishing 4 days I would most probably say leave the jigging gear as it is hit and miss and rather stock up on spinning, fly and surface gear so you have enough and can enjoy your time fishing rather than rushing around. The flyfishing prospects are excellent and there are monster bones mainly on crab and crazy charlie patterns. I unfortunately have never had the time to target the bones but a friend did a trip in March and had some great success. He reckons he lost some really big double digit bones.

Here a few pics of Rays trip:



Good luck!

[Nick Bowles]

Classic! LOL, Luke just saw the end of your post! Yup totally fine to shed a tear or two, been close a few times and seen a few others on the border! Only in Socotra!! Basically nothing can prepare you for what you will experience if you get hooked up to a GT, even on the heaviest tackle you are 50/50 if you going to take a beating! Small boats, big currents, skippers that have never fished with rods before and have no understanding of english etc etc. All makes for a great adventure!

Cheers,
Nick

[Brandon Pope]

I'm as likely to laugh as cry, but neither will embarrass me. I sincerely appreciate the information from everyone. I may take your advice and ask someone to hold one of my two speed outfits hostage for an 18000. I hate to ask such a thing knowing it would be punished. What may be a better option is to buy a SOM 16000 and punish the drag on this while preserving my original 10000 spool's drag.
Two other things I may consider is fishing inside the reef for lighter tackle bruisers, spend one day throwing poppers near the pods of dolphin around the island for tuna (I suspect tuna may be associating with the apparently numerous pods of dolphins) and then hit GTs on the last day. Being flexible in my schedule would allow me to continue to fish for GTs if I find myself particularly successful. I'll be sure to bring additional line, bring many twisted leaders and double to amount of poppers being brought. 
I really appreciate the additional info, especially the fly patterns. I have crab imitations and I'll increase tippet size. I doubt fish are very spooky.

[Brandon Khoo]

I'm going to be the elephant in the room. The fishing there can clearly be fantastic BUT I really don't want to see any of our members becoming a statistic.
Brandon - you sure you want to go there on a DIY basis? The US State Department is recommending US citizens evacuate the country.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_6046.html

[Brandon Pope]

I've been monitoring the tenuous developments the past few weeks. I really don't think it's more dangerous now than months ago, with the exception of an absent consultant in case of trouble. Yemen is inherently dangerous, but I won't be tracing around the mainland. I plan to hang around the Sanaa airport waiting for my connecting flight to Socotra.