GTPopping.com - Giant Trevally, GTPopping, Topwater & GT Fly-Fishing Resource
General => General Topwater & Jigging Discussion => Topic started by: Aaron Concord on December 30, 2010, 09:01:49 AM
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Hi All,
I have been going over a few things in my mind as to what started me down the road of heavier surface luring and I am curious to find out what got you going.
What was it? Was it an old film?? Someones writing?? Or just happened to know someone who said "try this for shits n giggles"???
The 3 most important 'mentors' early on, to me, were Darryl Steele for his work on mack tuna ,longtail tuna and yellowtail kingies in Moreton Bay.
Warren Steptoe had a huge influence, again, like Darryl, working on the pelagics of Moreton Bay (my home fishery) plus adding GT's and Spanish Mackerel from Cape York in the early to mid 1980's.
However, the crown would go to the late Malcolm Florence for his film work along the Great Barrier Reef, plus his writings in early Modern Fishing magazines........the Bathurst Bay segment in one of his films is still premier, epic footage from the 1980's casting poppers at coral trout and GT's.
OK, so I've spilled my guts......now your turn.
Who or what got you going??
Cheers
Aaron.
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Aaron, you are indeed fortunate to have access to such mentors. I had to put up with Dunc (fishhead) and Crusty :o on a weipa flyfishing trip. I'd "tolerated" their occasional requests to leave the flats and creeks to (at this stage I had not witnessed success) throw these ridiculously large poppers at reefs, channel markers and current lines. But that all changed when we got a pack of GT's cruising a current line draining a reef edge. I was shocked and amazed at the brutality and physicality of the encounter. It was the beginning of another expesnive habit ;D. I've gone onto get GT's in fiji, kiritimati, whitsundays, brisbane, NQ .
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Voltzy,
I remember you going on that trip.
Sorry mate, I think I may have infected Punkin with the disease!
If I am accurate, didn't you get a GT bigger than Duncan??
That's what the weight you inscribed on the popper said!
It seems to me a common thread where once people see the carnage first hand, they are hooked badly by it!
I was no different, particularly after Mal's Bathurst Bay footage. It's just raw: outright raw, physical brutality. There is NO mistaking a bite when using surface lures for our most common pelagics, such as longtail tuna, GT's, spaniards and queenfish.
Out of the 3 'mentors' I spoke of, I spoke to Darryl a handful of times.
I was more lucky with Warren, who I've spent probably around 9 or 10 weeks at sea with, plus numerous conversations about the topic over the last decade.
The closest I got with Malcolm was my old man insured his fishing gear in the 80's.......he had a spectacular amount back then compared to most!
I also remember Rod "Harro" Harrison having some GT and Queenfish footage from the Drysdale region of the Kimberly in Western Australia I must have watched a 100 times too.
Any word, any picture, any film footage was and still is devoured!
One thing is for sure though. The info is infinitely more procurable these days of the internet, especially with a forum like this: you need waders on to push through the info on this site!
Still, I like to find out why people got into it, especially those who have had the itch a long time.
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I met Yoichi Mogi n Co. in 2000 ::)
Jon .
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I resisted for absolutely ages :).
My heavy marine fishing used to consist largely of jigging with an odd trolling break. My reasoning was that with the bizarrely expensive and highly specialised equipment required, popping somehow seemed elitist. It was really my good friend and supremely skilled fishing guide Agus who got me over that. His constant recall of tales of fishing with Konishi, Matsutani and other luminaries proved too much to resist. The rest is history.....
This has caused me to recall how many GTs I used to catch trolling a diving lure. Now, when poppers and sticks are not working why don't we try casting an XRap Magnum30? Perhaps some of you do, but I don't and it seems kinda obvious! Note to self :).
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Jon,
Nice 1 mate, you met Mogi & co in 2000, I met Aaron Concord & co (Tim Baker & Damon Olsen) in 2001 I think.
All down hill from there.
Thanks a lot you pricks
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Jon,
Mogi & Co have that effect, don't they! Marion Reef in 2006 was a blast with them!
Mark,
I'm useless at temptation. Every facet of fishing that I touch, I end up in the deep end!
The gear that was as good as it got back when I started was an Albagraph 6 with a Penn 850SS and 15kg Sunline Sigma.......you could almost turn a 20lber with that gear! You lost more than you landed.
