What got you started?? Why pop??

[Aaron Concord]

Hi All,

I have been going over a few things in my mind as to what started me down the road of heavier surface luring and I am curious to find out what got you going.

What was it? Was it an old film??  Someones writing??  Or just happened to know someone who said "try this for shits n giggles"

The 3 most important 'mentors' early on, to me, were Darryl Steele for his work on mack tuna ,longtail tuna and yellowtail kingies in Moreton Bay.

Warren Steptoe had a huge influence, again, like Darryl, working on the pelagics of Moreton Bay (my home fishery) plus adding GT's and Spanish Mackerel from Cape York in the early to mid 1980's.

However, the crown would go to the late Malcolm Florence for his film work along the Great Barrier Reef, plus his writings in early Modern Fishing magazines........the Bathurst Bay segment in one of his films is still premier, epic footage from the 1980's casting poppers at coral trout and GT's.

OK, so I've spilled my guts......now your turn.

Who or what got you going??

Cheers

Aaron.

[Geoff Volter]

Aaron, you are indeed fortunate to have access to such mentors. I had to put up with Dunc (fishhead) and Crusty on a weipa flyfishing trip. I'd "tolerated" their occasional requests to leave the flats and creeks to  (at this stage I had not witnessed success) throw these ridiculously large poppers at reefs, channel markers and current lines. But that all changed when we got a pack of GT's cruising a current line draining a reef edge. I was shocked and amazed at the brutality and physicality of the encounter. It was the beginning of another expesnive habit . I've gone onto get GT's in fiji, kiritimati, whitsundays, brisbane, NQ .

[Aaron Concord]

Voltzy,

I remember you going on that trip.
Sorry mate, I think I may have infected Punkin with the disease!

If I am accurate, didn't you get a GT bigger than Duncan??   
That's what the weight you inscribed on the popper said!
It seems to me a common thread where once people see the carnage first hand, they are hooked badly by it!
I was no different, particularly after Mal's Bathurst Bay footage.  It's just raw: outright raw, physical brutality.  There is NO mistaking a bite when using surface lures for our most common pelagics, such as longtail tuna, GT's, spaniards and queenfish.

Out of the 3 'mentors' I spoke of, I spoke to Darryl a handful of times.
I was more lucky with Warren, who I've spent probably around 9 or 10 weeks at sea with, plus numerous conversations about the topic over the last decade.
The closest I got with Malcolm was my old man insured his fishing gear in the 80's.......he had a spectacular amount back then compared to most!

I also remember Rod "Harro" Harrison having some GT and Queenfish footage from the Drysdale region of the Kimberly in Western Australia I must have watched a 100 times too.
Any word, any picture, any film footage was and still is devoured!
One thing is for sure though.  The info is infinitely more procurable these days of the internet, especially with a forum like this: you need waders on to push through the info on this site!

Still, I like to find out why people got into it, especially those who have had the itch a long time.

[Jon Li]

I met Yoichi Mogi n Co. in 2000 

Jon .

[Mark Harris]

I resisted for absolutely ages .

My heavy marine fishing used to consist largely of jigging with an odd trolling break. My reasoning was that with the bizarrely expensive and highly specialised equipment required, popping somehow seemed elitist.  It was really my good friend and supremely skilled fishing guide Agus who got me over that. His constant recall of tales of fishing with Konishi, Matsutani and other luminaries proved too much to resist. The rest is history.....

This has caused me to recall how many GTs I used to catch trolling a diving lure.  Now, when poppers and sticks are not working why don't we try casting an XRap Magnum30?  Perhaps some of you do, but I don't and it seems kinda obvious!  Note to self .

[Brock Arifovic]

Jon,

Nice 1 mate, you met Mogi & co in 2000, I met Aaron Concord & co (Tim Baker & Damon Olsen) in 2001 I think.

All down hill from there.

Thanks a lot you pricks

[Aaron Concord]

Jon,

Mogi & Co have that effect, don't they!  Marion Reef in 2006 was a blast with them!

Mark,

I'm useless at temptation.  Every facet of fishing that I touch, I end up in the deep end!
The gear that was as good as it got back when I started was an Albagraph 6 with a Penn 850SS and 15kg Sunline Sigma.......you could almost turn a 20lber with that gear!  You lost more than you landed.
To be truthful, I avoided GT's a lot in the late 80's and most of the 90's due to the high lure mortality!
Having seen a fair bit of progression in the sport, from mono to braid and from 3 kilos of strike drag to 20+, I think the gear is worth the money. 
I saw a lot of gear break early on, especially when we all upped the ante to 50+lb braid, there was no option: either pay for a better product or have it die!
The variety to pick from, pre-2002 for me was very limited.
It was only when Eddie Kazama came out from Japan that I saw what Aussie anglers were missing out on!
Brands such as Carpenter and Fisherman were unheard of in my circles anyway and trust me, I dug around!

Brock,

Damon and Tim have that effect too!
They're 2 of the most infectious bastards to ever fish with and I am glad I was a fly on the wall in the early development that they were heavily into.
The early days (daze??) with them was filled with a momentous learning curve
Wailing drags, broken poppers, seized reels and snapped braid were pretty common early on.
Luckily we started getting Japan designed gear to fish with, along with the best in Aussie ingenuity at the time. 
It helped them land a few stonker-class GT's off Fraser Island in the early 2000's and the rest is NOMAD history!
BTW, just because you met us, it didn't give you priority to become the 'popping tackle rat' you are today!

Cheers

Aaron.

