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Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Reports & Expeditions => Topic started by: Jason Haack on April 20, 2014, 01:38:20 PM
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Hi All,
The journey to find GT action in the Pilbara over the last few months has going well with constant results coming from the local reefs.
The action is not spectacular but an average of 3 fish landed a trip keeps me enthused. The fish aren't monsters with only the odd one breaking the 30kg mark but all are very well conditioned.
Most days I'm on my own which makes life bloody hard if you have the boat pointing the wrong way and hook up to a solid fish right on the reef edge. It's a struggle to control the fish and drive the boat at the same time into deeper water. I've paid the price with lure losses however have it reasonably down pat now, lots of palming the spool and medium drag settings usually lets me get enough control to jump on the boat throttle and steer out from the reef bringing the fish with me.
On Easter Friday I headed with a mate out to Barrow Island, some 90km from the nearest launch. This Island has great headlands on the Western side and some quality reef. The island doesn't receive much pressure and has great action on offer. Along with GT's we scored many species for just 6hrs fishing and found huge schools of Tuna, Mackerel and queenfish as well as the reef dwellers. Big mackerel made for heavy lure losses but the hits were spectacular. Well worth the 3hrs to get there and 3 hrs back. But will look at camping next time.
As the water is now cooling the local GT's are slowing so can't wait for Spring when the bigger fish arrive on the inshore reefs in numbers.
A few photos attached form the last few trips.
Rods: Ripple fisher Ultimo UG79MH and GT78 Power Fight
Lures: Mostly ASWB stick baits and West Coast Poppers
Reels: Stella 18,000's with Jerry Brown solid 100lb.
Cheers,
Jason
(http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t553/jasonhaack/IMG_1502-2_zps7cad010c.jpg) (http://s1313.photobucket.com/user/jasonhaack/media/IMG_1502-2_zps7cad010c.jpg.html)
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Awesome fish.
Question with the Macks stealing lures can you use a bite trace or will it not hold when a GT hits?
Are you going to share some of the GoPro video clips?
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Jason,
Fantastic fishing and great photos.
Putting one of the big ones on the deck solo is a real achievement.
Regards,
Trevor
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Hi Gerhard,
We weren't expecting big macs at Barrow Island so only had twisted leaders and 170lb fisherman on-board, hindsight would have been great and saved some pain in the hip pocket if we had bite traces.
Still getting the hang of capturing go GoPro footage, I did post a video on this forum a few weeks back which shows some solo action at the end.
Cheers,
Jason.
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Some great fish there it must be sweet having action in your back yard. Im sure your numbers and sizes will increase with time as you map out your reefs and learn the habits of the fish in different conditions.
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Awesome! I've seen quite a few of these photos on the WCP Facebook page - seems you're getting some consistent results. Can't wait to see the reports from Spring. Keep up the good work! :D
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Nice work mate - excellent fish! Have always wondered how Barrow would go
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Oh my.... Homegrown DIY trips don't get much better than that.
Well done, very rewarding.
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Thanks All,
Finding new spots through miles of ocean, endless casting at reefs and long days in the blinding Pilbara sun to end up score quality fish is real buzz and couldn't be happier at the moment.
We are planning some trips further afield away from the Islands to the offshore shoals and reefs in search of bigger fish.
We know there are 40kg+ fish out there and have heard of 50kg+ fish but have yet to see a photo or any hard evidence the 50+ Pilbara G's exist.
But soon as I do find some I'll be sure to share the story.
Regards,
Jason.
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Very nice fish Jason and some great photos there! Congratulations.
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Awesome work Jason I love seeing your reports out of the Pilbara, looks like you guys have the locals in check ;).
Great Pics what camera are you using ? and what do you use to protect the camera from the salt ?
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Cheers Jed,
Camera gear is nothing special, Canon 60D with a Canon 10-22mm wide angle zoom.
The lens offers great depth of field and is excellent bang for your buck.
I don't have any special case to protect the body or lens, I'm just careful around the salt and pack it away soon as I've fired of a few pics and don't leave it lying around on the deck.
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Great looking photos, so many islands to explore will be back up there in Feb hoping to land the one we couldn't this year.
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Cheers Brian, If you end up in Karratha with time on your hands let me know.
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Great photo's and report. Thanks for sharing. Leigh
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That's some solid fish there Jas especially on your own well done on your efforts great pics and thank you for sharing.
Also matey those two little shoal reef islands from Port Headland north of Barrow they look a fairway out but look very pelagic do you know anything of or anyone that has fished them??
Regards Richard
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Hi Richard,
That would be Rowley Shoals, there is a charter company that heads there on a regular basis and understand there is some quality G's there along with plenty of other pelagic action.
Cheers,
Jason.
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Would you ever attemp to go there or little too far for a trailer boat? Can you please pm me the charter company that goes there thanks mate.
Regards Rich
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The ASWB is going well and will provide many good fish over the years, well done boys!!
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Will do Jason. When the dates are set I will let you know, I would love to do a mother ship trip to do the area and use the trailer boats to fish off. Would be a good chance to cover a lot of ground with like minded fisherman. Fuel would then not be an issue :)