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Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Tackle & Techniques => Topic started by: Damien Phillip on November 24, 2008, 01:09:30 PM
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Gday everyone,
I am new to the site and the whole popping scene so decided I am going to buy a dedicated outfit.
I will be fishing both landbased and from a boat so a rod around the 8' mark preferably rated to PE5-6 i would think..? I'm not into the heavy(100lb+) as gear and i'm not targeting anything awfully big(around 20kg max). Considering maybe the Shimano Bluewater 15-24kg or GT special..?
As for the reel, I am only starting out so don't want to go straight for the stella/saltiga etc but something a bit less expensive that would be up to the task. Considering maybe the 10000FC TwinPower or Saragosa..?
I want to be able to work poppers and stickbaits if possible between 60-120g, such as cubera's, dogtooth's, ulua's atc..
I have no idea for a budget as I don't know very much about it all, maybe up to $1000, so any suggestions, tips or contributions will be extremely helpfull.
Hope theirs enough info here to get where i'm coming from.
Thnx in advance
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Can anyone help out ???
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Can anyone help out ???
Hi Damien,
You have listed some good equipment options, however, asking to throw 60g poppers while still wanting to throw 120 (without terminals) is a big ask. I personally think if you don't want to go over 120g, then the TCurve Bluewater 1524 would be a good option, paired with either the TwinPower or Saragosa. If you wan to be consistently using poppers over 100g, then perhaps the GT special is a better option. The GT Special is 8' compared to the 7'6 of the Bluewater.
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Damien - I would also make the comment that 20kg is a big fish. I don't care what anyone says, that makes the fish not far shy of 50lb and that is a big fish! I've been wasted on heavy gear before by 20kg fish in tight shallow reefy areas on a number of occasions so you may find PE6 pretty hard work in reefy areas. I personally think that if your lures are up to the 100g mark, then an outfit comprising a T Curve Bluewater 15-24kg with a reel like a Saragosa would be a excellent outfit and even better, you will get enough change out of that to buy some decent lures.
They're not the only options with your budget. There is a Shakespeare Ugly Stik spinning rod that is rated at 50lb that would be strong and tough. The only drawback is that it is one piece. Daiwa also have their Monster Mesh range which seem to be decent. I personally would probably go for the T Curve as I've seen these in action before and seen them abused terribly and still hang together!
In terms of reels, the Saragosa is a good choice. I thnk the Twinpowers are good too but more expensive. Another option you could look at around the price range of the Saragosa is the Ryobi Safari.
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Cheers Luke, Brandon.
Just the sorta info i was after, good to hear from some experienced anglers.
Brandon, only saying 20kg is small because i've seen some reports from some of you guys and.. well.. those GT's can get HUGE!
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no worries, Damien.
The GTs do grow really big but it doesn't take away from the fact that a 20kg fish is still a very respectable fish indeed! ;)
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The GTs do grow really big but it doesn't take away from the fact that a 20kg fish is still a very respectable fish indeed! ;)
Well said Brandon. A 20kg GT will always be a good fish to me. :)
I've had bigger but though I haven't quite got to the 40kg mark yet, I would never feel let down at catching a 20. You still get to "feel the power" on a 20 - and my wife had a 10kg fish smash her Shimano 240 GTH into three pieces 'cause it hit right by the boat and dived under it. :(
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I reckon that 95% of rod breakages when fishing for GTs happen next to the boat. I have found that they are nearly always good for one more run when they see the boat and often, that is directly under the boat which places an horrendous amount of strain onto the rod at adverse angles.
A 50lb fish is a very respectable fish. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, I have seen what I regard as a rather unfortunate "macho" element come into the sport . That is, people who belittle fish below 100lb and who claim they can muscle big GTs around. ::)
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Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, I have seen what I regard as a rather unfortunate "macho" element come into the sport . That is, people who belittle fish below 100lb and who claim they can muscle big GTs around. ::)
I'm with you here Brandon and not just in respect of GTs. I know of someone who heard about 800lb sturgeon in the Fraser River (one caught last year, though several people fought it) and got "miffed" when he hooked a 100 pounder! :o
If all we cared about was the biggest fish of any species there'd be no point in going fishing most of the time. Provided a fish can give a decent account of itself on the tackle used to catch it, it will do for me. That means I can bet a bang out catching 1-2lb arctic grayling on a 4 weight fly rod, or 5-15lb lake trout on an 8 weight. :)
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Talking about macho , at one time the GT anglers fishing Komodo including myself were counting how many minutes + seconds they can subdue the GT to be leadered but good sense prevail after awhile but not before numerous tackle failures occurred .
