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Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Reports & Expeditions => Topic started by: Jay Burgess on March 26, 2011, 08:32:13 PM
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I just returned from a 3 day popping trip off Ningaloo Reef on Australia's West Coast. For those who don't know, Ningaloo Reef is situated roughly 1200km north of Perth and is Australia's largest fringing coral reef. We were spoiled with exceptional weather for the 3 days as well as ideal full moon tides.
Day 1-
On the first day I made my way down from Karratha roughly a 5 hour drive and arrived to light winds and beautiful sunny skies. We packed the boat and departed around lunch time. Shortly after we arrived at the first popping grounds. Fortunately there was a small swell so this made popping easy on the outer reef edge. It didn't take long for some action and Glenn had a feisty red bass boatside. Not long after I hooked another, a little bigger. We continued to pop the reef edge slowly making our way further north when Glenn hooked up again, this time a nice little GT. Glenn was next to hookup again this time another bass but it made it's way back to the reef in record time. Fortunately we managed to extract the abalone GT2 minus the bass. I hooked up this time and after a reasonable tussle turned out to be an average GT around 20kg. By this time the wind had picked up a little so we decided to make our way into the lagoon and find an anchorage before it got too dark.
Day 2-
We woke up early and continued popping along the same section of reef, it was difficult looking into the sun which meant we couldn't see the reef or any fish we raised. On about my 5th cast I hooked a small fish which I called for a mini GT but turned out to be a little Green Jobfish. We continued to pop for not much action so we headed wide to try some jigging. Found a nice lump that rose from 40m up to 20m. Sounder showed plenty of fish but surprisingly little interest besides a few Sweetlip Emperor. We decided to head back into the reef and continue popping. Within a few casts I had a Spaniard jump on, pesky little things at times. We came across a section of reef that was just loaded with bait, Glenn had a hookup and we called it for a small GT but turned out to be a beautiful Bluefin Trevally, one of the biggest I've seen. Shortly after I hooked a GT around the 20kg mark and got him to the boat rather green, as Glenn went to leader the fish he took off and pulled the hooks boatside. Soon after I hooked up again this time it was a much bigger fish, fortunately he didn't take off on a screaming run and I started to wonder if my initial estimate was wrong. We towed him to some deeper water, then he woke up and after a blistering run the line busted. Glenn hooked another bass after teasing it out from the shallower water and fortunately this one didn't have a chance to brick him. Glenn hooked up again and after a lovely fight we got a GT of about 25kg on board. We made the call to spend the afternoon steaming north to a new spot which took a couple of hours. When we arrived we spent the afternoon fishing the lagoon but it was reasonably quiet.
Day 3-
The next morning we began fishing the edge of an entirely different section of reef. The weather was sensational but the water was a lot dirtier than further south and we struggled to find some clean water. It turned out that it just wasn't to be our morning. I lost count of the number of missed hookups & pulled hooks but I don't think we landed a single fish along this section of reef. Glenn hooked yet another red bass although this time he didn't stop it getting to the reef and didn't get his popper back. We decided to make our way south back to the reef popped on Day 1 & 2 as it seemed far more productive. When we arrived at our spot it wasn't long before we had a hookup, unfortunately it was another one of those pesky mackerel and it managed to snip the leader and get away with my Craftbait GT3. Soon after I hooked up again but it was a extremely large red bass in some very gnarly terrain and it was all over before I managed a turn of the handle. We were now past midday and neither of us had boated a fish all day. Spirits were down.
What happened next I don't think either of us expected. We had one of the most intense sessions I've ever had, anywhere. We came across the same section we popped on day 2 that was loaded with bait and the fish were going ballistic. Probably every second cast had some kind of hit or hookup from a myriad of species including more bass, jobfish, bluefin trevally, brassy trevally & GT's. Most fish we didn't photograph unless it was an exceptional capture as we just wanted to get back into the action. Glenn had some of the worst luck I've seen. After getting busted off by a better than average GT he then pulled the hooks on two very respectable GT's after surviving the first blistering run and once we were in deep water. Eventually he managed to stay connected to a fish and boated a nice fat GT around 22kg. I changed to a Hammerhead C Cup and on the 2nd cast got absolutely monstered by a good size GT. After a nice fight we boated the fish and estimated around 40kg. I think I boated one more GT around the 18kg mark then we decided to call it a day and head back to the ramp as it was starting to get late.
