After waiting for what seemed like ages for the new season to start, we've managed to head out and get some decent fishing done. Our season here in the Andaman Islands starts with the prevailing monsoon winds blowing from the South West before we reach October when it's slack. This gives us some great fishing conditions for over a month that we make the most of! Come November the wind does a 180 degree spin and starts to blow from the North East, till mid February.
The following report is from a week of fishing from Port Blair and Havelock. The trip started with a bit of rough weather which was a surprise but it soon passed in a couple of days and we were into some nice fish with great conditions. The biggest GT were caught on popper in shallower water than the beginning of last season, which was a change we noticed. May have to do with the water temperatures which were considerably lower at the start of the trip.
A couple of Nice GT caught on popper while en route to Havelock! The second picture shows a GT heading for the reef in a sudden mad rush once it saw the boat, putting a nice bend in Carpenter SP78H :-)
This beautiful specimen of a GT well over the 30 kilo mark was caught by Jean Luc was the fish of the trip for him! The biggest GT he'd caught ever and he was thrilled he managed to hook and land the fish after an awesome strike on the surface. This fish went for a 150 Cono Cono by Orion Lures.
Our Skipper Kantha and Deckie Dilip giving Jean Luc a hand with his big fish he had trouble holding after an intense fight.
Jean Luc with a nice Malabar Grouper taken on popper.
Dilip holding a 'Tiger Grouper' for Jean Luc caught on a Komodo popper.
Marc with another 'thick' GT! Guess his smile says it all!
Marc was rewarded for his hard work popping with another beautiful 30 kilo specimen. This fish was taken on a Craft Bait that proved to be the most effective popper of the trip.
Some afternoons while on our way back from our GT fishing spots we stop off after lunch to do an hour or two of Grouper/Snapper fishing on some shallow fishy reefs. These sessions usually see some great fish caught on stickbaits and small poppers. We stick to our heavy tackle as fights are pretty intense and short with Grouper.
Another great looking specimen.
Jean Luc casting, fighting and proudly holding another GT! This fish was taken on a Cono Cono aswell.
We had a spectacular day fishing a distant reef to the North of Havelock. It truly makes travelling half way across the world woth it. What we'd previously caught in quality, this time we did in quantity. The largest fish for the day ran at a mere 15 kilos but we caught and released over 40 fish on popper in 4 hours before we called it a day and headed back. Marc and Jean Luc used their light Saltiga/Zenaq set ups, which until then had not been touched to fight their fish. Funnily enough a Blue Fin Trevally on light tackle's just about as tiring as fighting a big GT on Heavy tackle! We also caught the lone Twin Spot Snapper/Red Bass of the trip on this special reef.
To end the trip with a bang Marc caught this 20 kilo Barracuda South of Havelock on his last day fishing with us. He was thrilled as again it was another personal best for him!
The chosen weapons of choice that had no trouble coping with the heavy drag fishing we specialise in. Daiwa Dogfight, Carpenter SP78H combination :-)
Craft Bait! Most definitely one of the most effective lures that can be used in the Andaman Islands. The Craft Bait out fished all the other lures, with only Orion Lures Cono Cono coming a close second.
We hope you like the pictures and more updates to come in the following weeks as we get more fishing done!!
