GTPopping.com - Giant Trevally, GTPopping, Topwater & GT Fly-Fishing Resource
Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Tackle & Techniques => Topic started by: Marc Vandaele on May 20, 2012, 09:52:37 PM
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hi,
i will complete my stuff with some good pencil's for give it a try in south Oman later this year
all this for a fair price but it's not so easy to find them,
can you recommend some? they need to be on the market,fisherman long pen is not on the market...( i can't find them)
i heard some good things about hammerhead tobi 123 but they are fragile
what about orion long tom?
i am open for all recommendations
and for the colors should it be natural or flashy,most of time the are out the water:)
thanks
marc
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Marc
Very good to read that you are thinking about pencil poppers. They are so neglected by many GT anglers these days.
For the long type, my personal favourite is Adhek Ocean Lady. This is a very long lure indeed and it has great record of catching big GTs. Added to that it, buying a few will not break the bank. Casts extremely well and has a very dramatic skipping action, perfectly imitating a fleeing long tom.
I also like using Craftbait GT Pencils which are a bit shorter but still quite long. Somebody told me these are not being made anymore - no idea if that is true but in any case you should be able to find them.
For the shorter, stubbier type of pencil (sometimes called tuna pencils it seems), then Carpenter Kattobi 145 is a very nice lure indeed.
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Not sure it is really a "pencil popper" but for a surface skipping demon of a lure that entices the most aggressive strikes I have ever seen. It has to be the GT Icecream!
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Hi Marc,
Another must have would be the Orion Flapper. Not as long as a pencil but casts well and has excellent action.
Creffo
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Not sure it is really a "pencil popper" but for a surface skipping demon of a lure that entices the most aggressive strikes I have ever seen. It has to be the GT Icecream!
Hey Ben,
Might be a silly question but whats a GT icecream?
Creffo
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Hey Creffo,
Gt ice-cream is a solid Teflon plug that you cast and crank flat out, skips along the surface. Nomad use them a lot. They have them for sale on their site.
Chris
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To the GT Ice-cream I'd add the Richter surface plug. Similar idea, and readily available (at low prices) in WA at least.
Unfortunately I haven't seen them in any really large sizes. They cast an absolute mile though and due to the price, I wouldn't hesitate throwing one into even the angriest of terrain
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Nomad Have the ice creams in various sizes :) the larger type sells for $45
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Hey Creffo,
Gt ice-cream is a solid Teflon plug that you cast and crank flat out, skips along the surface. Nomad use them a lot. They have them for sale on their site.
Chris
Thanks mate, checked them out?
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Nomad Have the ice creams in various sizes :) the larger type sells for $45
Yeah thanks steve, checked them out.
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Speaking of Nomad - have you considered a skipjack?
Chris
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i gone give the gt ice cream and flapper a change but still looking for a real long pencil popper comment from a long tom or similar
thanks to all
marc
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Here are some...the first one is the Aubrey Da Gama, and referred to as GT Ice Cream, as well as the teflon ones.
in the second pic, there is a skipjack, orion long tom, craftbait and patriot.
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but still looking for a real long pencil popper comment from a long tom or similar
thanks to all
marc
If you read more carefully, you will see I have already given you a steer on that front.
Also, a vote from from me for the Orion Flapper by the way. I use the 190 gram Flapper but only when there is a LOT of chop in the water. Otherwise the lure does not work properly.
On the Heru Skipjack, I don't think it is really a pencil in the traditional sense, but more of a long popper with a small face.
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I have a couple of timberwolfs pencil poppers which work really well and are well designed. Ironically I find using pencils more tiring than using 120g-150g poppers, because you have to wind quickly to get them working.
Although the cup face on the timberwolfs allow you to pop them a little bit as well if you want to.
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Andrew - personally I believe some anglers retrieve traditional type pencils too quickly. The retrieve only needs to be quick enough to get it skipping, no faster than that. It certainly should not be tiring :) .
A lot depends on the conditions of course. Ideally, I think pencils should be used only in the conditions for which they were intended - when there is lots of chop in the water making the use of chuggers and floating stickbaits difficult. In those conditions even a moderate paced retrieve will get a lure like Ocean Lady or Fisherman Long Pen skipping along nicely.
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U might be interested in this.
http://www.xpeditiontackles.com/product_details.php?category_id=49&item_id=457
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when i was there we saw loads of flying fish so decided that pencils were to be the best bet. however, I only had a few adhek Penipens and one shell shaping pencil and my normal stick baits. Barry had a heru skipjack which worked very well! normally poppers are recomended, but we found anything wound across the surface worked.. even big gamma's simply retrieved quickly enticed a strike. I enjoyed the penipens, would surface surf, then intermittently dive. although 2 of them had the paint/finish torn off by the hooks.... the shell shaping pencil got distroyed.. in a good way! it was a favourite! luke had monsters come after his 250 gamma, which he was retrieving on the surface. ive heard of guys getting fish on the GT ice creams - which are easy to cast, easy to work - and quite a bit cheaper!
so whilst you may not have traditional pencils - stick baits can be as effective.
my 2 cents
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Hi Marc,
As Matt mentioned, on our trip down to Southern Oman we had plenty success with Pencil poppers and Skipjacks.
We tended to find a trend in the way the fish bit, in the morning sessions the fish tended to favour pencils and Skipjacks, but thats not saying they would not bite on them at other times of the day, we just found them to work a bit better during this time.
Another thing that was noticed is that the fish tended to respond better to certain lures during the certain times of the day ie. when things went quiet the GT's tended to be more willing to smash a BIG stickbait worked on the surface and then there would be times were they would react better to a nice big chugger !
The nice part of the Skipjack is it casts well and allows you to cover alot of water with a good amount of action (hence it working better when the water was calm in the mornings). It is also relatively cheap compared to all the other Pencil type poppers. Its also easy to fish it out of the bucket.
I dont think the colour played too much role in the strikes, it was more the action across a larger area then anything else or at least i think so :P
Ive attached a few pics of whats left of a Skipjack which my good mate Matt kindly donated to me after i had lost my last Skipjack :)
Tight lines
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Here are some...the first one is the Aubrey Da Gama, and referred to as GT Ice Cream, as well as the teflon ones.
in the second pic, there is a skipjack, orion long tom, craftbait and patriot.
Andrew....probably just a typo but that "craftbait" pictured is actually a Full Scale Time Bomb ;)
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I'd also point out that the Aubrey de Gama is not the GT Ice Cream
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mark thanks, know what you mean and i am already turn of that way :-[
james that's what i was looking for but i think it's new by xpedtiontackle(i did not see it before)
chris thanks for the gear you build but i don't find the time bomb any more :'( or the sidewinders...
heru's are good to find so i gone make them wet also the kattobi's
thanks
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Herus, Surface Bull and Timberwolfs. Lost count of how many have fallen to these. Deadly in the surf.
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Haven't seen you guys mention the large 100g yo-zuri surface cruiser, is it too small? Has great action and casting, no longer made but still pretty easy to find a few
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Another vote for the crusty time bomb. Very tough lure, great slapping action - caught lots of fish before its retirement.
As much as Brandon will shake his head in disgust, the timberwolf is a deadly lure. Wont last long though, it will either get pinched or will be smashed to bits (not the toughest lure ever made ;D)
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George retrieves a pencil popper faster than any man alive! ;D
He also has more success with a pencil than just about anyone I know with that horrible lure!! :o