Tackle and Lures Used-
Hammerhead Faube 77H
Ripple Fisher GT78PF
Carpenter SP78UHL
Carpenter CV79RF40
Fisherman GT Game T-RSH
Shimano Stella SW18000HG & Daiwa Saltiga Dogfight
Shimano Stella 10000SW
Varivas Avani GT PE8 & PE10
The best lures were medium poppers in the 120-150g range. Natural colours seemed to work the best, ones that had a light (white-silver) underside contrasted by a dark upper body. In particular the Craftbait GT2 and GT3 (150g) in Skipjack and Craftbait & Hammerhead in Yellowfin tuna colour. Blue and white orion Cono Cono's also worked exceptionally well. Most of the time bright coloured lures were used it yielded little or no interest at all. We also had minimal interest on Stickbaits but we didn't use them often as the bloopers were working very well.
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Sounds like a really good trip Jay.
Sadly, can't see any of the images - all marked as domain Unregistered at imageshack.
Is the Faube 77H yours? Would love to hear more about this rod as it is cropping up a bit around the traps now.
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Whoops, I seem to have posted this in the wrong section (Brandon can you please fix accordingly?). Must have been those afternoon beers...
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Sounds like a really good trip Jay.
Sadly, can't see any of the images - all marked as domain Unregistered at imageshack.
Is the Faube 77H yours? Would love to hear more about this rod as it is cropping up a bit around the traps now.
Hi Mark, the Faube 77H is not mine but if you have any specific questions I can pass them onto Glenn and get back to you.
Regarding pics, they are coming up fine for me, can everyone else let me know if they can see them?
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Interesting. The images only show for me if I am logged in at Imageshack. Other users please bear that in mind.
On the Faube, no biggy Jay. I was digging for a review if it was yours :).
Great pics. Some seriously flat water.
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Just logged out of Imageshack and they're still coming up fine as normal.
If anyone else has trouble I may have to find an alternative method...
Thanks for the kind words.
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Grate fish Mate, Awesome stuff.. Spectacular Photo's as always.
Hopefuly my turn for a Giant next weekend..
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Can see images fine here..
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Jay, is it mostly shallow water reef popping at Ningaloo or is there big drop off terrain with GTs as well? It's on my list to do one day as its a very easy and cheap flight down to Perth for me. Then that drive up to Exmouth :).
I know the problem used to be visitors finding a charter. Is that still the case?
And again, really nice pics!
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Jay, is it mostly shallow water reef popping at Ningaloo or is there big drop off terrain with GTs as well? It's on my list to do one day as its a very easy and cheap flight down to Perth for me. Then that drive up to Exmouth :).
I know the problem used to be visitors finding a charter. Is that still the case?
And again, really nice pics!
Hi Mark, yes mostly it is fairly shallow, for example the boat is in roughly 10-12m of water and we're casting to around 5-10m of water, then pull it out to deeper water. Some sections of the reef has deeper water closer to the reef edge. Generally we found the ground was reasonably forgiving though, red bass were more of a problem then the GT's because they fight dirtier. In most cases the GT's ran a fair bit without much trouble.
For popping in this area check out Peak Sportfishing Adventures http://www.peaksportfishing.com.au/ (http://www.peaksportfishing.com.au/)
They have a lovely 23 foot contender and are the only operator that specializes in this type of fishing to my knowledge.
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Grate fish Mate, Awesome stuff.. Spectacular Photo's as always.
Hopefuly my turn for a Giant next weekend..
Good luck Karl, new moon next weekend so should do well in that spot provided the weather is kind ;)
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Sound like you had a great trip Jay, I should really drag my boat down there sometime. Were you based out of Exxy or CB?
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Sound like you had a great trip Jay, I should really drag my boat down there sometime. Were you based out of Exxy or CB?
G'day Zac, should do, I regret coming down more often. We were based out of CB.
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awesome stuff Jay
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Jay great report and photo's mate. Love the bluefin!
That big GT really barfed on you! :o A great fish.
