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Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Reports & Expeditions => Topic started by: Duncan O'Connell on July 29, 2009, 09:36:42 PM
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Just got back from a pretty hectic week with Nomad out at Bugatti Reef.
The week started slowly with the fishing improving as the week went on. The weather ranged from sunshine and total glass out, to 25-30 knots and showers. The current in this areas has to be seen to be believed with reefs, rips and giant standing waves appearing and disappearing by the hour.
The company was great, the jokes were flowing as fast as the drinks each night. as always, the guides, accomodation and food were superb!
Anyway, I'll let the photos do the talking-
Duncan
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Duncan that first landscape shot with the islands and reefs is epic. gotta feel privileged to see places like that little own fish for GT ther! cheers for the report.
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some really good pics there mate, just saw some of jays on fishwrecked, excellent stuff very jealous
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I'll leave it up to some of the other guys to add their own pics and stories. I'm sure Jay and Brock will be keen to explain in detail how they broke the 'Most GT's in a day record' for Nomad!
Duncan
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More pics...
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Fantastic pics and some big fish Duncan. would appreciate a detailed report when you have the time.
Jeen
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great trip, guys.
You now know what it's like when Bugatti really fires! It truly is one of the best locations on the planet for GTs, the others I am familiar with being Jewell Reef and New Caledonia.
I love Bugatti and I've been going every year since the first year Nomad went there but I have to say, I think Jewell might be even better in terms of quantity and variety of fish. That said, in terms of quantity and quality, Bugatti is the go.
We didn't land anything like the numbers of fish you guys did when we went in April but many more big fish.
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Great report - great fishing.
I particularly love the reef shots.
Also some trademark "half face missing" shots for Jay ;)
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Dunc, how did the 7 sea's rods perform?
Looks like a great trip!!
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awesome.
Duncan,
i am just wondering if it is ok of me asking,
what size Ebipop is that, 140 or 200?
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That looks so good - what a great trip, RESPECT.
I love that evening shot 1046 - love the colours...
Nice to have so many catches on a trip like that - well done all; I am pleased a good time was had by all.
Cheers
Peter
8)
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Voltzy,
I fished the Seven Seas 76 Ultra for much of the week and couldn't be happier with it. It casts superbly, works cup face poppers in the 120-180g range very well and knocked over a bunch of fish in the 18-35kg range. Jay fished the heavier 77 Powerful for much of the week too, so I'm sure he can elaborate on that rod.
Sam,
I was using a 140g Ebipop in that pic and Matt was using a 130 EbiEXT in one of the shots as well.
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Seething with jealousy! Some great photo's there!
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Voltzy,
I fished the Seven Seas 76 Ultra for much of the week and couldn't be happier with it. It casts superbly, works cup face poppers in the 120-180g range very well and knocked over a bunch of fish in the 18-35kg range. Jay fished the heavier 77 Powerful for much of the week too, so I'm sure he can elaborate on that rod.
Sam,
I was using a 140g Ebipop in that pic and Matt was using a 130 EbiEXT in one of the shots as well.
ok thanks.
sorry,
on the calm and flat days, out of poppers or stickbaits, did one or the other get and produce the best result's, or did both do just as well as eachother?
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Fantastic Stuff boys..!!
Great pictures to go with it. 8)
Pete
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Sam,
Personallyt for myself the smaller poppers sucn as the Craftbait GT2's were the stand out lures, i did not get any fish on stickbaits ( orion 140, 180 or dogtooth 150), other guys on the trip were successful on the dogtooth 100 especially, Jay & Aaron did have some luck on there orions.
Another lure which did raise some fish was the Full Scale Big 180, but only managed 2 fish from this lure, i know that other people had good luck on larger lures like the Ebi Pops but the smaller poppers worked for me on this week, I can not work out why larger lures did not work for me, i suppose it just depends on there area's that you fish on certain days.
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Love the pics fellas. I must have re-viewed them half a dozen times already.
