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Hermano Rodrigues

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Going for GT's in Timor-Leste
January 11, 2016, 06:53:46 PM
Hi friends,
I'm working in Timor-Leste and took some time to go fishing from the rocks (coral recife). I got 2 GT's with just a little more than 2 kgs... small but what a fight!

I'm using a:
a) SHIMANO BIOMASTER FISHING REEL - 10000 SW AHG
b) SHIMANO TCURVE REVOLUTION COASTAL FISHING ROD

But I haven't been very successful... I lost several poppers... I've no experience with GT's.

Is there any post that explains the basic to start, from the line (I'm using mono 0.45 in the reel and leader crimped for 100 lb but the popper doesn't work well), to the knots!?

While I take a deeper look into the forum, I'd would appreciate your help.
Glad to have found this forum.
Thanks :)

Felix Lux

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Re: Going for GT's in Timor-Leste
January 12, 2016, 05:00:09 AM
Hi Hermano,

Not sure if there is a post, but here quick, basic advise:

Which exact model revolution coastal do you have? The 12' 10-20kg? And which size lures are you using?

Most importantly I would use braided line particularly for poppers. Something like JB Hollow 40lb or Tufline XP 50lb will be good for the reel and I suppose also for the rod. Mono stretches a lot and is a lot thicker than equivalent braid, so you will gain line capacity, casting distance, feel for the lures, ability to work lures nicely and hook setting power.

Connect the braided mainline to about about 3m of 80lb mono leader with an FG knot
&feature=youtu.be This allows you to fish a relatively long leader, with a slim knot that doesn't get stuck on the rod guides. It is a very important knot to learn for heavy spinning from the shore, if you want to use a longish leader for abrasion resistance. There is other methods, but I won't go into detail, as this is the single best method for heavy shore casting applications in my opinion (spliced leaders in hollow braid are also great, but more complicated and not as quick to do in case you get busted off).

I would then tie a good quality swivel to the leader via a uni knot and then a split ring to switch lures without having to cut and retie the knot for every lure change. You will need split ring pliers for this. Swivel and split ring have to be big enough to allow everything to swing freely for best lure action. Something like size 2-1 NT Power Swivels or size 2-1 Sasame swivels with size 8-9 Owner Hyper Wire split rings are good for 50-100g lures.

If you find you don't get enough abrasion resistance connect a short bite leader (uni to uni knot) of the desired strength. And I would put strong high quality hooks on the lures that come with cheap terebles, because the cheap ones will sometimes open on better fish.


in case you have the lighter 10' 8-15kg rod, you could also use lighter braid on the reel, 30lb braid, etc. with 50-60lb leader, size 2 swivels, size 7-8 split rings for 40-80g lures. Still using 50lb braid might not be the worst idea, to give you a bit of margin for error.

Good luck!

Hermano Rodrigues

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Re: Going for GT's in Timor-Leste
January 12, 2016, 02:14:33 PM
Hi! Thank you so much for replying!
My rod has a length of 3.66m (12 foot).

About the reel, I was thinking about getting the Shimano Stella SW 18000 SWB HG or the SW 20000 SWB PG because I'm having problems with my Biomaster. What do you think?
Tomorrow a friend of mine is going on holidays to Australia and we will bring me this lines, and swivels that you suggest, so if you could suggest about the reel I would really appreciate. :)

If I get the Stella, would would still suggest the same line? About the poppers, I'm using from 50-175 gr... no experience at all with GT's... something new but very exciting for me! :)

I'll learn how to make this knots! Yesterday I lost a big one because of my inexperience with GT's...

Thank you so much

Felix Lux

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Re: Going for GT's in Timor-Leste
January 13, 2016, 01:15:43 AM
Pleasure!

Big reels only make sense if there is big fish. This would also mean heavier line, stronger rod and bigger lures.

The Stella 18k HG (high gear ratio is better for casting applications), but then the lightish line doesn't make sense anymore and you would also need a heavier rod. This would be suitable to GT over 15-20kg, not needed for smaller fish (14k Stella and PE6/60lb JB Hollow should be enough for this).

An 18 Stella is only needed for heavier line and accordingly stronger rods. For example 80lb Tufline XP or 100lb Jerry Brown Hollow. More expensive options would be PE8 YGK ultra Castman WX8. If you go towards the heavy end of popping tackle it gets expensive and also not so easy to obtain, especially long rods for shore fishing. There is many options like rods from Zenaq, MC Works, Ripple Fisher, CTS (GT Fight Club by Nathan Tsao) etc. but they are all over $500 closer to $1000. If you don't fish high above water level, maybe something in the 8-9ft is fine too. There's a lot of PE8 rods in that range that suit 100g and heavier lures. If you use the search function here or look at the rod buying guide from Brandon you can get a rough idea.

Cheers,
Felix