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Awesome report and fish~!
Thanks for sharing.
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Jay,
You have been a busy boy fishing n collecting gear. Well done mate.
What's next for you buddy?
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Very nice Jamie. There is something special with having views and scenery like that. Seems almost 'zen' like.
Thanks for sharing :)
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Nice report Jay,
Always good to hear about some west coast options, great photos of the reds and maccie
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Jay,
You have been a busy boy fishing n collecting gear. Well done mate.
What's next for you buddy?
Hi Brock, I have Monte Bello Islands in September and then hopefully another NC trip with LPB early next year.
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Magic looking place Jay,
Some dam fine fish too. 8)
looks like you might have had something stuck on your lens..??....Top right hand corner little black mark on each pic..????
Pete
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Magic looking place Jay,
Some dam fine fish too. 8)
looks like you might have had something stuck on your lens..??....Top right hand corner little black mark on each pic..????
Pete
Thanks Pete.
Yes you're right about that, didn't notice it until post production. It was underneath the CP filter. Could have edited it out but was lazy....
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awesome report and pics another place to fish on my do list in this year...
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Thanks for the report Jay! Going to be up that way in may for a week's fishing with peak sportsfishing. Have been getting reports from up that way, that they have been having some cracker days on the gt's aswell as getting into a few marlin (one 800lb blue on 15kg after a 10.5 hour fight) Looks like Eddy is doing pretty well considering its only his first few months of operation!
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Hi Jay what are the best months to fish Ningaloo Reef?
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Hi Jay what are the best months to fish Ningaloo Reef?
Hi Tony, winter months usually have big swells so can be difficult to fish the outer reef a lot of the time. Summer from Sept - Feb can also have strong winds and the possibility of cyclones. I would say from about March until the end of May would be the best weather/conditions to fish Ningaloo. I also beleive the GT's are more active in the warmer water too.
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Hi jay thanks for that, looks like a great place to go fish i was hoping to go up that way soon but i stuffed my shoulder up might have to wait till next year now >:( .. thanks once again
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Awesome Jay, love the pics and report. Good to hear from you over there in the west again. That big one is a cracker.
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Sick trip mate,great variety of fish caught... ;)
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Awesome Jay, love the pics and report. Good to hear from you over there in the west again. That big one is a cracker.
Thanks Travis, it's been a long time coming - we've had a terrible summer of rain & cyclones :(
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Hi Brock, I have Monte Bello Islands in September and then hopefully another NC trip with LPB early next year.
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Montes, New Cal, your killing me man.. Thats the stuff i dream of at night..
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Hi Brock, I have Monte Bello Islands in September and then hopefully another NC trip with LPB early next year.
Montes, New Cal, your killing me man.. Thats the stuff i dream of at night..
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Stop dreaming and book a trip ;D
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Great report, thanks for sharing. Looks like a great trip!
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Good stuff Jay. Those GT's that you find yourself have to be worth twice as many that you pay others to take you to.
Good luck at the Monties. I have the next few weeks in Exxie and then back for Monties over Easter.
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Good stuff Jay. Those GT's that you find yourself have to be worth twice as many that you pay others to take you to.
Good luck at the Monties. I have the next few weeks in Exxie and then back for Monties over Easter.
Very true Jon! DIY trips are extremely satisfying.
You have to be the angler AND the guide.
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Jay
Cracking trip mate, you have wet my appetite, I am heading to Coral Bay in May for 10 days, I cant wait now. Great photo's as well mate.
Cheers
Tim
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Some nice pics - looks like a blast :)
Just wish we got sun, clear blue skies and crystal water here in the UK :'( *sob*
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cracker fish jay
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Sick report, really keen on doing a trip there some time this year. Is land based fishing an option anywhere in the area?
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Awesome report. love the bend of the 77H
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Sick report, really keen on doing a trip there some time this year. Is land based fishing an option anywhere in the area?
Hi Fabio, I believe GT's can be caught from shore but I'm not sure how productive it is as I haven't really done it before in this area.
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Awesome report. love the bend of the 77H
Hi Jonathan, I think the rod you're referring to is a Ripple GT78PF.
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Hectic trip mate,love ya work..