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Sam
I agree with Brock that the smaller lures definitely got more fish on this trip, some guys were throwing 80g dogtooth with good success. I did well on both poppers (Masterd Bomb 155g in particular), stickbaits and swimming lures like the Patriot XTX. On the rough days, anything which swam sub-surface outfished the surface lures for me by a fair margin. On the calm days it didn't seem to matter so much, poppers, fizzers, stickbaits & swimming lures all worked.
Duncan
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Glad you guys liked the pics, I'll post a detailed day-by-day report when I get round to it on the weekend.
Here's the busted Komodo.
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Ouch! Expensive...
Looks epic, really jealous.
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Jay - Didn't that Komodo make an awsome sound? A little louder that the Catalina rod that Dave was using, have you made up your mind on what your going to replace it with? I still have that Tokara if your interested? But only as a last resort, Duncan has probably already got something in store for you.
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Jay - Didn't that Komodo make an awsome sound? A little louder that the Catalina rod that Dave was using, have you made up your mind on what your going to replace it with? I still have that Tokara if your interested? But only as a last resort, Duncan has probably already got something in store for you.
Haha yep it certainly went out with a bang. Haven't decided yet, I'll wait to hear back from Duncan but I'll let you know.
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Sam,
Personallyt for myself the smaller poppers sucn as the Craftbait GT2's were the stand out lures, i did not get any fish on stickbaits ( orion 140, 180 or dogtooth 150), other guys on the trip were successful on the dogtooth 100 especially, Jay & Aaron did have some luck on there orions.
Another lure which did raise some fish was the Full Scale Big 180, but only managed 2 fish from this lure, i know that other people had good luck on larger lures like the Ebi Pops but the smaller poppers worked for me on this week, I can not work out why larger lures did not work for me, i suppose it just depends on there area's that you fish on certain days.
thanks.
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Sam
I agree with Brock that the smaller lures definitely got more fish on this trip, some guys were throwing 80g dogtooth with good success. I did well on both poppers (Masterd Bomb 155g in particular), stickbaits and swimming lures like the Patriot XTX. On the rough days, anything which swam sub-surface outfished the surface lures for me by a fair margin. On the calm days it didn't seem to matter so much, poppers, fizzers, stickbaits & swimming lures all worked.
Duncan
thanks
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Sounds like an awesome trip guys!
Jay - I'm just wondering about the KD... do you know what happened to cause it to break? Was it faulty, damaged somehow, or did you just go a bit hard? I guess there's a few of us on here that have KD's and it's a bit un-nerving seeing one break, so I'm wondering if there's anything we should be avoiding/looking out for to avoid failure?
Looks like you still landed the fish with a broken rod... champion effort!
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Geeeeez, I got a little shiver down my spine seeing that KD like that, major respect for still landing the fish though!
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I think Jay will agreee that landing that fish took a team effort from Guide Rod, myself & Jay. It was certainly a different way of landing a fish
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Unfortunatley rod has not been assembled properly. I notice that aproximatley half of section that needs to be inserted into butt hasn't been inserted. This section is about 9.5cm by looking at photos and discussion with Duncan it was about only half. My suggestion is re taper end that is broken this will make rod a little shorter by 4 or 5cm but overall should be fine. This repair would be reasonalbly cheap.
To all with this kind of rod design it is very important to make sure rods are assembled correctly this area is where rod will fail.
If rod butt's are becoming tight I use some fine sand paper and some timber dowl and clean out butt section only do not sand rod blank.
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Steve
What you say makes sense... and I can see from the pics that there was a fair bit of the unlaquered rod blank exposed. I just checked mine and it's a fairly snug fit, as in it only has about 3-5mm of unlaquered rod blank exposed (the Carpenters seem to have a lot more... like 20-30mm?).
If the rod hadn't been assembled properly, as in snuggly, surely it would have been impossible to cast?? It looks fairly new by the pics?
Cheers Rob
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from looking at the pictures closely, I agree with Steve's assessment on this.
Unfortunately, breakages like this are common but are easily avoided. In the case of Jay's rod, I suspect that the rod slipped out during the day which has resulted in the breakage.