To be truthful, I avoided GT's a lot in the late 80's and most of the 90's due to the high lure mortality!
Having seen a fair bit of progression in the sport, from mono to braid and from 3 kilos of strike drag to 20+, I think the gear is worth the money.
I saw a lot of gear break early on, especially when we all upped the ante to 50+lb braid, there was no option: either pay for a better product or have it die!
The variety to pick from, pre-2002 for me was very limited.
It was only when Eddie Kazama came out from Japan that I saw what Aussie anglers were missing out on!
Brands such as Carpenter and Fisherman were unheard of in my circles anyway and trust me, I dug around!
Brock,
Damon and Tim have that effect too!
They're 2 of the most infectious bastards to ever fish with and I am glad I was a fly on the wall in the early development that they were heavily into.
The early days (daze??) with them was filled with a momentous learning curve
Wailing drags, broken poppers, seized reels and snapped braid were pretty common early on.
Luckily we started getting Japan designed gear to fish with, along with the best in Aussie ingenuity at the time.
It helped them land a few stonker-class GT's off Fraser Island in the early 2000's and the rest is NOMAD history!
BTW, just because you met us, it didn't give you priority to become the 'popping tackle rat' you are today!
Cheers
Aaron.
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I was taken to a Jervis Bay ledge one morning by a group of friends where I bumped into an old friend. After the usual how you been stuff I was getting my live bait gear ready when I saw my friend and another guy cast these peculiar looking lures 70 metres or so out into the water and retrieve them with a slow twitch watching them create a surface splash and deafening sound busting up the water.
Immediately I was intrigued and stayed focused on the lures being worked all day wondering what kind of fish would actually attempt to eat that. Nothing was caught that day, however I just couldn't get Fancy rods, bright coloured lures and expensive reels out of my head and wanted to invest.
2 weeks later, I received this breath taking picture on my phone which determined my decision. There she was 33kg kingfish on the pop, landbased!
I have got permission off my friend (Jack) to post a couple of his photos and you can tell by the joy on his face that this was a fish of a lifetime (and a relief)! 4 years of hard work, dedication, busted reels, rods, terminals, lures and sheer persistence he achieved he's goal, and inspired me to set mine!
As this fish was caught exactly 12months ago I have seen must smaller Jervis Bay Kingfish annihilate anglers and make expensive tackle look cheap and truly appreciate this capture.
Jack has kindly assisted many anglers with his wisdom and knowledge from rods, reels, braid, leaders, you name it even his new home made lures which are hot at the moment on kingfish to put friends onto that fish of a lifetime.. Its just amazing that we get fish ranging as little as 2-3 kg so aggressive smashing poppers to those unstoppable demons encountered from time to time makes you just wanna keep casting.....
Here are a couple of pics of the fish and a few of his homemade lures
Cheers Luke
(http://s4.postimage.org/27wlx3yjo/33kg.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/27wlx3yjo/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/27wnknb1g/33kg_on_the_pop.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/27wnknb1g/)
(http://s4.postimage.org/27wvuc1ic/Picture_206.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/27wvuc1ic/)
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Luke,
Thanks for sharing!
That's an impressive kingie for any locale, let alone popping off the rocks.
I have never been to Jervis Bay but I know it is a difficult kingie spot so kudos to your mate!
It would seem that your mate Jack has a serious case of 'popping madness'.......the worst cases involve making and turning out home made works of art that are meticulously painted in the hope of being destroyed.
The popper collection looks cool though!
Here's hoping for a large hoodlum for you soon,
Cheers
Aaron.
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Mark,
I'm useless at temptation. Every facet of fishing that I touch, I end up in the deep end!
The gear that was as good as it got back when I started was an Albagraph 6 with a Penn 850SS and 15kg Sunline Sigma.......you could almost turn a 20lber with that gear! You lost more than you landed.
To be truthful, I avoided GT's a lot in the late 80's and most of the 90's due to the high lure mortality!
Having seen a fair bit of progression in the sport, from mono to braid and from 3 kilos of strike drag to 20+, I think the gear is worth the money.
I saw a lot of gear break early on, especially when we all upped the ante to 50+lb braid, there was no option: either pay for a better product or have it die!
The variety to pick from, pre-2002 for me was very limited.
It was only when Eddie Kazama came out from Japan that I saw what Aussie anglers were missing out on!
