In January 2015 we had the winners of our “Andaman Giveaway” fish with us in the Andaman Islands. Dutch angler Volkmar was the lucky winner selected at random and brought along his buddy Hendrik for the trip of a lifetime. They arrived the day before the fishing was to start in Port Blair after a long flight from their home country of Holland. We were at the airport to receive them and had them spend the day at our guesthouse over looking the sea, discussing various strategies we would use over the next five days of fishing. After a hearty meal prepared by our cook we started to get their tackle ready before we lost natural light.
After an early breakfast, we walked down to the boat located 5 minutes from the guesthouse. The wind was blowing from the North East as we headed out of the harbor and proceeded to our first spot of the day. We had chosen to fish South on the first day as the fishing was not very far away and it was more of a warm up day. We reached a very fishy outcrop that had schools of baitfish and a ripping current. Perfect conditions for GT to be in the area. Hendrik opened his account with a large Rainbow Runner that thought it would make a meal of his popper.
As we moved on to an off shore reef we came across a local fishing boat that had engine trouble. The fishermen were waving at us and looked relieved when we pulled up alongside them. We then spent the next half hour towing them back towards the island where they were expecting another boat to help them. Once we got them to shallow water, we headed back to our chosen fishing spot.
It wasn’t long before Volkmar was into his first GT. This fish came up and grabbed on to a River2Sea Dumbell popper. This fish was followed by many smaller GT that seemed to be plentiful on this reef. We continued fishing various reefs and had no shortage of top water action. Once we’d had a fair bit of action we made our way back to port with a tired and satisfied bunch of guys.
On the second day we headed East to a couple of small islands that have some spectacular GT fishing to offer. On reaching the area the wind had picked up and made conditions interesting, as we would also have to use sinking stick baits to make the most out of the conditions. We had quite a few GT up close to the islands where the sea was calmer. Hendrik soon landed his first Blue Fin Trevally and was amazed at how beautiful the fish was. After lunch we headed off into deeper water and tried a bit of jigging. We were plagued by smaller GT that are always the first to hit jigs. We also had some nice sized Mackerel Tuna on jig. We then headed back to Port Blair before we lost light.
Overnight the wind dropped off and the next morning we decided to make a long run down to one of our favorite spots. The area was on fire when we arrived and we were soon into some great action. We had over 30 GT in the next few hours with multiple double and triple hook ups! Hendrik caught his big GT and told us ‘anything after this is a bonus’. He also had a spectacular Red Bass come up and nail his popper. Meanwhile Volkmar was raising fish but they seemed to be bouncing off his poppers. His first GT in the boat was his 10th hook up. We also had some brute looking Black GT on this day. We feel this fish from deeper water fight harder than their fairer siblings. As the day progressed fatigue began to set in and we turned and made our way to Blair. This day was a perfect example of the quality fishing we have in the Andaman Islands.
On day 4 we decided to mix it up with a bit of jigging as well. We again had numerous GT but the doggies eluded us. Volkmar had his first good sized Grouper on jig and was thrilled to bits with it.
On our last day we chose to fish where we’d fished on the third day. We were primarily focusing on fishing with poppers and stick baits on this day. Luckily for us the GT were in a mood for top water lures and we were back in business right from the start of the day. This was another 30+ fish day for us. Hendrik was carrying a Pike lure he uses back home and was keen on getting a couple of GT on it – which he did. The fishing was like any GT fishing day with mangled trebles, multiple hook ups, lots of photos and much drama on the boat. It was a day we won’t forget in a long while.
For this trip Volkmar had worked on building his own GT fishing popper. The popper worked pretty well and raised many a GT. By day 5 his popper was crushed in half and now has been retired to his wall. It’s back to the drawing board and we are keen to see what design Volkmar comes up with next and to see if he will indeed construct a ‘GT proof’ lure.
We were very happy with the results of this trip and the opportunity we created to display the awesome GT fishing we have here. We plan to run future trips like this one and hope to see many new anglers taking up the sport and fishing with us in the Andaman Islands.
We hope to see you all again soon!!
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