Depending on the manufacturer, I have treated my rods differently in this regard. All of my Smiths fit all the way in, even if I have to sand them to get them to fit in. In the case of Carpenter, I like to get it to not much more than an inch protruding although I wil acknowledge that Carpenter is paranoid that you don't sand them. I think I almost gave Konishi a heart attack when I told him I had sanded one of my UHLs to get it to the point where I was hapy with the fit. In the case of Fishermans which have the finest tolerances in this regard, I also sand them to get it to fit snugly all the way in although most fit almost perfectly out of the factory. Just remember to sand extremely carefully - it only takes a fraction for it to go from not being able to get it in to a snug fit.
What you should also do is get some joint wax for the rods. This is readily available and Smith actually produce it. I am pretty sure that Steve would bring it in alrady but if not, ask Duncan nicely and I'm sure he would. If you can't get this, simply use some candle wax. The use of the wax will significantly reduce the possibility of the the joint slipping when you are using the rod. I have seen rods come further and further out through a day. the wax stick is a very small investment that can prevent a very expensive breakage. Damon was having problems with one of his rods sliping out in NC recently and a bit of wax fixed it straight away.
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Yep all fair assumptions, Duncan and myself came to the same conclusion while we were on the trip. All I can suggest Rob is that you check it at regular intervals throughout the day to make sure the rod is all the way in and if you're having trouble follow Brandons suggestions.
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I think Jay will agreee that landing that fish took a team effort from Guide Rod, myself & Jay. It was certainly a different way of landing a fish
haha yep Brock and Rod certainly did put in a big effort to land this fish ;D
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Duncan mate welld one to you and jay and the rest of the anglers,looks like you guys had a ball,some good fish there with some great pictures,i got my eye on the 78 powerfull,looks great...
Did you guys have any bust offs or any dogtooths hit any poppers by any chance ?
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Duncan mate welld one to you and jay and the rest of the anglers,looks like you guys had a ball,some good fish there with some great pictures,i got my eye on the 78 powerfull,looks great...
Did you guys have any bust offs or any dogtooths hit any poppers by any chance ?
One of the Nomad guides hooked a 40kg doggie on a stickbait but it ripped the guts out of the belly swivel. I only had one bust off which was to a 35kg+ fish which took a Bigfoot 140 in 3m of water. I'm pretty sure there were only a few casualties all week.
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Jay, are you saying the swivel failed?! If that is the case, it's a real #$@! to lose a good fish like this >:(
Hooking a doggie in shallow water is pretty special - pity you didn't land it.
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Jay, are you saying the swivel failed?! If that is the case, it's a real #$@! to lose a good fish like this >:(
Hooking a doggie in shallow water is pretty special - pity you didn't land it.
Yep that's right Brandon. I meant to take a photo of the stickbait but I forgot... For interests sake it was a Dogtooth 80.
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Awesome :o ;D ;D
Well done guys!!
Jay, nice big black GT there! Bet you were stoked with that!
I saw a few belly swivels pop in the cubera's and I think its to do with the center of the swivel being captive in the lure, when a fish is hooked on those hooks its never a straight pull thru the swivel.
Anyway good to see you got some good weather, it was pretty patchy at that time!
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Awesome :o ;D ;D
Well done guys!!
Jay, nice big black GT there! Bet you were stoked with that!
I saw a few belly swivels pop in the cubera's and I think its to do with the center of the swivel being captive in the lure, when a fish is hooked on those hooks its never a straight pull thru the swivel.
Anyway good to see you got some good weather, it was pretty patchy at that time!
Thanks Warwick, I've always wanted a black GT and whilst it wasn't my biggest for the trip it certainly was my most satisfying capture. I was very stoked! This fish also hit more aggresively than any other GT I got over the course of the week, getting half it's body out of the water in the process so I knew exactly what it was right after the strike! It had my whole craftbait GT2 down it's throat.
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Awesome :o ;D ;D
Well done guys!!
Jay, nice big black GT there! Bet you were stoked with that!
I saw a few belly swivels pop in the cubera's and I think its to do with the center of the swivel being captive in the lure, when a fish is hooked on those hooks its never a straight pull thru the swivel.
Anyway good to see you got some good weather, it was pretty patchy at that time!
