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Mark Harris

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A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 09, 2012, 10:02:15 PM
Just back from an enjoyable day's fishing at Batu Abah in Bali with John Cahill on Adhek's boat, the aptly named GT1.

Although the bite window was disappointingly short (about 1 hour on the incoming tide) we did manage a raise a good fish and a couple of smaller ones.

About 20 minutes after arriving and seeing the current not quite doing what I hoped it would be, John sent a cast out of the wrong side of the boat in the opposite direction to the strike zone.  First chug and he was smashed - so much for Adhek and myself having the local knowledge of where to cast!  A long fight ensued and I reckon John was within about 30-40 metres of being spooled. Anyway it ended well with a very grunty and huge shouldered GT on board. Weight was called at 35 kgs with the provisio that is gets hard with such broad shouldered fish. It was 126 cm fork length with a massive 96 cm girth.  May have been a bit closer to 40 kg, but  I will stick with Adhek's call of 35.  A PB by a country mile for John and a very happy boat all round.

I then picked up a healthy 18-19 kg fish and John a while later a smaller specimen.  Then it died, and aside from a few follows from Barracuda and Rainbow Runners, we saw no more fish action.

The Batu Abah site is so like that - the window is often short and highly current dependent, but when you hit it right there are quality GTs to be had.

Successful lures were Adhek PomPom 160 (2 fish) and Craftbait GT3 150 (1 fish).

Also, Adhek's long awaited large cupped 180 gram chugger is now close to release. Really enjoyed using the final prototype of this today. For such a large popper it is surprisingly easy to get chug from and I think this one will go down well when it finally gets released.

John with the biggest fish, 126 cm fork length, 96 cm girth, caught with a PomPom 160:


Me and 18-19 kg fish:



John with a little one:


John, Adhek and a bent GT Special


I love this pic, it is very evocative of the site. That's Lombok in the distance:
Last Edit: March 10, 2012, 01:44:29 AM by Mark Harris

Andrew Susani

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 09, 2012, 10:44:14 PM
Good read Mark, what is the deal with the cable ties around the tail wrists?
Focus on the pop

Mark Harris

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 12:46:32 AM
It's an informal tagging program that Adhek carries out Andrew - really just for his own interest and that of other local anglers.

I would like to get a proper tagging program going here but it is not proving easy to get co-operation.

Peter Olesen

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 02:05:07 AM
Thanks for sharing, Mark. The big one is a beauty!
"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." Mark Twain

Steve Li

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 07:58:06 AM
Good size GTs! Didn't try any jigging since surface action wasn't great overall???

Mark Harris

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 10:27:27 AM
It was a popping trip Steve.  We could have had a jig in the afternoon I guess but that was not the objective of the day.

Rob Langridge

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 11:22:42 AM
Very nice report Mark.
John`s smile tells me he had a fantastic day on the water.
Keep the reports coming Mark.

Cheers Rob
Cheers,
Rob

Peter Morris

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 12:10:55 PM
Beauty Mark,

Very nice.

I think closer to 40kg is on the money for that fish.
With those measurements I reckon it would come in at very slightly over 40kg...(working off nomads methods).

Pete

Mark Harris

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 02:11:09 PM
Thanks Rob. It is always good to have played some role in getting someone into their first big GT.

Pete, I am reluctant to 2nd guess a weight called by somebody with 20 years of GT experience, but I did think it a bit bigger as I indicated in the original post.   

Yesterday was also the first time I have seen a GT Special loaded with a serious fish.  It's a more brutal rod than I expected, actually not very different to a Caranx Kaibutsu in that respect.  John is a fit and strong guy... just as well with a rod that gives the angler little relief!

Graham Scott

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 10:32:56 PM
nice fish Mark. Have you had anytag recaptures? We are looking at getting seriuos about tagging the locals

Mark Harris

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 10, 2012, 11:41:30 PM
Hi Graham, I would need to check but last I heard, 3 fish have been re-caught in the past 2 years, all in the direct area where they were tagged.

Give the number of GTs that are caught here, that tells me what I think I knew before - GTs are very abundant tropical reef predators!

Warwick Joyce

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 11, 2012, 08:29:08 AM

Yesterday was also the first time I have seen a GT Special loaded with a serious fish.  It's a more brutal rod than I expected, actually not very different to a Caranx Kaibutsu in that respect.  John is a fit and strong guy... just as well with a rod that gives the angler little relief!

They are a fairly brutal rod hey Mark! Very capable of knocking over big fish, at the anglers expense though!

Nice report!

Andy Rowe

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 11, 2012, 07:14:08 PM
Great report Mark, that is a beauty of a GT.
Set the ray to GeeT

Al Morrison

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 13, 2012, 02:32:46 PM
Mark,

Cracking fish and a decent return for an hours "window".

Cant wait to get there in a month or so.

Moral of the story is to cast in the opposite direction to where you say eh?

Mark Harris

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Re: A very nice Bali GT - March 9th 2012
March 13, 2012, 03:08:49 PM
Yes Al, completely ignore everything I suggest and you will catch catch more fish :)