GTPopping.com - Giant Trevally, GTPopping, Topwater & GT Fly-Fishing Resource
Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Reports & Expeditions => Topic started by: roberts kurpnieks on April 18, 2012, 09:42:40 PM
-
Hi there.
Few months ago I realized that i love fishing. As I live in Maldives for a couple of years now I decided to get my own gear and spend my free time popping and jigging.
I dont have much clue how to do it correctly and thats why Im here to ask your assistance!
I know that my gear is not good enough. As I didn't know that i will get so addicted I went for a cheaper stuff.
Im ready to invest some more and buy a better rod and reel. What do you think would be a good option for my situation?
Here is what I have now:
POPPING ROD: Shimano T-Curve GT Special
JIGGING ROD: DAIWA SALTIST HYPERJIG (SHJ591MHS)
REEL: Shimano Saragosa 18000
LINE: Power Pro 80lb
LEADERS: Raiglon 100lb / Yo Zuri H.D. Carbon 100lb
Have spent last 24h reading forums here and im just amazed of the information for a newbie like me! After reading thread about poppers and stick baits i went online and bought some nice stuff!
Here is what I ordered:
Adhek Goby Green/Gold/Silver
Adhek Gecko Blue/Silver
Adhek Goby Red/Black/Silver
Fullscale Kong 180 Pink Nemo
Heru CUBERA Lure 125g Blue
Heru CUBERA Lure 125g Green
Heru WAHOO Lure 125g Blue
Heru WAHOO Lure 100g Pink
Heru ULUA Lure 60g Pink
Heru SKIPJACK Lure 120g Blue
+ many st66 hooks.
So here are some of my results in last weeks:
(http://s12.postimage.org/jiba4wrmx/IMG_6365.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/jiba4wrmx/)
(http://s12.postimage.org/hrs93fa3t/IMG_6369.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/hrs93fa3t/)
(http://s12.postimage.org/plsuothwp/IMG_6676.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/plsuothwp/)
(http://s12.postimage.org/h4tcdwd7t/IMG_6765.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/h4tcdwd7t/)
(http://s12.postimage.org/f1ix68dex/IMG_6930.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/f1ix68dex/)
(http://s12.postimage.org/67s0p4qg9/IMG_6950.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/67s0p4qg9/)
(http://s7.postimage.org/p09zqxkp3/GOPR5704.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/p09zqxkp3/)
(http://s7.postimage.org/9g2m0eakn/GOPR5706.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/9g2m0eakn/)
(http://s7.postimage.org/cbfp79ekn/IMG_0197.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/cbfp79ekn/)
Thanks,
Robert
-
hi
I just had my first experience fishing gt on poppers last week in bali. I had ordered a Carpenter Monsterhunter 80H for rod after alot of good advice here in this forum. It is a brilliant rod, but also a bit stiff and handels big lures with no problems. I tryed some other rods, and for stickbaits i really liked endless passion and long reef from carpenters. Another brillint popping rod, that is not so heavy as the mh80h is the Coralviper from carpenter. All are pricy rods, but they are so cool, and super quality.
On reels, it seems to be stella that is the top
-
Hi Rob,
Like anything mate, this website will give you a lot of opinions, and may i add very much valued opinions based on experience and knowledge, but there is a lot more to selecting a set up that what other people think.
I recommend that you do ask opinions as you have done, then if you are able to, go to as many shops as you have to (or as many as are available) and try these rods for yourself or if any of your mates have these rods, try them out.
I guess what i am trying to get at is that there is no point buying a brute of a rod if you cannot handle it physically or buying a lighter rod if your fishing hard terrain - you see what I'm getting at?
Perhaps you could inlcude a little about yourself i.e. physical dimensions, what size fish your chasing, terrain and so on.
Cheers,
Chris
-
Hey Robert. First well done with your initial exploits! It is great that you are catching fish so quickly into your new sport.
Good advice there from Chris and Simon.
From what I know of The Maldives, the GTs are very numerous but not especially monster-sized. Also, I understand that casting distance is often a very big issue.