Thanks Warwick, I've always wanted a black GT and whilst it wasn't my biggest for the trip it certainly was my most satisfying capture. I was very stoked! This fish also hit more aggresively than any other GT I got over the course of the week, getting half it's body out of the water in the process so I knew exactly what it was right after the strike! It had my whole craftbait GT2 down it's throat.
Great trip and report men, I really want to be at Bugatti when it fires.
Very right about the male GT's when they turn black, the aggression and power rises considerably, it feels like you've hooked a bigger fish.
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Here's the two lures that performed the best for me over the week.
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Trip Report for Bugatti Reef 20-26 July 2009.
As Duncan has already mentioned we had a pretty chaotic week at Bugatti recently. At some points the weather was a little bit ugly but this had a negligible impact on the fishing as it was never bad enough that we couldn't pop and hardly a time that we weren't catching GT's. Other times the sun was shining and the water like a millpond. I'd say the fishing really fired for us and I was lucky enough to see numerous double hookups and a couple of triple hookups throughout the week. There were several fish caught throughout the week that were around the 36-38kg mark but unfortunately none over the 40kg mark. What we lacked in size though we certainly made up for in numbers.
Day 1
On the fly in day we eagerly ate our lunch and rigged up for the afternoons fishing. I was fishing with Duncan and Dave on tight stick with guide Glanville. I decided to start off with a bright orange bigfoot 140... the fishing started off a little slow until the tide picked up and then I came up trumps with the first couple of GTs the first being around 28-30kg and the second just a 'petite' GT around 16kg and also missing a strike from a 30kg+ spaniard. Dave hit back shortly after with a nice 36kg model. Towards the end of the day Glanville found a nice spot in a sheltered area where the GTs were going ballistic on the fusiliers. Duncan and I had a double hookup on GTs but managed to drop both fish, next cast we had a mack tuna/spanish mackerel double and then the cast after that another GT double this time landing both fish, a pidgeon pair around 25kg each. It was late, so it was time to head back to the mothership with our total at 6 GTs for the afternoon.
Day 2
This was to be our slowest day for the trip. I fished with Brock and Mat on the dory with guide Rod. Brock landed a nice fish around 22kg early on in the day and then Mat nailed one about 20kg later on just before lunch. I had a 35kg+ fish come and inhale my blue bigfoot in a bommie infested bluehole that proceded to bust me off without taking an inch of drag. After lunch things got even quieter and our total for the day remained at only 2 GTs by the time we made it back to Odyssey. I think the most any other boat got that day was 4 GTs.
Day 3
On the third day we headed south to our second anchorage for the trip. I fished with Duncan and Brock on the Contender with guide Tim. We fished some blue holes on the way but it was pretty quiet with only a couple of half hearted strikes. I managed the first fish of the day around 20kg when Duncan pointed out a small school of fusiliers. We left the blue holes and caught up with Rod, Aaron and Ross who had been getting some good fish off a nice ledge. The afternoon was pretty hectic with us getting a number of fish off this ledge, myself 2 fish to 35kg, Brock 2 fish to 30kg while meanwhile Duncan was having a prick of a day not being able to stay connected to any GTs before nailing his only fish of 25kg or thereabouts towards the end of the day. One highlight was when I hooked up to a 20kg GT and dropped the fish and then proceeded to upgrade to a 35kg model only seconds later ;D
While we fished our way to the mothership at our new anchorage we stopped off at one of the resident trout boats to see who was in town. As we approached we saw around 8 GTs to 50kg+ swimming below the boat. First popper in the water had some interest but it was just a curious strike and they weren't actually feeding. It was such an awesome sight! As it got late the tide slowed and so did the fishing so we headed back to the mothership. We ended up with 6 GTs for the day and Rod's dory managed 17 GTs with only 2 guests, Ross at 63 years young with 9 GTs under his belt for the days fishing. He then proceeded to catch GTs off the back of the mothership when we got back, what a champion! Guide Rod also hooked a 40kg doggie which proceeded to pop the belly swivel on the dogtooth 80 stickbait.
