One of the highlights of the last few months was an interesting trip we ran for a group from Kuwait. One would normally assume anglers from this region wouldn’t venture to a far and exotic destination like the Andaman Islands. However, this group came kitted perfectly for the task at hand. Their primary aim was to catch GT on popper and to try and catch some Dog Tooth Tuna as well.
Their first day was spent going through the huge inventory of lures they carried and narrowing the selection down to shapes and colors that were currently raising the most fish. Our skippers and crew assisted them in rigging up their rods and lures. Once all their tackle was ready it was time for dinner and an early night before the first day out on our 37ft center console Rampage.
The next morning we set off to a distant Island in the south where we’d previously had some great GT fishing. It was decided that two anglers would fish with poppers and two with stick bait. It wasn’t long before the poppers started raising GT. We also had a couple of follows by Dog tooth Tuna so it wouldn’t be long before one of us was hooked up with one of these awesome fish. On this particular day, there were schools of Dog Tooth Tuna, Barracuda and Shark under the boat. When we did get a strike from a Doggie it wasn’t long before a Barracuda or a Shark came up and took a bite out of the fish we’d hooked.
A couple of pictures of Dog Tooth we did hook but had no chance getting to the boat in one piece. We eventually moved off the marks and looked for bait schools, which normally have GT lurking around them.
Aziz hooked into a vibrant looking Blue Fin Trevally and was amazed at how hard they pulled. It wasn’t long before they had the fish in the boat and released after a few quick photographs.
Meshal was up next with a perfect looking Andaman GT that couldn’t resist his black and silver Cubera150.
A picture of the GT on the Cubera150. Given that conditions were bright and we practically had no wind, dark lures seemed to be working a lot better than lighter ones. It is funny because, the previous week the hot favorite color was pink!
Meshal with his first Green Job Fish that he caught off a shallow patch of reef. These fish are not shy of lures half their length. While we do catch them on popper, they mostly fall for jigs like their cousins the Rosy and Rusty Job Fish.
Another picture of Meshal with a perfect looking Andaman GT against a perfect backdrop. The islands we were fishing on this day have kilometers of reef around them and abound with fish life.
Hamad with a brute of a GT that pulled him around the boat but couldn’t get the better of him.
Aziz casting at a single rock that sits in the middle of the sea, a spot where you are surrounded by water for as far the eye can see.
Aziz was soon rewarded with a beast of a GT that came out of the swirling current and inhaled his popper. Using the current to its advantage, the GT headed straight down to the reef. After a short and painful tug of war for Aziz he managed to turn the GT and winch it back to the boat. After a few photographs and a successful release Aziz earned a much-needed break.
The much-experienced Kotesh and the newest addition to our crew (recently renamed Cortez by one our guests) with one of the many Barracuda we hooked on the trip.
Aziz took a break from filming the trip with his many Go-Pros to catch this Blue Fin trevally.
Meanwhile, there was a flurry of action at the back of the boat as a school of 10 to 15 Dog Tooth Tuna competed for a black Maria stick bait. It wasn’t long before we had one of them in the boat.
Though much of our time was spent focusing on top water lures we did have a couple of very productive jigging sessions. Both times, we were fishing deep reefs and lost count of the GT we landed on jig. Though most fish were not large, we had a fish every drop. The GT were even taking stationary jigs that day.
A very unique looking fish came up on jig. A strangely colored Blue Fin Trevally that was half dark and half light.
Kotesh with a beautifully colored Gold Spotted Trevally caught on jig.
Double and triple hook ups aren’t a rarity in this part of the world. The boys proudly posing with their fish before releasing them back to the reef.
After a successful week of fishing where we had some nice GT on popper, managed to land some Dog Tooth on stick bait and catch dozens of other fish we were pretty satisfied with the results of this week. The Andaman Islands have a lot in store for keen anglers who can adapt to the prevailing conditions. The group realized they had hardly scratched the surface on this trip and is back with us in 2016 to try new techniques and fish different areas. We have already planned their trip in great detail and now have to wait for the better part of the year to pass before they are back.
The group was keen on covering their fishing trip with us on video. Here are two short videos from this week.
Team GFA
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