GT Peak Times Over The World.

[Tony Warnett]

With Out wanting to side track some one else's thread I thought I would post this up.
With GT spots it is very hit and miss weather being a big part.
For example Australia cyclone  season Jan - March East coast to Fiji not good!!(Where should I go Then).
Talking to a guy this morning from New Cal best time he believes is October - November for New Cal.
Exmouth April to May Great GT fishing.
From all out there must be an area around the world that one can fish that month of the year for the year and have a perfect schedule as to speak for conditions.
Peoples opinion's will vary obviously but it would be interesting to see. 
January ?
February ?
March ?
April ?
May ?
June ?
July ?
Etc etc.

[Luke Wyrsta]

Nice thread Tony!

My best periods for New Caledonia have always been the "hotter" months where the water temperature has also risen significantly. Therefore, I would place GT as an ideal option between the months of November and February. The others months also make for great fishing as well, but the dynamics are very different - thus considering other locations during "cooler" season is a better idea.

Tokara is best fished between April and June to coincide with flying fish season (primarily late May to mid-June).

Other locations such as Kiribati, right on the equator - tend to be year-round propositions.

The problem with some locations such as Fiji and PNG, is that the prime fishing can be during cyclone season - it can be worth the risk, but that all comes down to how many trips you can schedule and risk missing during a given year.

[Mark Harris]

South Indonesia and eastern Indonesia (Bali, Lombok. Sumba, Komodo, Alor, Banda Sea/Maluku etc.....)

Jan - peak, but cyclones could kill a trip
Feb - peak, but cyclones could kill a trip
Mar - peak
Apr - begins to tail off but can still be very good
May - tailing off
Jun - cold southerly waters and big swells - difficult
Jul - cold southerly waters and big swells - difficult
Aug-  cold southerly waters and big swells - difficult
Sep - usually around mid-month starts to get better
Oct - early season peak
Nov - early season peak
Dec - peak

[Nick Bowles]

Good idea Tony! Luke/ Brandon maybe a calendar can be put together of all the peak times to fish for GTs around the World. I for one always want a GT destination for July/August as there is nothing in this region due to Monsoon?

This is the calendar for Northern and Southern Oman and Socotra
January - Cooler winter months, fishing generally slow in all destinations. Towards the end of January the water and weather starts to warm up and GTs start arriving in decent numbers if water is warm enough.
February - is a good month in Musandam Northern Oman with good numbers of medium and small GTs. Southern Oman from early in the month if water is warm enough the GT start to spawn. Peak season starts middle of February.
March - Is a great month and Musandam, Southern Oman and Socotra all firing and lots of big GTs. Towards the end of the month wind starts to blow a bit which is good if not to hard.
April - is considered the big GT month, all location firing but weather starts to worsen towards the end of the month with the oncoming khareef (monsoon) but if you get good weather end of April the fishing is fantastic. A gamble worth taking if it pays off.
May - Socotra and Southern Oman have stopped fishing due to the khareef. Musandam starts to fire in end of April into May as it is protected by the sub-continent from the monsoon and lots of GTs of all sizes.
June - Musandam still fishes well but the summer heat is a big factor and we normally close our season 15 June.
July - To hot
August - To hot
September We open our season 1 September. The brave start fishing in Musandam Northern Oman early September as the water and air temperature starts to drop and a lot of game fish move back into the shallower water. Can have some really good fishing for medium sized GTs along with sailfish and kingfish on surface lures.
October - is one of the best months of the year with calm weather after the khareef and a lot of hungry fish in all destinations.
November - fishing is excellent in November in all destinations.
December - early December the fishing is still good and then towards Christmas we normally get about 3-4 weeks of cold weather into middle of January that slows the fishing.

Hope that helps from this side of the World! Interested to see the different fishing seasons!

Cheers,
Nick

[Corey Howell]

solid call Tony! esp for those forum members currently freezing their proverbials off in the australian winter

up here in the western Solomons we're fortunate to have shitloads of GTs and most other things with big teeth and fins. We're also far enough west and north to not have to worry about cyclones [120 years and counting], and southern hemi groundswells rarely have enough steam left to bother boats casting

BUT, being just 8 and a bit degrees from the equator, we face considerable challenges in predicting PRIMETIME. Reef-associating pelagics aka doggies, spanish et al are typically deeper and harder to catch with surface techniques when SST's push the 31C mark in summer [where a decent set of lungs and a 140 railgun, or a <decidedly unsportsmanlike> 130lb chair tackle and downrigger come in handy to find gold]. July thru early September the trades often blow 15-20 and trollers and SWF crew are looking green.

GTs though - as many forum members will attest to - are contrary bastards when it comes to converting hard-earned cash to trip dates. It's only through relentless effort - savage blisters and severe casting RSI - that we begin to see strike/hookup patterns beyond the monthly lunar cycle and semi-random baitfish movements.

Thus in the quest to transition the Melanesian economy from the absolute rape-and-pillage of logging & mining to something more sustainable, it would be doing everyone a favour to translate the apparently random GT bite to something compatible with modern time-expensive schedules [until such time time as those big ugly trevors wise up anyway].

the transitional seasons - April thru June & Sept thru Oct - we're seeing consistent action across casting, trolling & SWF, and recommend these months to travel to the western Sols. For adventurous/well seasoned anglers, the tradewind months of July, August & September see the GTs firing - when you can get to them, and depending on your balance.

be great to hear input from anyone else re Solomons / Bougainville and GTs!

best regards

Corey

[Corey Howell]

further to above post - more work needs to be done on the summer bite. thru the hottest SST months of Dec-Jan-Feb when the hoo and spanish and doggies go deep and off the bite for surface fishing, the GTs seem to be fishing well, but no stats or year-to-year catch comparisons to be sure. anyone out there on the forum had consistent GT action in the Sth Pacific 5 to 10 degrees from the equator during hottest SST months?

[Luke Wyrsta]

Corey, I was actually in touch with you some 5 odd or more years ago regarding the Solomon's. Passed through once but didn't get to fish. All the islands and pacific atolls of the Solomons are a great attraction although I'm yet to see anything of monster proportions reported.

[Corey Howell]

hey Luke - Wilderness still operating in the village - sportfishing and scuba now - John Lave still there guiding fishing clients in the two longboats, quietly adding to that big fishing database in his head, pity cant download it

not sure how many GT clients thru, not many i'd guess as the occasional boat i see out on the GT island is just John brushing up his skills. v v few GT anglers visiting the Sols, the anglers that do make it here mostly after hoo and yellowfin it seems. still nowhere near that critical mass where patterns start emerging [or fish get wary]

done much casting on offshore seamounts? some crazy pinnacles out here that jump from 1000+ to 10 or so metres. logical place for the limo-sized GTs to be hanging out, and a lot more tackle-friendly than the reef edges and channels. so many setups and never enough time