Day 4
On Day 4 we woke to clear skies and flat water. I fished with Brock and Dave on tight stick with Glanville. The morning started slow as we fished some prime looking ledges loaded with bait but the GTs just weren't feeding. I switched from a stickbait to a popper and nailed the first fish of the day around 10-15kg. I then proceeded to have an absolute prick of a morning dropping about 8 GTs til lunch time. Just before lunch we fished a spot the guides call the Stables and first pass Brock and I had a double hookup, on the same cast Dave also had a 50kg+ fish hit his dogtooth stickbait on the 50lb gear! Thank god it wasn't a triple. Brock landed his fish and I dropped yet another GT. Good thing Brock and Dave kept the scoreboard ticking and I think the total was about 7 GTs at lunchtime.
After lunch we moved out to some different ground and the fishing picked up considerably, I maintained the hoodoo while Glanville teased me landing a GT in a mere two casts. Eventually I broke the morning hoodoo nailing a nice fish around 28-30kg... finally I got the ball rolling. We moved out to some shoals away from the main reef structure that rise from about 50-60m to about 10m. When we approched I asked Glanville where he wanted me to cast while he laughed and said, "Where the fish are!". First cast and fusiliers showered everywhere, I flipped the bail over and before I even managed one turn of the handle my popper dissapeared in a white foamy explosion. What proceeded was the most hectic session I've ever encountered on GTs with nearly every single cast managing a least a strike. Dave snapped his 50lb Catalina rod and then proceeded to still land the fish. We had several double hookups and finished the afternoon with a triple hookup and all 3 GTs being landed. Total for the day was 24 GTs from no less than atleast 40 hookups, myself with 12, Brock 8, Dave 3 and Glanville with 1. Rod and the other boys on his dory also fared well with 14 GTs for the day.
Day 5
Day 5 started as good as the last day ended. I fished with Brock on the dory with Rod. It was glassy calm and the fishing was hot. I nailed a nice fish early and then proceeded to drop the next couple of fish while Brock also landed a nice GT. Shortly after I had an extremely aggressive strike from a GT that was clearly of the black variety, fortunately I stayed connected and landed the fish, around 25-28kg. We moved onto the ledge where we did well on the third day and it wasn't long before Brock got his second. Shortly after I got my third and proceeded to snap my Komodo Dragon. An awesome effort from guide Rod and Brock ensured this fish didn't get away. Afterwards I encouraged Rod to fish as there was only two guests on board and he proceeded to nail a nice GT in short time. After lunch the weather started to turn sour and with 6 GTs in the boat before lunch we decided to head back to the mothership and was back there by 2.30pm.
Day 6
The sixth day was overcast and quite rough. I fished with Duncan and Mat on the dory with Rod again. The weather made fishing a little difficult but we managed OK. Duncan and I persisted with the weather while Mat drank beer all day :D. Duncan got the first run on the board with a beauty around 36kg and then I backed it up shortly after with another fish around the same size. Tyler on Eds dory fishing close by also got a nice fish around 36-38kg. 3 GTs over 35kg from 3 bites.
We moved into the blue holes and I dropped an average GT while the boys on Eds dory had a GT/Chinaman double. Duncan got a nice GT and then missed horse of a fish that climbed all over his popper. Would have been interesting to see the outcome, we put it for 40kg+. Late in the day I plucked a nice GT from a fishy looking ledge right under Eds nose :D It was getting late so we headed back to the mothership. As this was our last evening on the Odyssey we drank til the wee hours of the morning to celebrate the trip.
Day 7
Bleary eyed and hung over neither of us could be bothered to fish for a couple of hours before we flew out so we spent a lazy morning packing up our gear before the floatplane arrived to take us back to Hamilton.
Lures
One interesting observation Duncan and myself discussed was that on the cloudy days when the water was a bit choppy anything that swam sub-surface ruled supreme. Orion bigfoots in the smaller sizes and the new XTX swimbait from Patriot Designs worked particularly well. On the clearer days with flat water just about anything worked but I had my success with small-medium bloopers. Poppers like the Patriot Design Master Bomb 155 and Craftbait GT2 worked exceptionally well and can be cast all day with little effort.
Duncan and Brock feel free to add anything or make any corrections, I hope I haven't got any details wrong!
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Mind blowing report guys, an excellent effort.
