GTPopping.com - Giant Trevally, GTPopping, Topwater & GT Fly-Fishing Resource
Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Reports & Expeditions => Topic started by: Brandon Khoo on November 08, 2010, 05:55:17 AM
-
I returned from New Caledonia after a five day live-aboard charter yesterday. This was a trip that has been about a year in the planning as Tak Otsuka and I been very keen to take Kenji Konishi, the owner of Carpenter on a trip to the land of monsters GTs. Also, while I have fished the south extensively, I have minimal experience in the north so all in all, this was a trip we have looked forward to with a lot of anticipation.
Kenji turned up for the trip armed to the teeth with his current new range of rods as well as a number of prototype sticks. The same applied for lures - while he had his traditional favorites, he also had a few new prototypes he was testing out. As Carpenter will be rolling out the release of its new rods soon (we've already seen small numbers of rods like the Monster Hunter 80H released), I'll also put up a review of my views on these rods in a separate thread soon as I know a lot of you are looking at these with quite a bit of anticipation. For the purposes of the trip report, I won't go into the rods.
New Caledonia obviously loves great anglers because it rolled out good weather for Kenji, unlike what it has done for myself and Malcolm on some of our trips in the past! The rest of it, well, Kenji made his own luck. I've been in this sport long enough and of course, have fished previously with Kenji so I didn't have stars in my eyes but he truly is an angler in a different class to myself. His skill with the surface stickbait is breathtaking. For those of you who have attempted to swim a Gamma in the past, you simply cannot believe what he can do with a surface stickbait. The lure simply seems to come alive and what he can do with a huge Gamma stickbait is amazing. The fish think so too because they simply kill it.
Kenji doesn't like going into the size game without a scale to weigh the catches as he is very conservative so they're my estimates of size but he ended the trip with the following captures - 1 x 55kg+, 1 x 50kg, 1 x 45kg+, a stack of 30-40kg and to put the icing on the cake, a big dogtooth around 50kgs on a massive 250 Gamma. Highlights were of course the big fish but believe it or not, a dogtooth on epic proportions attempted to eat the 50kg dogtooth he caught whole. He had the fight won when he said something funny was happening and most of the fight went out of the fish. He reeled it it for us to find the familiar triangular bite mark of another dogtooth around the middle of the fish. I can't even imagine how big the second doggie must have been.
The other highlight which Tak and I are still laughing about was that one night, a small bird got into the Antares. Rudy woke up as he heard it hopping along the floor and he tried to catch it but it evaded him and hopped into Kenji's cabin. Kenji was in a deep sleep when the bird started hopping up his body starting from his feet. He didn't have his glasses on so couldn't see what it was but he was extremely startled by the bird as his first thought was it was a big rat. This incident gave Tak and myself enormous pleasure and unfortunately, for Kenji, he has been copping it about the killer tori (Japanese for bird) since then.
Overall, an unbelievable trip - thanks an absolute heap to David and Rudy at Le Poisson Banane for making it possible and for working so hard every day.
PS - Tak and I made good spectators!
-
Congratulation for an epic trip Brandon!
New Caledonia strikes again ;)
-
a few more ........
-
EPIC
8) 8) 8)
-
unbelievable .... that´s awesome!!!
-
Excellent write up, photos and amazing fishes!
Keep them coming Brandon!
Cheers,
Paul.
-
Great report Brandon and great pics and company
That story about the bird cracked me up.
-
yes, that little bird gave us a great deal of entertainment!
check out the last photo and ther bite mark on the doggie - which was about 50kg
-
I gotta post again - simply superb!
I'm really glad the north fired for you guys mate...you've got a few more dates up there to get your own monster like Konishi ;)
-
Great report and photos! that must have been a absolute monster of doggie...
-
Spectacular stuff Brandon and Tak....
Some beautifull fish in that line up.
Brandon was Tak plane spotting at all .... ???
Pete
-
The list of Killers is Growing with each trip.....
Killer Goby,
Killer Tori,
;D ;D....That would have been very funny.....I can hear you and Tak laughing about it now..!!
Back to the photos now.....I have to look again.
Some of Kenji's GTs are monsters.