With that in mind (and assuming you will fish mostly in The Maldives?) I would suggest that a popping rod over 8 ft in length would be a good move and you should probably be looking at a PE6-8 type rod and no heavier. Some you might want to consider would be any of the Carpenter Endless Passion range and the Ripple Fisher GT82 - all light rods with long casting characteristics but still capable of handling the biggest GTs you are likely to come across.
For reels, of course Shimano Stella and you might want to look at pairing a 10000 size with 16000 aftermarket spool with those rods. The 16000 size spool will allow 80lb or PE8 fishing and you could always load the 10000 spool with 60lb or PE6. Fishing PE6 is fine with the rods I mentioned and I suspect would be a lot of fun in The Maldives.
One final note. I think Adhek Long Goby you have ordered will go well in a Maldives type environment. No need to get too clever with this - cast it and reel in with a high rod tip. In areas of shallowish, calm water with lots of baitfish around, this lure works well when retrieved in that fashion.
The very best of luck!
-
I think Mark's summed it up pretty well.
Love the photos... what camera and lense are you using?
-
Robert I just noticed from your underwater photos that you are using a clip swivel to attach the lure. I would suggest you stop that right away. Clips are notorious for opening with big pulling fish like GTs. A swivel and split ring is the way to go.
-
Hi Robert, more importantly, do you have a budget to work on? It will be a lot easier if we know how much you are willing to spend. That will help members recommend tackle in the correct price bracket for you...... No point talking about Ripples and Carpenters if the price is not right for you. ;)
Steve
-
Simon Bomholt, thanks for your advice. I will have a look at the rods you mentioned. I have tried throwing some seven seas poppers 180g and with my T-Curve GT Special i find it not so comfortable. The poppers i bought a month ago are rubbish, as I realize now after reading "Recommendation for poppers" written by guru Brandon Khoo. I fount that thread to be AMAZING and immediately went shopping online! :) As my first experience with heavy poppers was no success I have ordered poppers and stick baits 150g and less...
Chris Webster, there are very poor choice in high end rods and reels in Maldives so i cant try them in the shop. My mates are divers and we do not even talk about fishing! :D Basically i wil have to choose rod without trying it.
I was born in 1985, Im 183 cm, 86 kg, I can handle some pressure. I work for water sports company and i consider myself to be in a good shape. :)
What im chasing here? I want to land some big GTs, red snappers and what ever i can get on my hooks!
Mark Harris, I have made like 150 dives here and have seen some big GTs as well. Also I dont know what do you mean by monster sized, but you are right - there are much more teenagers than big mamas...
Regarding the casting distance, you are right. I have spent like 40 hours casting from a bot with a daiwa 11 feet surf rod and I got much more fish than with my T-Curve GT Special. I could throw my lures much more further!
I have noticed that many anglers here use Stella 10000 with 16k spool. Why? I have noticed that it has a tiny bit better ratio and less wight. Why not to go for 18000? Why would it be more fun? I have been really thinking about it. Talking about Adhek Long Goby - I ordered normal goby, not the long one... Is there a big difference? Or is it the same long goby and in some shops they just call it differently?
Jay Burgess, Im using Canon 60D and most of the shots posted here were made by Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. I also use Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L.
Mark Harris, yeee, i realized that yesterday while reading forums here... I already ordered split rings and wont use clip anymore. Thanks! :)
Steve Li, I would be ready to spend USD 2000 for my next rod and reel.
Thank you all for your great replays! I REALLY appreciate it!
Robert
-
On Adhek lures, i can only say i am impressed. I fished with 5-6 different models, and also some test ones last week, and they are brilliant. I really like the venus as well. Brilliant lure.
For 2 k you should be able to get a stella and a carpenters rod i think, but as mentioned by the other guys, there are alot of other brands. I just tryed different carpenters and fell in love. I allready know i will be saving up for some more, and some more stellas as well
-
Hi Robert
$2K is decent but I doubt you can get a Stella and a Carpenter for that. Unless 2nd hand is an option..... Also, you looking at a chugging rod or a stick bait rod? Some rods you can take a look at are Temple Reefs, Smith, FCL, Hots, Shimano Kaibutsu series and Daiwa Saltiga GT series........
I have fished Maldives a few times and can frankly say you don't even need to chug 150gm poppers. We got away with using 125gm and even 100gm poppers and landed decent fish with them. But getting good distance with the casting there IS crucial! I will say a PE8 outfit is sufficient for use in Maldives. I will be heading there in Jan actually!!! :)
-
Hey Steve,
Thanks for your reply.