Brands such as Carpenter and Fisherman were unheard of in my circles anyway and trust me, I dug around!
I know exactly what you mean Aaron. These days I fully understand why such expensive equipment is required, although I still waste loads of money on completely unnecessary gear like Japanese gloves (made in China) and absurdly expensive reel knobs!
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Actually it was this forum and Luke's GT site that got me interested - realised the dream by catching my first in April this year :D
Fantastic resource that is so useful - keep up the good work guys!
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I can't remember exactly but sometime around buying my first boat I came across this site, from there I stumbled onto Nomads videos and saw some footage of them casting for GT's at Island Head Creek. I couldnt believe how far they were casting lures and that that area was essentially "just up the road".
From there I bought a Stella FA10000 and a GT Special without ever having set eyes on either before and with my previous most extravagant purchase being a Stradic 4000 I thought would be good for Flathead... First morning popping out at a reef 50km off Cardwell, not having a clue where to start I was demolished on about my fifth cast by a fish that broke both Jobus, we soon sussed out to cast to Fusies and the rest is history. ;D
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Travis,
I'm the chuckle head on the camera in the original Shoalwater Video.
It was a trip meant to just suss out the inshore, creek and offshore potential of the place.
Needless to say, it had a massive impact on us when we found the GT's in Island Head Creek.......it was insane!
It only takes one really impressive bite from a GT and you just want to see more of it.........I love them!
Mark,
I'd like a dollar for every impulse buy I did when I started popping.......if I saw something big I bought it. If there was something bigger, I needed it too!
Don't feel bad. I tried to help with the addictions of fellow popping addicts for ages now, though I think I might have made some enemies amongst my mates wives!
Aaron.
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It started for me when my local tackle shop loaned me a Saltiga 6000GT for a killit/fillet trip to the Swains about 7 years ago. If I lost the reel it was mine!!
I took along some R2S poppers and a Nomad dogtooth 100 stick. No-one on the trip believed I could have paid $50 for a lure.
Anyway, first cast of the popper had a 5kg trout and first cast of the stick was a 15kg GT. I'M HOOKED!!
And like you guys, the buying frenzy has continued. I like good gear and if you look after it, it lasts a long time.
As for my local Tackle shop, I purchased two Saltigas from them when I got home from that trip.
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...I took along some R2S poppers and a Nomad dogtooth 100 stick. No-one on the trip believed I could have paid $50 for a lure.
Anyway, first cast of the popper had a 5kg trout and first cast of the stick was a 15kg GT. I'M HOOKED!!
Haha Ken - exactly the same as me with the lures! Exact same Nomad lure and around $50, i thought i'd lost the plot and so did my mate with me when I bought it. The next day I got 3 GT's in 4 casts with it, I still have the lure at home, chewed to pieces and retired.
I wonder if instant success is a common theme for newcomers that get hooked? I know GT fishing was my first real proof that lures "worked" and i've spent a few 8-10 hour days since then flogging the water with them for nary a follow, quite happily though. If that had been my first experience I wonder if I would have gone for it so hard?
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Hey fellas, some some very interesting stories there, I always find it quite fascinating hearing about peoples fishing backgrounds.
For me, my earliest forays into the realm of popping started with light estuary spin sticks and little poppers for baby GTs in the Southport Broadwater, but when I began to see and encounter bigger GTs while on annual family reef fishing trips up around the Whitsunday area of QLD, I knew I had to get some of that action. When I realized at the time I didn't have the financial resources to get heavily into that specific form of fishing, I began to investigate how I could actually produce my own lures for the purpose, and save some money.
As it turns out, I doubt very much whether I've saved any bucks at all by taking this route, what with all the equipment required to make lures, and of course paint and finish them. ::) Sure is fun for a "tinkerer" like me though. But in reality, the lures are only one link in the chain of necessity, and the rest of the gear needed, as everyone here is undoubtedly aware, is pretty bloody pricey and now is the time I should admit that I have been completely sucked into this GT vortex. It's all ridiculously addictive, from the lure making, the tackle purchases, the fishing, the GT's themselves, I am becoming a little obsessed, even to the point of drawing and painting these fish! ;)
I reckon a large part of all this is due to some early Nomad DVDs and of course this very website. So thanks to Luke, Brandon, and Co for that ;D
Cheers
Angus
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I can't remember exactly but sometime around buying my first boat I came across this site, from there I stumbled onto Nomads videos and saw some footage of them casting for GT's at Island Head Creek. I couldnt believe how far they were casting lures and that that area was essentially "just up the road".
