What better way to start our first trip of the season than with a bunch of close buddies from Bangalore and Ananthapur. Moncho, Rasna, Ravi and Sahadev have fished with us in the past and decided to do an exploratory trip with us. Sadly though, the weather played spoil sport and we were limited to fishing in the sheltered part of the island on most of the days. Their spirits weren’t dampened though and both Sahadev and Moncho had bought themselves new tackle that needed to be put to the test.
Day 1 of their trip got the boys into their popping and jigging routine and with a dozen GT landed they were all warmed up for the bigger fish. A 25 kilo GT was the first biggie on Moncho’s new Ripple Fisher. The south west winds had picked up so we decided to fish Rutland, which was sheltered. Our hopes of heading farther down south were fading away as the weather wasn’t improving, but our anglers’ spirits were still high.
We headed out to check fishing spots around Havelock as well and found some snapper and grouper hanging out with the GT. With nothing too big landed, we were quite eager to push down a little farther south to a new destination for our friends. Weather conditions improved on the last day of their trip and both anglers managed to land their personal best GTs. Sahadev’s fish grabbed a stick bait that he cast into a bait school and Moncho experienced an explosive take when a monster GT slammed his popper. There was no stopping this brute as it dragged line over the rocks and ran like a train. Despite his line and leader being frayed, Moncho landed his fish after a few heart wrenching moments. He later described this action as a near death experience for him.
Sahadev had a massive strike while jigging in over 120 metres of water which left him hanging dangerously over the boat for dear life until he got some help holding onto the bent rod. Whatever fish it was ran without hesitation and eventually snapped the line.
The last day of their trip provided the best action with poppers and stick baits getting hammered amidst schools of bait fish. With 36 fish landed on the last day, and close to a 100 fish over the entire trip, the anglers were a happy lot.
Tackle Used
Rods: Ripple Fisher GT 80 Reversal Nano and Ultimo 79MH, Yamaga Blue Reef PE 10 711/10 Dual
Reels: Shimano Twin Power 14000 and Shimano Stella 14000
Line: Jerry Brown Solid, Tuffline,Varivas GT Max Power and Varivas Leader 170 lb
Lures: Ballyhoo Poppers 130 and 160, Hammerhead D cup, Heru, Cubera, Jai 150, Hammerhead Cherry Pai, FCL Labo CSP 220s and Drunkard 220 Stickbaits
Species caught: GT, Red Snapper, Grouper, Dogtooth Tuna, Rainbow Runner, Jobfish
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