I reckon you guys can still feel the "burn" as a gentle reminder of a memorable trip.
Sore backs all round I hope - well done.
Cheers
stan
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Jay - Great report mate, well said.
I must thank Duncan & Jay for posting reports, saves me from trying to remember what had happened during the trip. Well done & thanks once again guys.
Also thanks to Matt Vinton for the laughs
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Great that you guys had a terrific trip. Brock, I think the GT Gods owed you a good trip!
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Jay - Great report mate, well said.
I must thank Duncan & Jay for posting reports, saves me from trying to remember what had happened during the trip. Well done & thanks once again guys.
Also thanks to Matt Vinton for the laughs
No probs Brock.
haha Mat... Silicone Balls ;D
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Was the 'Wookie' being his usual self :D
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Bun
Who are you referring to as the "Wookie"?
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from looking at the pictures closely, I agree with Steve's assessment on this.
Unfortunately, breakages like this are common but are easily avoided. In the case of Jay's rod, I suspect that the rod slipped out during the day which has resulted in the breakage.
Depending on the manufacturer, I have treated my rods differently in this regard. All of my Smiths fit all the way in, even if I have to sand them to get them to fit in. In the case of Carpenter, I like to get it to not much more than an inch protruding although I wil acknowledge that Carpenter is paranoid that you don't sand them. I think I almost gave Konishi a heart attack when I told him I had sanded one of my UHLs to get it to the point where I was hapy with the fit. In the case of Fishermans which have the finest tolerances in this regard, I also sand them to get it to fit snugly all the way in although most fit almost perfectly out of the factory. Just remember to sand extremely carefully - it only takes a fraction for it to go from not being able to get it in to a snug fit.
What you should also do is get some joint wax for the rods. This is readily available and Smith actually produce it. I am pretty sure that Steve would bring it in alrady but if not, ask Duncan nicely and I'm sure he would. If you can't get this, simply use some candle wax. The use of the wax will significantly reduce the possibility of the the joint slipping when you are using the rod. I have seen rods come further and further out through a day. the wax stick is a very small investment that can prevent a very expensive breakage. Damon was having problems with one of his rods sliping out in NC recently and a bit of wax fixed it straight away.
Hi Brandon I have the Saltiga GT86 and it twists in the join. Havnt had any trouble with it slipping out but would the wax stop it from twisting or is it normal when lobbing out bigger poppers? Probably have to straighten it every dozen casts or so.
Cheer
Dave
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http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/newsletter/nsa_newsletter_august2009.htm (http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/newsletter/nsa_newsletter_august2009.htm)
http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/nsa_trip_reports_2009/nsa_tripreports_bugattireef_july2009.htm (http://www.nomadsportfishing.com.au/nsa_trip_reports_2009/nsa_tripreports_bugattireef_july2009.htm)
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I have the Saltiga GT86 and it twists in the join
Hi Dave ,
You should put a layer of epoxy to prevent the rod slipping out from the handle , check the attached image where the rod was loose inside the handle and a strike happened .
Jon .
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Dave, I agree with Jon's suggestion, if the joint has gotten too loose, then you really need to relayer it with a thin layer of epoxy. This will tighten up the joint again
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Wow fellas - awesome trip by the sounds. Congrats on getting amongst some good fish and...what's the right word...it's like if something went wrong and I had experienced it then I would say mutual commiserations...however it's the opposite, i've spent the cash, spent the time watching the weather forecast and spent the same time suffering the anticipation...i've also had it all come good like you, so is that mutual congratulations? ;) :D I dunno, nice one though :)
(PS late trip report reply I know but i've been wrapped up in my other extortionately expensive past time - mountain biking - in Whistler for the last few months...trip is over tomorrow though so back to fishin :). One thing I have taken from the trip though is a t-shirt quote which can be be more the adequately prescribed to GT Popping (which i'll do now)..."GT Popping....as addictive as Crack but twice as expensive" :o ;) :D
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"GT Popping....as addictive as Crack but twice as expensive" :o ;) :D
You made me drop my beer Travis - bloody classic!
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Bun
Who are you referring to as the "Wookie"?
Matt ;D