We had Sami and the group of his Kuwaiti friends who had fished with us last season return. The group consisted of Sami, Sami, Salah, Fawzi, Aziz, Abu Saud and Mohammed. They we keen to go after Tuna this season but the Yellowfin Tuna seem to late this season and although we did a lot of searching they played hard to get, with sporadic hits disappearing into the depths each time we got within casting distance.

On Day One we had good tides. The big GTs seemed to like deeper water and that is where we started our fishing. We raised some big fish on day one as was evident from the bite marks on the lures but the hooks did not set and there were two bustoffs on big fish for Fawzi who later discovered his line roller had corroded. We then went jigging in the afternoon to a seamount and immediately got into the Dogtooth. Reels screamed and then lines just went limp as either the dogtooth bit through or the sharks got them and we retrieved only the heads of nice sized doggies. Sami hooked into a great fish on his light setup which he fought for over twenty minutes and got it to the surface where we clearly saw it to be a nice size doggy however luck was not to be as it cut through the light leader.

The current did not pick up and was in some cases non-existent even though we had some of the largest tides of the year, El Nino?? When we did get current the bites came on and we had some great GT bites with over 60 fish landed in a three hour session.

The last day the guys on Halcyon 3 had a good top-water bite and landed 13 good GTs up to 25kg. Rampage with all the pros on board tried to put one fish on the boat. Although we had lots of hook-ups the only one to put a decent GT on deck was Fawzi. Sami hooked into one that cleared 2/3 of his accurate spool before he got it back minus the jig and a completely frayed leader.

All in all a great trip with plenty of laughs and good company. Sami’s report is below.

Catch and release!

Tight lines
Darran

 

Sami’s Report

With the success to our latest trip to the Andaman last year the Kuwait group could not resist booking a trip for 2016.
Darran and the guys greeted upon our arrival to Port Blair airport and off to the lodge to be surprised by the change that took place, fascinated was an understatement.
they turned the place upside down and changed everything, I mean everything and they sure did a good job, so a big congrats goes to all involved!
On our first day both boats stayed close to each other’s and we fished the same spots, we saw some big fish coming up to the lure but none of the guys were ready yet, still manage to have great time and good fishing on board.
We were hoping for the yellowfin tuna to show up but seems to have a late start this year we basically tried every day and we landed some of the smaller class fish.
The fishing was just like switch and related to current tide, when the majestic hour arrive the fishing was off the hook, we landed 64 GT’s on our second day between 2 boats with the biggest one close to the 22kg, it was a none stop action and we took advantage of it to the end.
The jigging was insane and I have to say that I enjoyed my lighter set up and get a kick out of it, so many good opportunity and descent size fish with no chance to land them.

The smaller size jigs that range from 50g to 150g did the trick and for some reason those fish deep under wanted the smaller size jigs.
we made a trip to invisible bank but were disappointed, there was no current whatsoever and decided to head back to give a shot around Havelock island that resulted with good fishing and endless schools of fusilier getting harassed by GT’s.
I have to say that the guys enjoyed the fishing and the good humor on board and they were happy and satisfied at the end of the trip.
I want to thank Game Fishing Asia for their service and hospitality, thank you guys!

Tackle used:
Rod: Carpenter, Race Point, El Maestro, Xzoga, Smith
Reel: Shimano, Daiwa, Accurate
Lure: Shell Shaping, Pelagic Warrior, Hammerhead, Siren, Carpenter,
Line: Varivas SMP, Power Pro Hollow
Leader: Fisherman, Varivas

Tight lines
Sami

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