Amrit and Harish got in touch with us a couple of months back and decided to fish with us in the Andamans. He conveyed his enthusiasm through numerous chats and we became friends even before he arrived at our guest house. The couple turned out to be the most eager fishing duo we have come across so far and it was a real pleasure to take them out fishing. Our first day with them was an introduction to port Blair and what the island had to offer. What better way to get a feel of the land than by doing a nice evening trek through a pristine forest and end up on a cliff overlooking a lovely bay at Chidiyatapu located to the south of Port Blair. From the edge of the cliff we could see the areas we would be fishing the next day and Harish’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Being on the boat at 6:30 the next morning gave us an early start to head down south and fish in the shelter of the smaller islands and get them both used to popping for GT. After a couple of casts Amrit decided to settle for the PE 3 set up while Harish fished a Racepoint 150 fitted with a Shimano Saragosa 20k. I’m glad his first fish for the day turned out to be a small GT and he knew what to expect when a larger one was hooked. It wasn’t long before Amrit joined the party with a nice red bass on her lighter set up. Harish’s quest for dogtooth tuna was also met when we shifted to jigging and that meant two species off his bucket list. The lighter rod was put to the test when a decent size GT whacked the popper almost alongside the boat. Amrit did well to play the fish but sadly lost it before it could be landed. With a couple more GT and one that neared the 20 kilo mark, Harish had the biggest fish of the day, with a proud wife beside him. Our first day ended with 9 fish landed and half a dozen other fish that didn’t make it to the boat.
Day 2 was a windy day and with a fair bit of chop out at sea, jigging was a complicated affair and the action was a bit slower but the couple did well yet again to add some decent fish to their haul. Amrit’s 18 kg GT was the biggest for that day. Day 3 looked like we would be fishing in the rain but the weather cleared up as we headed out to fish a couple of the spots marked on our GPS. Harish’s casting had improved tremendously and he was getting the required distance now which resulted in more fish. We had to work some areas fairly aggressively to get the fish up to the surface. We managed to get in a fair amount of jigging as well and Amrit caught a nice big Bohar or Red Snapper. Harish hooked a nice mid size GT while popping later in the day and a 10 kilo tuna on jig as well. The rain came down as we made our way back to Port Blair and we were glad our fishing hours were relatively rain free.
The final day of their trip was with a change of scenery around the beautiful island of Neil. The setting was perfect around the island and after a brief photo shoot we were ready to start fishing. We dropped a bait over the side and were instantly into a big grouper that peeled line from the Saragosa and eventually cut us off on the rocks. We caught decent GT between the 8 and 15 kilo mark and a couple of smaller Bluefin Trevally as well and then moved out to a channel to try our luck. Here Amrit caught her largest GT of the trip, coming in at 20 plus kilos. We drifted over a nice jigging spot after this, although the sea was still quite choppy, and hooked into a nice Dogtooth Tuna. Harish played the fish for a while and we got to see it before it spat the hook and disappeared into the depths again. The couple had done well on this trip with a total of 27 fish landed and more than a dozen hookups with fish that won the battle. As always the anglers were sad to end their final session, but happy to have experienced our Andaman geets in action. It was great having you guys over, Amrit and Harish.
Tackle used
Rods: Racepoint 100 and Racepoint 250, Shimano T curve and Jig W Rex, Yamaga Blanks
Reels: Shimano Saragosas 10000, Twinpower 6000, Saragosa 20000
Lures: Hammerhead, FCL labo and Cubera poppers and Stickbaits
Line and leaders: Power Pro 60-80lb, Jerry Brown Hollow, Varivas leader
Species Caught: Giant Trevally, Dogtooth Tuna, Bluefin Trevally, Red Snapper, Grouper, Coral Trout, Bonito, Green Jobfish
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