With five first timers to the Andamans, it was only Moncho from this group who knew what to expect from the GT in this part of the world. After being introduced to each other and exchanging fishing experiences, everyone was keyed up to land their personal best. Our previous groups’ catch reports had us all expecting GT in the 40 kilos plus range, as we set out on day one. Getting acquainted with our boats and crew was a quick task and now it was time to introduce our GT’s to the guests. On the first day we were fishing not too far from home – just to give the anglers a feel of things and get accustomed to the relentless casting and setting hooks into bony jaws. With 16 fish landed by the end of the day and the biggest GT weighing 25 kilos, we were ready to hit our monster grounds on day two.
After a long ride on the second day, we started casting a mix of stickbaits and poppers and soon found what the GT’s favoured. While Peter landed some decent size fish, Moncho and I each lost fish and lure with line busts. Shortly afterwards Moncho hooked into a brute that inhaled the stick bait and ran like a train, taking him around the boat twice before we could grab the leader. He was soon posing with his personal best GT at 44 kilos! It might have been a good idea to remove his buff to get a glimpse of his content smile! Next time, I suppose. His BKK trebles had been opened out by this fish and needed to be replaced. This season has already seen the best hooks being tested to the extreme. Hard to imagine how these fish manage to do this.
Todd and gang were pulling in decent size fish as well. While they lost a few really big fish they managed to land a 36 kilo GT. We also had some nice Bohar Snapper, Bluefin Trevally, Green Jobfish and Barracuda on deck to make for another great day’s fishing.
With winds having picked up the next day we didn’t have much choice but to fish in the shelter of the island and accounted for just a few GT. We headed back home the next day since Todd and gang had flights to catch. Peter and Moncho still had another day to fish.
Our final day of the trip saw the action pick up only late in the morning. We decided to drop jigs for a change in action and that’s when Peter hooked into what seemed to be a big doggie. The fight lasted for a few minutes before his rod exploded from the handle. Later he had a huge Barracuda on popper that might have offered a little consolation for his broken rod. Moncho landed a few decent GT and I managed a decent Dogtooth on my light rod. We had now moved closer to an island and were fishing shallow water when I hooked into a GT that took a lot of drag and left me thinking I was going to be broken off on the big rocks looming below the surface. But I guess I was really lucky. After a few exhausting moments my personal best GT was on deck, coming in at 42 kilos and bringing this trip to an end.
Tackle Used
Rods: Racepoint 200, 150, Ripple Fisher Final Spirit GT, Outer Banks OBX 300, OBX 400, Smith AMJ Offshore Stick, Ripple Fisher GT 80 Reversal Nano, Ultimo 79 MH, PD World Combat Extreme, Hots Jipang 711 MH and Carpenter
Reels: Shimano Stella 10000, 14000, 18000, Saragosa 20000, 8000, Daiwa Dogfight 8000
Line and Leader: Varivas and Gerry brown PE 6, 8 and 10. 150, 170, 200 lb mono
Lures: Shell Shaping, Hammerhead, FCL Labo, Yambal GT Harrier, Cubera and Kokari
Species caught: Giant Trevally, Bluefin Trevally, Dogtooth Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, Bohar Snapper, Grouper, Coral Trout, Maori Perch, Barracuda and Black-tipped Reef Shark
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