From there I bought a Stella FA10000 and a GT Special without ever having set eyes on either before and with my previous most extravagant purchase being a Stradic 4000 I thought would be good for Flathead... First morning popping out at a reef 50km off Cardwell, not having a clue where to start I was demolished on about my fifth cast by a fish that broke both Jobus, we soon sussed out to cast to Fusies and the rest is history. ;D
As I was on this trip with Travis its where it really got me hooked. But where the seed was planted I recon was a holiday weekend on Pumkin island. Both Travis and I were exploring along a high rock ledge close to sunset when a "bus" smashed the surface right below us! We both saw it clear as day.
It was the Cardwell trip that convinced me the tackle I had was unsuitable. The 6-10kg ugly-stick and the 7000 abu overhead wasn't going to cut it. I really don't know how I didn't break that rod on those 3 days!
Cue the spending spree......
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I can't remember exactly but sometime around buying my first boat I came across this site, from there I stumbled onto Nomads videos and saw some footage of them casting for GT's at Island Head Creek. I couldnt believe how far they were casting lures and that that area was essentially "just up the road".
From there I bought a Stella FA10000 and a GT Special without ever having set eyes on either before and with my previous most extravagant purchase being a Stradic 4000 I thought would be good for Flathead... First morning popping out at a reef 50km off Cardwell, not having a clue where to start I was demolished on about my fifth cast by a fish that broke both Jobus, we soon sussed out to cast to Fusies and the rest is history. ;D
Oh yeah, man that thing was a bus...so random and both just like WTF? Was awesome.
As I was on this trip with Travis its where it really got me hooked. But where the seed was planted I recon was a holiday weekend on Pumkin island. Both Travis and I were exploring along a high rock ledge close to sunset when a "bus" smashed the surface right below us! We both saw it clear as day.
It was the Cardwell trip that convinced me the tackle I had was unsuitable. The 6-10kg ugly-stick and the 7000 abu overhead wasn't going to cut it. I really don't know how I didn't break that rod on those 3 days!
Cue the spending spree......
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I ran across this site... :D
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Bit like a crime really....
Motive and opportunity,
Always looking for a new challenge, plus I live in Central Queensland.
Nomad videos played a part too
And a bit like the others...success within a few casts got me hokked...I wonder what would have happened if I didn't see a scale after 50 casts???
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I wonder what would have happened if I didn't see a scale after 50 casts???
Hahaha That didn't stop Isaac (a mate of Travis's)!! And I think we all have had those days of a thousand casts :(
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Warwick,
I never have days of 1000 casts! Not that I catch that many fish, just not capable of making a 1000 casts. Better off letting some fit bugger keep on chucking then throw in a sneaky one when someone else has raised a bit of interest.
Hmmmm what is the etiquette there? Your mate gets a good follow from an aggressive fish, do you let him have another shot or get your lure right in the there!!!! Generally its every man for himself on our boat, until you land one then leave it to the fishless (hopeless) ones. More fun criticising the fishless than actually catching a fish. "You sure you put hooks on that lure?" "I don't know why you bothered to buy all that flash gear" " Keep trying, your technique will improve with a lot of practice"
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Hahahaa, I can be accused of "poaching" a cast into a good spot ;D I like your style of letting the others raise the interest then you get the rewards ;D
Recently I had 2 days in a row of flogging the water, raised plenty of attention but just couldnt get one in the bloody boat! :( As you said the more practice the more the technique will improve...... Right??? ;)
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This is an excellent topic, allowing us all a bit of time to reflect on our motivations and inspirations.
Im with you Aaron, regarding Mal Florences (never bettered, or even equalled) movies. I actually interviewed him when I was in high school, making a (never completed!) movie about the gamefishing charterboats of Moreton Bay. To this day, I watch at least one of his movies per week. When he passed, there was an auction of some of his fishing gear. I picked up a Ron Poole custom barra rod, complete with gold plated guides, fish wrap and hand written label "Specially built for Mal Florence by Ron Poole May '84". PRICELESS!
