GTs Close to Home!

[DarrenC]

Was lucky enough to chance upon some bruisers recently while fishing some reefs off the East Coast of Malaysia. GTs aren't residential around these parts and turn up only for a few weeks in a year and sure do make their presence felt! We lost heaps and went home alot poorer - being under-gunned is an understatement! Personally lost a Dorado Slider and a Baby Runboh amongst other poppers like the Roostas, others weren't so lucky! By the end of the day we also had broken Evergreen and Majorcraft rods...


Heaviest outfit on board was my Stella 6000 mated to a PE4, 100gm max tuna/dorado casting rod with 50lb braid and 60lb leader. Suffice to say it was pushed beyond its intended limits. The fishing was brutal as we fished ON the reef, with deep water too far away to be an option. It was locked down drags and palmed spools coupled with mad cranking - fights were kept shortest possible and would be over in 3 mins. THE PAIN!


This fella on a Stickie went about 20 kilos. Big for these parts where the average GT weighs 2-3kg...


This guy nudged 30 kilos, a lucky catch indeed and a new record...

[Jon Li]

Hi Darren ,

Congratulation on your successes , don't think MajorCraft n EverGreen are destined for big GT fishing to start with but that bend on the green rod indicates that rod is more suitable for Stella 4000/5000 instead of Stella 6000 .

Expensive in term of gears lost/broken as may be but the experience would last a lifetime !

Jon .

[lonhro]

That is soo Awsome.

If only they made there way down to sydney every now and then...
Atleast there were no Reel failures. Surprising what those Stella 6000 reels can deal with.

Do you upgrade the Terminals on your lures


Well done Darren

[Luke Wyrsta]

Some great fishing there mate - well done!

[Brandon Khoo]

Darren - congratulations! Those two fish are wonderful captures on PE4. In fact, I'd rate them as amazing captures if you were fishing in a reefy area.

[voodoo]

Great photos as well!  Congrats

[DarrenC]

Thanks guys, i really wish we could tangle with GTs of this size on a regular basis but unfortunately they are a by-catch at best.

Hi Jon, that rod is a Ripple Fisher Aquila76, rated to PE4 and 100gm lures, the Stella 6k weighs it up perfectly... Of cos it was intended for casting stickbaits/poppers to tuna and dorado so up against a rampaging GT it was punching way above its weight. But it held up fine despite the high drag and just made me love it more!

We don't gear up intending for bruiser-class GTs as they are almost non-existent in these waters. Our normal targets are Spanish Macks, Cobia, Sails and various Trevs like Gold-Spots, Goldens and Bluefin from 5-10kgs on average, this explains our choice of PE1-3 rods matched to 3000-5000 sized reels. We make the best of what is avalable in our waters thus enjoy great fun on the light stuff!

Cheers

[DarrenC]

Do you upgrade the Terminals on your lures

Hey Randy, yup most original terminals are ditched once the lure leaves the packaging. Owner and Gama trebles are the mainstay but been experimenting with singles and assist cords too. Of cos split rings and swivels are not to be forgotten, i try to get the best available to avoid disappointment on the water.

[Jon Li]

Hi Darren ,

The bent on that Rippler rod suggest it has reached the " saturation " point where the blank is not helping to lift the load , remind me of the BC range in Carpenter , I guess those big GTs were the pleasant surprises of the trip , very impressed !

Jon . 

[Brandon Khoo]

I was thinking the same thing - the little Ripple Fisher looks way overloaded beyond the capacity of the blank. Obviously a very good blank though to take that kind of abuse.

A couple of broken rods are worth it for an experience that comes along so rarely, I think. That second fish is a personal best? It really is a wonderful capture on such light gear. Darren, I don't think you'd have had any control on that fish, did you? It would have just been running crazily whereever it wanted to!

I had a really good fish hooked on my last trip on 10kg gear on a baitcaster (wasn't really fishing for GTs). I couldn't do a damn thing. We just chased it and chased it and in the end, it rubbed me off on the bottom.

Is it a spawning aggregation, Darren?

[DarrenC]

Hi Jon,

You are right, i was all prepared for the imminent explosion as the blank was pushed way above its limit. Also maybe the angle of the photo did exagerate the curve visually, i'm guessing. Here's another pic of the rod lifting...