Jon .
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One of the problems with that strategy is that with the really big fish (and I regard any fish over 40kg as really big notwithstanding they grow more than double that size) is that if you pull really hard, some of them go mad!
I've had some fish which I have gone really hard on go crazy. The only thing I can say is that in places like Shoalwater, the fight doesn't last long when they go mad - except they win 90% of the time :'(
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Do i have any other options in terms of reels that are similar to the Saragosa?
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Damien, there are few reels which can handle the drag pressure necessary to fish even PE6 heavily and the ones that can are generally big dollars.
You could look at something like the Okuma V-System or Penn Spinfisher but i reckon that around that price range (or below), the Saragosa is the pick.
Is there something about the Saragosa you don't like?
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Do i have any other options in terms of reels that are similar to the Saragosa?
A Shimano Spheros may be a budget option Damien. However, I must add that I have just returned from a trip where I used this reel (with a Stella upgrade kit and Carbontex drag), and all fish that were hooked were easily 20kg+, and sadly I could not land any of them with max drag of around 11kg. :-[ Admittedly, these fish were all hooked in tough country.....shallow bommie-studded water with big current, and I was shore based. But I found the Spheros to be a smooth performer, and it easily dealt with mid size coral trout etc.
Dunno if that helps :-\
Cheers
Angus
Edit: Brandon is spot on about the drag pressure.
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Is there something about the Saragosa you don't like?
Just looking around.. I think the Saragosa is ideal in terms of budget and value for money.
Think i could get away with 50lb Tuff Line?? as i will most probly be using it for heavy spinning also.
Thoughts??
Cheers guys
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The Saragosa is a 'truly' beefed up Spheros, the housing and spools [interchange] are basically the same but with the Saragosa having more drag washes giving it the 20kg of drag, the internal gears are Paladin which gives the reel a big lift in toughness. After 9 months of mainly 'medium' jigging I have seen no weakness.
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With the drag pressure the reel is capable of, you will easily manage 50lb braid. If you're willing to pick your time, you can buy very well second hand. For example, you may be able to pick up a Stella and rod within the budget of $1,000 you have set. I've seen Stella 8000s going for $600 to $700 as well as rods like a Saltiga TN80 for $350.
Is there something about the Saragosa you don't like?
Just looking around.. I think the Saragosa is ideal in terms of budget and value for money.
Think i could get away with 50lb Tuff Line?? as i will most probly be using it for heavy spinning also.
Thoughts??
Cheers guys
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Hi Damien,
The Saragosa is a rare beast!
There are very few reels under $1000 I have seen that have the gears & drag pressure to tolerate GT fishing.
For a rod, either the Shimano GT special, Daiwa Muramura or some of the Daiwa Monster Mesh rods, if in stock, can still be great value and as an outfit, would be around $1000.
Casting weights would be more like 90-140grm to get the best out of these rods.
For braid, just for durabilty I'd go to Sunline Super PE in 80lb as a starter, though, just as there are more refined rods and reels, so too can the braid be nicer, such as Daiwa Sensor or GT Avani....it comes down to a whole package I guess.
I go for something in the PE 8-10 since most places I like to fish the GT's are cranky, large and live in horrble structure....
One thing is for sure. When starting out chasing GT's the learning curve is very steep indeed!
Aaron.
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Thnx guys. Have no idea what i'm getting myself into here haha i do hope the learning curve is steep, just not costly haha oh well everyone here would have gone through it i guess.
Cheers for all the information
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COSTLY!! that's another story (http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd207/bunzo51/smiley36.gif)