Having fished in the Andaman Islands before, the four French gentlemen were very excited to try Sri Lanka for the first time, hoping to catch big.
The recent weeks in Sri Lanka had been quite slow in terms of numbers but very generous in fish size, with regular catches between 30-40kg.
Going out on their first day the forecast predicted strong wind and rough seas. Treated with big swells and choppy sea the plans were to go and try to catch a big one as these conditions are perfect for the big mamas frolicking over deep spots.
Jean Paul slowly swept his Carpenter Pandora and suddenly a pig’s back broke the surface. With a slurp the GT inhaled the Stick bait and went for the reef. Unable to stop the fish the battle was lost and everybody felt gutted. The day ended on 1 GT landed at around 17kg with 8 bites throughout the day.
Looking at the forecast for the following two days, the wind was going to remain, so the group decided to go jigging in the mornings. Catching both GT and many other hard fighting Trevally species that roam the open waters of Kirinda makes jigging a lot of fun when the action is on, the group managed 51bites during the second and third day with 16 fish in the boat, including a nice King Mackerel on popper in the afternoon.
With three days remaining, the focus turned to popping and areas in coloured water. The winds had past and the surface was like a mirror, seeing around three to four sea snakes every day cruising around in open waters and basking in the baking hot sun.
A lot of action greeted us on day four and five. The boys dusted off their old pencil poppers and went to work. On the flat surface the Heru Skipjack and the trusted Surface Bull from Yo-zuri really looked scared with fish chasing behind on almost every cast. These two days ended on a total of 84 bites!
The last day the weather had changed drastically during the night and the rain was pouring down.
Kitted with raincoats, we brought some homebrewed coffee and chocolate biscuits.
It almost felt like we were fishing for northern pike, back in Europe.The last day ended with 4 landed fish for 11 bites.
During this trip we have seen how the local fishermen come closer and closer to the shore, searching for tuna. We’re also seeing groups of dolphins breaking the surface every day in search of baitfish. We are REALLY excited for the last few weeks of the season in Kirinda!
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