Bali - mid-December 2012

[Andrew Smith]

Great images and quality fish there Mark and Simon. Well Done!!! Just makes me want to get back there 

[Mark Harris]

Thanks Andy . Look forward to seeing you up here again soon.

[Andrew Smith]

Very soon! Flights are booked and paid for!!! I'm coming back!!!

[Charles Cintron]

Nice GT's to close out the year Mark, like the volcano pic.

[Evan Gluck]

I would like to visit Bali one day and now I know to bring my fishing tackle!  Thanks for posting. 

[Mark Harris]

Charles, thank you. Volcano silhouettes must be a fairly familiar sight for you guys  .

[John Cahill]

Cheers JC. You guys also did very well.  I am still seeking that 140 cm + fork length at Batu Abah!

Now that would be a fish in that current, im sure you are up to it!

[Brad.Bell]

Top report Mark

Great photos from a different location to the Norm, well done!

DIY all the way

[Mark Harris]

Thanks Brad.

The boys are still catching good fish out at this site. Unfortunately I have been so busy with work over Christmas that I have not managed to get out there and enjoy them some more.

[John Cahill]

Thanks Brad.

The boys are still catching good fish out at this site. Unfortunately I have been so busy with work over Christmas that I have not managed to get out there and enjoy them some more.

Looks like I might get out for one final crack on the 6th Mark - fingers crossed!

[Brandon Khoo]

Great to see Bali is still capable of producing fish like these

[Mark Harris]

It is indeed Brandon.

The Batu Abah site is relatively small and it gets lot of fishing pressure.  As much as anything else I think the larger GTs are just now much more aware of lures and therefore much harder to catch.  Most of the regular anglers who go there handle the fish well and understand how to best release them.  There is one notable exception - a charter operation run by an expat who kills everything he catches.

I think the familiarity issue is why sinking sticks have done well in recent times - it's a different presentation that the fish are not so used to.

Anyway, as you say, it is great that a site like this holds such good GTs.

[Brandon Khoo]

It is really great to see an area that gets significant fishing pressure producing as that really is an endorsement for CnR and is a credit to the operators and anglers there (well, all but one).

It is just depressing reading about charter operators who still kill all they catch. Surely they should have more common sense than that. I was watching a fishing progam on Foxtel here yesterday ahere they were at one of the Pacific Islands and during the course of the program, every single dogtooth, wahoo etc got a gaff in the head. 

[John Cahill]

The operator that I am pretty sure mark is referring to reports that he donates the fish to an orphanage, right or wrong I am unsure, but I have recently lobbied him to think differently at least about GTs.  I am awaiting his response as we speak!!

[Mark Harris]

Good luck with that John. I just received a stream of pompous abuse when I tried.

Brandon, real CnR efforts have definitely been made in Bali (at least by the dreadful standards of elsewhere in South-east Asia) and as you say, I am sure this is a key reason why the site still produces.

In places like the Pacific Islands and indeed Southeast Asia, I can certainly understand why some fish are taken for economic reasons.  But bagfuls makes no sense. Nor does it when the perpetrators can afford very expensive boat charters.