My actually phsycal introduction came via a Nomad trip to Bugatti in 2008. We worked hard on that trip for not a great result and to be honest, I couldnt really see the big deal. It was in 2009 on another Nomad trip ( 3 days on the 51 Riv ) that we really got into the GTs on poppers that hooked me well and truly! To se bundles of GTs shouldering each other out of the way to get at the lure, made all those fruitless casts worthwhile! Since that special time has elapsed, a few more GTs have found my hooks and whilst I am partial to all forms of offshore action, GTs are KING.
Theres no doubt that GT fisherman are also raging tackle sluts, and this target opens MANY doors to explore ( and shop ). In terms of cost per kg of fish landed ( and released of course ) Gts would have to rate at the top of the tree. Any one care to put an estimate on it? $100 per kg?
Cheers
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I was a flyfishing junkie first....
On a trip to the outer atolls of the Seychelles in 2005, I was fortunate enough to land in GT nirvana, and spent 8 days wading and sight casting to fish up to 50 kilos on the flats in water sometimes nowehere near deep enough to cover their backs...
Watching a pack of five 30 kilo GT's smashing bonefish in a foot and a half of water while you are stalking bonefish is a pretty insane spectacle...
ANyway, sight casting to these GT's, seeing these incredible fish come right out the water, eyes out, pec fins out, mouth agape to inhale a 6/0 flshy profile fly less than 20ft off the rod tip changed my life.... and got me to thinking about poppers and topwaters... I was always an artificial junkie as well.. 5 years in the Caribbean chasing Tarpon on topwaters and everything else, GT popping just seemed like a natural progression... there is no fish on the planet that can stir an angler ( well me anyway, and I'm sure the rest of the members here ) like the sight of a GT behind your lure... its the Pitbull of the Ocean, the "F*ck You, shoot first ask questions later" bad boy of the ocean, and nothing shows this more than popping....
I will also admit to having something of an obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to tackle... and what better facet of angling to get addicted to than jigging and popping if you are a tackle tart/junkie.... 8)
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Doug,
You were a fortunate man to get to that auction. I wasn't too young but I certainly was too cash poor to end up at an event like that. I knew the amount of gear that was to be auctioned though I had no dough to be a part of it.
To come away with a Ron Poole custom stick made for Mal is a priceless artifact......to Aussie sportfishing afictionardos anyway. Take care of it! I am envious!
The passing of Mal Florence showed me how I needed to quench my "tackle slut/tart/junkie/fiend" obsession. Mal's collection for the 1980's was HUGE. I had an aim in life and so did many of my friends......improve on the size of the collection! Sadly, I am an amateur compared to many mates who have taken the junkie moniker to dizzy heights!
Actually, it was this obsession that allowed me to fish and film with the small operation (at that time) called Nomad Sportfishing........those who had plenty of poppers and jigs got to test them against brutally large animals and our learning curve was almost vertical if plotted on a graph. It was an immense time.
We broke a LOT of stuff during the learning. We also got to land some special fish too.
If I had not seen some of these films from Mal or even a movie done by Dave Donald showing Queenfish and GT's smashing poppers I would never have believed such animals were alive and more so, could be targeted this way!
The shot of a hooter sized GT coming in slow motion during Mal's Bathurst Bay movie got me by the short n curlies..........I was hooked on the larger top water stuff from that film onwards!
I have never had much cash since that film...........I wonder why!
Andre,
The vision I have seen of the Seychelles is jab-in-the-arm full on heart pounding stuff.
I should stipulate that......the VISION.....if these things ate flesh baits in 400m of drink, we would be bored!
Instead, they race around in stuff-all water, beat up anything they can and destroy tackle willingly.
Who's heart doesn't get to a sprint-pounding rate when you see a pod of black backs charging the imitation offering you have presented??
The sight of it.
The sound of it.
Holding onto these marvelous animals if and when conquered is ultra cool.
I have filmed this shallow water craziness out in the Coral Sea though I have got to somehow get to those Islands to do it on fly.........it would be hard to top I reckon.
Big GT's on the flats........hell yeah!
As for the $per kg question............I don't want the missus to find out! :o
Aaron.