Brandon, after recovering from the shock of losing a couple of bruisers i learnt to turn the tables around and with the couple of fish landed managed to gain control over the fight. It was no holds barred locked down drags and heavy palming of spools, make or break so to speak. Of cos when it REALLY wanted to go there was nothing one can do but i found they could be coaxed in by relentless pressure and no let up in the cranking - line was either leaving the spool, if not it would be on its way back in, there would be no stoppage, no breaks, no dogged see-saw battles. I learnt the limits of the rod that day and i'm glad it didn't cost me! Also learnt NOT to leave the gimble belt at home at all times! hahaha

That fish is certainly a personal record for me, and according to the guide, for the area too. I'm not much of a GT fisherman only because i can't afford multiple trips to exotic faraway destinations, at least not yet! And even so i understand even on such trips it can be hard (depending on location) to encounter such sizes. My best from the Maldives was only just shy of 19kgs.

That GT that monstered your 10kg BC outfit wouldn't be the last bruiser to snatch your light lure. It happens pretty often i guess, especially in exotic places like Marion. I've learnt through my light tackle forays that some pretty large fishes can be tamed on light gear when everything is set-up to perfection and the limit found and pushed, but GT? They are a totally different story!

Spawning aggresion could be a factor, but seriously, we are far from finding the truth. This is rural Malaysia, and the only source of consistent info comes from the guide and all he knows is that they aren't residential fish - probably on their migratory route and stopping by for a feed. Today we have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg and who knows what we'll find in the seasons to come? i'm excited!

[Brandon Khoo]

that's really exciting. You should record the date, tide etc and come back and try again in the next season to see if they are back. As far as I am aware, GTs don't migrate but I could very well be wrong. We know they form huge spawning aggregations at certain times of the year but that is about as much as I know of their behaviour.

The picture above is a great picture but the curve is still within the rod's capacity. Check out the photo below from my last trip to Bugatti Reef. The rod is a Carpenter TBL711 RF35, a PE8 rated rod. The angler is Malcolm Crane, an excellent GT fisherman but boy, did he get that rod at some interesting angles during the trip! He really loaded that rod up but it took everything he asked of it.

Normally, if I am locking up, I pretty much point the rod at the fish, even if the rod is a PE12 model like a SP78-UHL. There is a limit to how much load a rod will handle untimately. I have had quite a number of fish in the past where notwithstanding my best efforts to lock the spool, I just could not physically prevent the fish from taking line. These are of course really massive fish.

I've hooked lots of GTs in the past on light outfits but the fight is normally over in a few seconds. This one was a half hour before I lost it. For me to land a good GT on light tackle would be pretty much just good luck more than anything else.

Believe me, I know what you mean about affording the trips to exotic locations. You just got to work hard (really hard) and make the commitment and in a few years, you never know!

[DarrenC]

Hey Brandon,

Nice bend on Malcolm's rod! Must've been one big one!

The GTs aren't probably migratory but i guess their usual hangouts have yet to be found, probably well offshore. They are known to be found at offshore oilrigs wide of the coast. The reason why they travel inshore is still a mystery, hopefully a pattern will emerge and we'll understand them better. Till then we'll just continue to fish hard!

The exotic destinations will happen soon, being an avid lure caster, jigger and fly fisho just makes decisions so much harder!  Next week its off to the Burma Banks for some serious jigging and in Jan its the Maldives for bones (hopefully!) on fly. Well there's still this wkend to go hustle the GTs yet!

[Jon Li]

Hi Darren ,

I hope you will release those GTs in the future , the population of big GTs are dwindling fast due to their succeptibility in being caught by popping methods and the only way to get a successfull CnR is to cut the fight as short as possible , this means using heavier tackle than that you are using .

Jon .

[DarrenC]

Hi Darren ,

I hope you will release those GTs in the future , the population of big GTs are dwindling fast due to their succeptibility in being caught by popping methods and the only way to get a successfull CnR is to cut the fight as short as possible , this means using heavier tackle than that you are using .

Jon .

Hi Jon,

Fight time, even on the "lite" gear, was approx 3-4mins, i rest my case and i'm not even gonna get started on CnR issues, just know that i do what's right, thank you very much.

Have a nice day!

Cheerios