Tell me why getting good distance with the casting there IS crucial? Because of the shallow parts of the reef? Because of the waves? What is the reason? Im very familiar wit the Maldivian reefs and waves, swell, channels, currents etc... But i lack the knowledge where exactly to cast... :) Quiet important, right? :D hehe
-
Hey Steve,
Thanks for your reply.
Tell me why getting good distance with the casting there IS crucial? Because of the shallow parts of the reef? Because of the waves? What is the reason? Im very familiar wit the Maldivian reefs and waves, swell, channels, currents etc... But i lack the knowledge where exactly to cast... :) Quiet important, right? :D hehe
Hey Robert
Distance is important if you are fishing from a mother boat. As the big boats usually keep a safe distance from the reefs, you will need to cast far enough to reach the reef / edge of drop offs....... Aside from the obvious reefs / edges, look out for bait boiling at the surface. I have noticed that casting way over the reefs will tend to end up with Red Bass or Trouts there. Thus I try to get my lure to reach just before the reef edges to avoid them and try and target GTs exclusively..... :)
Steve
-
Got some of my new lures!
They look absolutely orgasmic! :)
Cant wait to make them wet!
One question.
I have owner st66 hooks - what size should i use for:
ulua 60
wahoo 100
wahoo125
cubera 125
skipjack 120
???
(http://s19.postimage.org/qavf89aen/lures.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/qavf89aen/)
-
I just came back from Maldives 2 weeks ago. Yes, casting distance very impt becoz we were fishing on a 75footer boat so she has to keep a safe distance. If u are fishing on a small boat then no problem. Max PE8 was used. I was using a PE4-6 and even Blue Sniper PE2-4. Biggest GT landed on our trip was 18kg and mostly 5-12kg. Dunno why the mamas are not there. Lures that we use were Yambal GT Harrier, Tailwalk Gunz and Maria Loaded being the most productive. 95% of the catch were on stickbait floating and sinking. I can't comment much on chugger over there as most of the time everyone was using stickbait. The motherboat is constantly moving when the anglers is casting and I do find it moving quite fast. U launch out the chugger, prolly chug 5-7 times and ur lure is already behind the boat and out of the zone. We were not using the sweep actions on the stickbait. More like horizontal jigging, constantly twitching and cranking. U ll have more fun on light tackle.
-
You can play around with sizes a bit Robert, but for ST66 I would suggest:
ulua 60 - 2/0
wahoo 100 - 4/0
wahoo125 - 5/0
cubera 125 - 5/0 or 4/0
skipjack 120 - 4/0
-
Robert, a bit late in replying, but i have also found pencil poppers useful there for some of the reasons mentioned earlier - they cast a LONG way, and also can still be worked behind a moving boat a lot better than chuggers. I use an LR 88 and also a Tenryu 9ft 6 inch PE 5-6 rod for the them. Another fave lure there is the goold old Yozuri Bull - yet again casts a long way on PE 5 and can be worked easily while a boat moves along a reef edge (have had sailfish hit them there). Decisions to be made on catching lots of fish vs GT's or only large GT's. The place can yield a lot of smallish fish. Also it is worth trying chuggers over the top of some of the small deep reefs, by that i mean small bommies whose tops are 25-30m beneath the surface. Have the boat circle them once. The maldives has it all, deep drop offs, shallow reefs, calm lagoon type areas. Hope that little helps. I reckon an EP 85 or a LR 88 would be an ideal rod for there if you decide to not bother with big chuggers.
One of the skippers i have fished with actually uses an 11ft Beachcaster as his popping rod with about pe 8, it looked brutal to play a fish on, but certainly belted out lures a long way and covered a lot of water.
-
Hi guys!
Today i tested my first PR knot - success! :)
Also tested Full Scale 180 popper - very nice, then Adhek Goby - with that i got this GT.
Lost my wahoo 100, got reefed by something bigger, was not prepared for that! :(
(http://s19.postimage.org/3zajau63z/IMG_8023.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3zajau63z/)
(http://s19.postimage.org/wdfyuptnz/IMG_8047.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/wdfyuptnz/)
-
Well done Robert :). The colour of the Long Goby in your picture is my personal favourite for that lure.