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Aaron - Mate I look back at the places I fished and the fish I saw, everyday, and wish I had popping gear with me when I was there.... without a doubt, I would have hooked and more than likely landed at least 15 fish of 40 kilos, and at least 5 of 50, possibly even a few topping 60... I know this is an incredibly bold statement, but I know the fish I saw, and how ridiculously aggressive they were... a 6/0 flashy profile fly lands within 10 metres of these fish and they literally explode on it.... before you can even get half a strip in, your fly has been smashed...
My biggest fish on that trip, a 110cm fellow, ate the fly 15ft off the rod tip, ran 25 metres with the fly, with me hammering the hook home HARD with a 12 weight and locked SHilton SL7, only to have the hook pull.... no worries, the bloody GT turned round and ate the fly again, with even more aggression!!!
I saw fish just out of range of a fly rod, and in breezy conditions that absolutely dwarfed anything we landed...
Jurassic Park for sure....
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m209/Steelprod/ANDRE%20FISH%20STUFF/Flip.jpg)
STRETCHED!!!
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dre, are they surgeon's or parrot fish tailing in the background?
Fishing the seychelles (or other remote atolls) would be a dream for me. It looks amazing.
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dre, are they surgeon's or parrot fish tailing in the background?
Fishing the seychelles (or other remote atolls) would be a dream for me. It looks amazing.
I think those are triggers.
One day I will fish the Seychelles...hopefully within 3 years :)
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Like a few others on here, for me too it was Mal Florence who first sowed the seed. Watching his films filled me with dreams and the desire to experience the hunt for these creatures first hand. Being stuck in the drizzly grey parts of south wales in the UK, with nothing near that could even be considered a fish that could pull on a drag I was left to day dreams and anxious frustration. I built the tackle and played with the toys, but alas had nowhere to use them. And then, my fishing best buddy decided to take off with his wife to go fish Australia, again. We built the rods, put the gear together, and sent him on his way. He spent the next 9 months in Cooktown QLD, either fishing on the Pier or in Peter Fookes tackle shop, He became well known on the local scene, and the guy with the orange hair left his mark there. He returned to the UK an expert (to me anyway) with plugs, and hours of tales of monster fish, photos and video and a slew of names that go back into the lore of Australian sport fishing. I was left only with desire and dreams, some sea trout fishing and European sea bass on the fly. These ambitions lay dormant, bubbling in a troubled soup of wanton desires just to the time where my work took me to the Philippines...seven thousand islands of paradise, coral reefs everywhere with beautiful tropical lagoons laden with monster fish of all varieties-WRONG, Lots of beautiful coral reefs, lagoons and all, but little fishing and scarcely a fish anywhere except the markets, and to go fishing takes a nightmare of effort and logistics. Ten years on, and with the help of this board, the desires have been met, but it took a good deal of effort and a while to get there. Now I have a few of these monster GT's, Doggies and such under my belt, and have lived the dream on board with the Nomad crew along with some great people and have met some of the legends I've heard of or read about. Its been a wonderful, and a privilege to have fished some of these places and fished in the company I have. Long may it last, the desire still rages !
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Andre, I still have to do the Seychelles, as I have to get one of these monster GT's on the long rod...I've done it on the popper. Had a taste with a few buses on the fly at the Diamond Islets and one here in the Phils. Just got to land one ;D
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Andre,
It sounds like an amazing fishery.........40+ kg GT's on the flats! My mind boggles!
The bunch of GT's I have taken on fly peak at around 8kg, probably since I was stupid enough to try and brute them out of some of the Great Barrier Reefs gnarliest bombies......I need to try a more fly-freindly locale so I don't bust the flyline when taking a double wrap!
You have to love the madness of them eh?? Eating and spitting the fly only to turn and re-eat.......tell that to a PETA lover and they would NEVER believe you!
Actually, they would probably never believe the marine world could get so nasty!
Earl,
It would seem that in Australia at least, you either saw a Mal Florence movie, had a mate or yourself do a Nomad trip to start you off, or, you found this site!
Which ever way the GT experience was shown to you, I still haven't found a person that hasn't been changed by the initial meeting forever more!
If anything, GT's show people another way to catch alpha predators: off the top on surface lures.
Even if (dare I say) you ever get sick of GT's, the associated tackle and techniques open up a myriad of other dead set targets and a 1000 other potentials!
Aaron.