Pete
-
Holly Moley ! those massive GTs looks unreal
-
Some monsters Brandon. I checked the weather when you were out and it looked superb.
Can't wait for our turn in a few weeks! Just hope the weather holds.
-
great report, some very nice fish caught on what looks like a mad trip.
-
Top Trip, I say !
-
Very nice Brandon, top stuff.
-
what a trip, i'm sure all and everything else which has been said already sum's it up superbly.
Brandon,
I was really hoping myself that you would get an absolute monster of a GT.
Brandon and Tak, some great fish the both of you got on the trip as well as what Kenji got.
-
Awesome stuff..
Thank you for sharing......
-
Sensational trip, simply awe inspiring. Congrats!
-
The kind of trip you hope for when tossing and turning in the months beforehand, awesome.
So what sort of numbers were being tossed around for the size of the doggie that had a chew on the 50kg model??
-
Travis, I really don't know but HUGE would be my pick. It has got to be big enough to be about to completely engulf the one that was attacked.
-
Sounds like a great trip,big Geets and a Big doggie and a even bigger doggie still lurks in NC from that bite mark..
Very nice pics..
was that doggie released ?
-
Wow now i see the bite mark now and i realise just how big that other doggie was. Sounds like you had everything a trip should have - Some comedy - great fishing - and the drive that something bigger is there for next time.
Wish i was there, but have my own trip coming up, and i would be lying if i said i hadn't thought about it for 11 months and counting....
Tight lines
-
Insane!!
Top trip/report Brandon...
-
Very very cool, that story about the bird sounds hilarious.
-
You did it B-Man - RESPECT
Great trip - great fish !
Living the dream.......... what next ah ?
8)
-
Hi Brandon ,
This is a trip one can only dream of , the South Pacific areas must be experiencing good weather and favourable fishing condition nowaday , those who went to NZ for YTK had a good time too .
Now if you can only elaborate on the tackles used n tested , please ?
Congratulation !
Jon .
-
Mark, make sure you ask him about the "killer tori" in New Caledonia! ;D
Very very cool, that story about the bird sounds hilarious.
-
Jon, I will put up some comments on the new range of rods when I have a moment
Hi Brandon ,
This is a trip one can only dream of , the South Pacific areas must be experiencing good weather and favourable fishing condition nowaday , those who went to NZ for YTK had a good time too .
Now if you can only elaborate on the tackles used n tested , please ?
Congratulation !
Jon .
-
Hats of to you Brandon really well written almost felt I was there. Can you elaborate more on the stickbait techniques how they swim rod high low anything you may have observed , his technique is obviously where we need to be . Just loved it Brandon. Now I just have to finish the damn deck my wife insists on and the back garden and shade house the dog fence Oh and run a business and I should be away
-
Brandon ,and Tak Congratulations on well planned trip ,and many captures of theses big GTs ,it also shows the carpenter people are fisherman ,Well written as well ,exciting to read makes one more eager to learn more every day .Keep it coming cant wait for the next exciting installment
-
Great report, great fish and great times...makes me want to go fishing!
-
wouaouhh!!
massive fishes and good weather ;) :D
-
That's some awesome fish there, well done!!
-
Hi Brandon ,
This is a trip one can only dream of , the South Pacific areas must be experiencing good weather and favourable fishing condition nowaday , those who went to NZ for YTK had a good time too .
Now if you can only elaborate on the tackles used n tested , please ?
Congratulation !
Jon .
Sorry Jon...there were no Carpenters used on this trip.
-
Fantastic report Brandon -TFS
The bite mark on that Doggie is incredible!
-
Thank's Brandon for sharing with us :)
Ohh Awesome stuff !!!
loved the bird story ;D
Would love to hit New Cal one day ;)
-
Wicked fish and weather looks superb too, they only come in big and bigger there hey?
well done Brandon
-
Super Stuff Brandon,
Got a note from David and straigt away checked on the forum and saw your post. Insane!! There i something new to learn about stick bait techniques ever day. Where they fishing PE10?
Those GTs are HUGE!!
Cheers,
Jeen
-
Gary, sorry but there is no way i can think of how to describe his rod action. He ahs the rod both high and low depending on what he si trying to make the stickbait do. He makes it look so simple but for some obscure reason, his stickbait swims so much better than mine!