[Luke Seyrek]

I was taken to a Jervis Bay ledge one morning by a group of friends where I bumped into an old friend. After the usual how you been stuff I was getting my live bait gear ready when I saw my friend and another guy cast these peculiar looking lures 70 metres or so out into the water and retrieve them with a slow twitch watching them create a surface splash and deafening sound busting up the water.
Immediately I was intrigued and stayed focused on the lures being worked all day wondering what kind of fish would actually attempt to eat that. Nothing was caught that day, however I just couldn't get Fancy rods, bright coloured lures and expensive reels out of my head and wanted to invest.

2 weeks later, I received this breath taking picture on my phone which determined my decision. There she was 33kg kingfish on the pop, landbased!
I have got permission off my friend (Jack) to post a couple of his photos and you can tell by the joy on his face that this was a fish of a lifetime (and a relief)! 4 years of hard work, dedication, busted reels, rods, terminals, lures and sheer persistence he achieved he's goal, and inspired me to set mine!
As this fish was caught exactly 12months ago I have seen must smaller Jervis Bay Kingfish annihilate anglers and make expensive tackle look cheap and truly appreciate this capture. 

Jack has kindly assisted many anglers with his wisdom and knowledge from rods, reels, braid, leaders, you name it even his new home made lures which are hot at the moment on kingfish to put friends onto that fish of a lifetime.. Its just amazing that we get fish ranging as little as 2-3 kg so aggressive smashing poppers to those unstoppable demons encountered from time to time makes you just wanna keep casting.....

Here are a couple of pics of the fish and a few of his homemade lures

Cheers Luke

[Aaron Concord]

Luke,

Thanks for sharing!

That's an impressive kingie for any locale, let alone popping off the rocks.
I have never been to Jervis Bay but I know it is a difficult kingie spot so kudos to your mate!

It would seem that your mate Jack has a serious case of 'popping madness'.......the worst cases involve making and turning out home made works of art that are meticulously painted in the hope of being destroyed. 
The popper collection looks cool though!

Here's hoping for a large hoodlum for you soon,

Cheers

Aaron.

[Mark Harris]

Mark,

I'm useless at temptation.  Every facet of fishing that I touch, I end up in the deep end!
The gear that was as good as it got back when I started was an Albagraph 6 with a Penn 850SS and 15kg Sunline Sigma.......you could almost turn a 20lber with that gear!  You lost more than you landed.
To be truthful, I avoided GT's a lot in the late 80's and most of the 90's due to the high lure mortality!
Having seen a fair bit of progression in the sport, from mono to braid and from 3 kilos of strike drag to 20+, I think the gear is worth the money. 
I saw a lot of gear break early on, especially when we all upped the ante to 50+lb braid, there was no option: either pay for a better product or have it die!
The variety to pick from, pre-2002 for me was very limited.
It was only when Eddie Kazama came out from Japan that I saw what Aussie anglers were missing out on!
Brands such as Carpenter and Fisherman were unheard of in my circles anyway and trust me, I dug around!

I know exactly what you mean Aaron. These days I fully understand why such expensive equipment is required, although I still waste loads of money on completely unnecessary gear like Japanese gloves (made in China) and absurdly expensive reel knobs!

[Alex Jordan]

Actually it was this forum and Luke's GT site that got me interested - realised the dream by catching my first in April this year

Fantastic resource that is so useful - keep up the good work guys!

[Travis Heaps]

I can't remember exactly but sometime around buying my first boat I came across this site, from there I stumbled onto Nomads videos and saw some footage of them casting for GT's at Island Head Creek.  I couldnt believe how far they were casting lures and that that area was essentially "just up the road". 

From there I bought a Stella FA10000 and a GT Special without ever having set eyes on either before and with my previous most extravagant purchase being a Stradic 4000 I thought would be good for Flathead...  First morning popping out at a reef 50km off Cardwell, not having a clue where to start I was demolished on about my fifth cast by a fish that broke both Jobus, we soon sussed out to cast to Fusies and the rest is history.

[Aaron Concord]

Travis,

I'm the chuckle head on the camera in the original Shoalwater Video.
It was a trip meant to just suss out the inshore, creek and offshore potential of the place.
Needless to say, it had a massive impact on us when we found the GT's in Island Head Creek.......it was insane!
It only takes one really impressive bite from a GT and you just want to see more of it.........I love them!

Mark,

I'd like a dollar for every impulse buy I did when I started popping.......if I saw something big I bought it.  If there was something bigger, I needed it too!
Don't feel bad.  I tried to help with the addictions of fellow popping addicts for ages now, though I think I might have made some enemies amongst my mates wives!

Aaron.

[Ken Best]

It started for me when my local tackle shop loaned me a Saltiga 6000GT for a killit/fillet trip to the Swains about 7 years ago. If I lost the reel it was mine!!
I took along some R2S poppers and a Nomad dogtooth 100 stick. No-one on the trip believed I could have paid $50 for a lure.
Anyway, first cast of the popper had a 5kg trout and first cast of the stick was a 15kg GT.      I'M HOOKED!!

And like you guys, the buying frenzy has continued. I like good gear and if you look after it, it lasts a long time.

As for my local Tackle shop, I purchased two Saltigas from them when I got home from that trip.

[Travis Heaps]

...I took along some R2S poppers and a Nomad dogtooth 100 stick. No-one on the trip believed I could have paid $50 for a lure.
Anyway, first cast of the popper had a 5kg trout and first cast of the stick was a 15kg GT.      I'M HOOKED!!

Haha Ken - exactly the same as me with the lures!  Exact same Nomad lure and around $50, i thought i'd lost the plot and so did my mate with me when I bought it.  The next day I got 3 GT's in 4 casts with it, I still have the lure at home, chewed to pieces and retired. 

I wonder if instant success is a common theme for newcomers that get hooked?  I know GT fishing was my first real proof that lures "worked" and i've spent a few 8-10 hour days since then flogging the water with them for nary a follow, quite happily though.  If that had been my first experience I wonder if I would have gone for it so hard?