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Aaron,
It was a bit of all three. Mal Florence started the fire, my mate threw on more fuel, and Nomad bought the fire to a point of some control where I lived the dream. I have had a couple of unsuccessful encounters with the great GT's on a very few accasios in the Phils prior to the Nomad trips-I'll be doing my third 2 week stint with them this year, and I'm sure it wont end there !
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I read about it in a magazine and then got the Nomad Promo video and must have watched 3 times in a row. From there i contacted Brandon Khoo who pointed me in the right direction and the addiction started. As well as the impulse buying. It can be a very expensive past time if you let it
Its not just the fishing though it's the people you meet and the places you go that make it irresistible for me.
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Its not just the fishing though it's the people you meet and the places you go that make it irresistible for me.
Amen 8)
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Cool Thread Guys, sounds like something from an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting.....Hi my name is Kurt and I am a GT addict ;D
In the late 80's, I was fortunate enough to work with a guy on Maui named Kimmy Bryce. He was previously the skipper of a game boat called No Ka Oi IV. He used take some of the Hawaiian popping pioneers, Peter Dunn-Rankin, Mke Sakamoto and others out to an island called Kahoolawe. The fishing was good there because it was a military island that was only open for fishing one weekend a month.
Once I got my first boat, we started talking about the island. We spend long nights talking about techniques for poppers and other lures. He had some great lines, "if you are not picking opihis with the lure you are close enough to the rocks." I used to get just murdered landing very few fish on the 20lb mono, but I was "hooked." Some years later, the military gave the island back to the Hawaiians and it was closed to fishing. There went my popping spot.
When I moved to Tonga about 6 years ago, I started popping again with my ancient Penn 850, 10' Uglystik, 65lb braid and an old box of Pili Poppers. I was still getting wasted. I had no idea that the equipment technology had gone so far over the years until Fukui came to Tonga for a fish. I took him land-based fishing and he left his gear in my van overnight. My son and I were in awe. We had never seen such "pretty" gear. His tacklebox was the size of a suitcase I would use if leaving home for over a month. It did not take long after he left for me to order my first proper GT outfit.
To make a long story short, the late Kimmy Bryce started the fire and Kenzaburou Fukui and discovering the great people on this site have rekindled the fire.
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I resisted for absolutely ages :).
My heavy marine fishing used to consist largely of jigging with an odd trolling break. My reasoning was that with the bizarrely expensive and highly specialised equipment required, popping somehow seemed elitist. It was really my good friend and supremely skilled fishing guide Agus who got me over that. His constant recall of tales of fishing with Konishi, Matsutani and other luminaries proved too much to resist. The rest is history.....
This has caused me to recall how many GTs I used to catch trolling a diving lure. Now, when poppers and sticks are not working why don't we try casting an XRap Magnum30? Perhaps some of you do, but I don't and it seems kinda obvious! Note to self :).
Cast a Souls Brabus = Win.
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Cool Thread Guys, sounds like something from an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting.....Hi my name is Kurt and I am a GT addict
Kurt, this made me laugh a lot!
My purpose in asking the question 'why pop' has shown, in the responses, that we are all addicts!!!!!!!
It has been an interesting and intriguing read so far.............I hope the pot stirs for quite some time to come.
Aaron.
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you you prick. >:(
you know where and when!!!
Lock the drag? on this dogfight thing, he's pissing in my pocket surely.
Bank account never been the same since.
But i love ya for it. ;D
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I got into it quite by accident, although I have popped for much smaller fish and love it. I found this site Googling for some used heavy gear a while back. 30 minutes browsing the site and that was it, I organised my first GT trip within about 1 month of finding this information treasure trove. Best accident I ever had.
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you you prick.
you know where and when!!!
Lock the drag? on this dogfight thing, he's pissing in my pocket surely.
Bank account never been the same since.
But i love ya for it.
Matty, that is GOLD!!!!!!!
Yep.....I was there and so was Brock Arifovic.
I have never seen such a big lad (you) get pizzled so badly..........I thought you big guys could muscle these fish in ;D
BTW, it was probably still the biggest GT you have ever been connected to.
Normally, we aim for a bucket of 15-20's, progress to 25-35's then up from here.
Hooking a frigging 50kg class GT on your first outing, well, lets just say the fish taught you a lesson on learning the ropes.
I will always be glad that I was onboard to see that...........it was a good fish!
Cheers,
Aaron, the evil man who steered you down to the 'dark side'!!