Hats of to you Brandon really well written almost felt I was there. Can you elaborate more on the stickbait techniques how they swim rod high low anything you may have observed , his technique is obviously where we need to be . Just loved it Brandon. Now I just have to finish the damn deck my wife insists on and the back garden and shade house the dog fence Oh and run a business and I should be away
-
Not quite, Scott
check this one out!
(http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w95/berniek/smallgt.jpg)
Wicked fish and weather looks superb too, they only come in big and bigger there hey?
well done Brandon
-
That SS is magnificent.
Pete
-
I agree - it is a truly magnificent SS.
Do you think it would have won the prize at Elusive?
-
Brandon,
As per usual, you have taken a humble look at yourself and Malcolm Crane.
"New Caledonia obviously loves great anglers because it rolled out good weather for Kenji, unlike what it has done for myself and Malcolm on some of our trips in the past!"
I know we all aspire to the next level of Konishi-san, but to imply that you and Mal can't more than handle your own, well I think that is a bit hard on yourself and I feel others would agree!
Konishi-san is a freak of nature with all things surface luring related.
Most have to realize that he is the bloke who has designed and tuned these lures to his timing and fishing style/ability.
It is merely a sad lack of days on the water for most of us to get THAT good at it!
Thanks for sharing the trip mate.
Its always a great read.
That doggie must have been a mutant 200kg model!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron.
-
Unfortunately, a sad reality for us, Aaron. Every trip we go on, he kicks my butt and it doesn't matter whether it is GTs or something else like sailfish. Last year at Rompin, the sailfish were driving Malcolm and myself crazy but Kenji was catching fish after fish on baby Gammas.
Malcolm is a tremendously good GT angler and one of the best I know but Kenji is a freak - and it's not just his ability to work the surface stickbait. He seems to have this uncanny ability to know when he needs to change to a popper or skip a pencil across the surface to break a quiet period.
I did a bit of a sketch yesterday of the size of that doggie relative to its gape on a proportional basis to the poor fish that got mauled. Uh, it was ridiculous.
-
I think that could have just about won the prize at Elusive. 8)
Pete
-
Brandon,
He is a freak!
And one we aspire to be.
It is cool to see someone that good just fish. Do nothing but watch them.
There ability to be wired to all things piscatorial and to adapt to the conditions is cool to watch.
So, how big was the dogtooths head?
Take a picture and put it up......I wanna see it!
-
top stuff, what a great trip. Really hard to read without green envy setting in well done!
-
Awesome report Brandon!
-
Sounds like you guys had a ball, it's an awesome feeling to organize a trip that long in the planning and it to all go that great with the weather and the awesome fishing.
-
Just catching up to this report... absolutely mind blowing stuff Brandon, thanks so much for sharing such a great experience..
Must be truly fantastic to fish in such an incredible place, with such fine anglers...
Now, on to that Doggie.... A potential new spearfishing World Record was shot off Latham Island in Tanzania last week.... by the one anhd only Cameron Kikconnell, which broke his existing record of 90 kilos...
Apparently 110kilos plus, still pending on official weights etc...
I know we aren't all Spearing fans, but this shows just how big these bloody things can get... and according to Cameron, they saw a few bigger....
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m209/Steelprod/ANDRE FISH STUFF/Doggie.jpg)
Pretty awesome fish... no doubt the one that attacked Kenji-San's was at least this size...
-
:o
-
Man that is huge. It looks like Bali has lost its record (also Cameron).
-
WOW~!!! Cameron's done it again!
It was pleasure to have him at Kaiser a month ago! Incidentally, he borrowed some of our jig n pop tackle for his Tanzania trip :D Hope he put the tackle to good use!
(http://s3.postimage.org/1gf2jpfwk/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1gf2jpfwk/)
The Batu Abah Bali Record:
(http://s3.postimage.org/1gffs07us/image.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/1gffs07us/)
-
Fantastic catch and respect to the spearo...
Incidentally I wanted to comment on the new large Gammas 240 which I saw at $180.00 and already sold out ??? :o
Cheers,
Bertrand
-
Master class, Brandon.........................Master class !
-
Looks like an awesome trip - that last pic of the doggie makes you wonder!!!