-
I just came back from Maldives 2 weeks ago. Yes, casting distance very impt becoz we were fishing on a 75footer boat so she has to keep a safe distance. If u are fishing on a small boat then no problem. Max PE8 was used. I was using a PE4-6 and even Blue Sniper PE2-4. Biggest GT landed on our trip was 18kg and mostly 5-12kg. Dunno why the mamas are not there. Lures that we use were Yambal GT Harrier, Tailwalk Gunz and Maria Loaded being the most productive. 95% of the catch were on stickbait floating and sinking. I can't comment much on chugger over there as most of the time everyone was using stickbait. The motherboat is constantly moving when the anglers is casting and I do find it moving quite fast. U launch out the chugger, prolly chug 5-7 times and ur lure is already behind the boat and out of the zone. We were not using the sweep actions on the stickbait. More like horizontal jigging, constantly twitching and cranking. U ll have more fun on light tackle.
Today I tried poppers and some floating stick baits. No success!
The best was River2Sea sinking stick bait (River2sea Wideglide 200)... Have a look at the photo. Its great! I really like it! And its cheap! :)
Im usually on a smal boat, so distance is not such a big problem for me.
Today I realized that i need to get a better reel, as this 18kg fish was puling my line out with max drag on my Saragosa 18k...
Great day and my report continues!
(http://s19.postimage.org/qe3abkvvz/IMG_8142.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/qe3abkvvz/)
Thanks,
Robert
-
Yesterday was a great fishing day... They were so hungry... :)
I lost two big fish and now i have to learn how to avoid that...
Some questions:
What kind of swivels do you use for stick baits and popers?
What kind of knot do you use to connect leader to a swivel?
What kind of leader would you reccomend for me?
Few days ago I told that River2Sea is very nice lure, but I changed my mind after yesterday.
Have a look...
(http://s19.postimage.org/3ue6aoub3/IMG_8204.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/3ue6aoub3/)
(http://s19.postimage.org/c16629kdr/IMG_8230.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/c16629kdr/)
Time to do some shopping.
Thanks,
Robert
-
Hi Robert
I am afraid failures like that will happen with cheap lures and it's precisely why many GT anglers will not use them. Such problems can of course occur with any lure, but it is less likely with the higher quality options.
You will by the way never, ever avoid losing big fish. It happens to absolutely everyone and if you hear otherwise, don't believe it.
Also, looking at that lure you really should be taking the barbs off your trebles - it is much better for the fish. Just pinch them down with pliers.
On your questions about set up:
1. What kind of swivels do you use for stick baits and popers? - NT swivels size 2/0 or 3/0.
2. What kind of knot do you use to connect leader to a swivel? - a 4 turn uni-knot
3. What kind of leader would you reccomend for me? - assuming you are using PE8 mainline or thereabouts, a nice supple shock leader in the 150-200lbs range. I prefer YGK Galis and Varivas.
-
Hello guys!
I have been spending last few days fishing. For the first time i have tested my reel to the limit! Got some nice GTs and good workout! :)
I have realized that i MUST upgrade my Saragosa 18k to Stella 10k with some after market spool or Stella 1 8k... If anyone has some used, i might start with a secondhand... I think i need to do some more posting to see the marketplace in this forum...
Let me know if you have some good offer!
Here you can see some nice fish. One of them straightened one of my owner st76 5/0. I really love my pink full scale popper and wahoo 100 and 125! They seem to be great here in Maldives.
(http://s19.postimage.org/tbnus4q9d/IMG_8285_x.jpg)
(http://s19.postimage.org/fw0u2ohrl/IMG_8329_x.jpg)
(http://s19.postimage.org/i1v4x6l81/IMG_8362x.jpg)
Robert
-
I am using Jerry Brown Hollow Spectra 80lb Line, YGK Galis Fluoro Carbon Shock Leader 170lb Line. Its just casting so great now, i love the line and leader is also great.
P.S. My dream is to start my own fishing charter here in maldives! I have some investment available, so ill might have many questions soon! If you have some advice you want to share with me, feel free! Im quiet new to this, but i just love it!
Thank you everybody! ;)