We'd fished with many an Italian group in previous seasons and they've always been a high energy high drama bunch of guys to fish with. Most of our Italian clients in the past had at one time or another carried their favorite lures.... namely Alles Lures. We'd seen these lures and fished with them here in the Andaman Islands and had some great results. It was great to be able to finally meet the guy behind these excellent lures and take the group out to catch some Andaman GT.
The group led by Alessandro Massari comprised of Christian Campo, Antonino Augugliaro, Andrea Pellegrini and Daniele Grosso. The good part was that most of the guys in the past had been fishing in the Tropics at some point and were no strangers to hard hitting and hard scraping fish. We also were greatly relieved to see the group had come with some serious tackle to do the job.Carrying the right tackle on a trip like this one is half the battle won!
The group arrived with the weather looking perfect and the forecast not looking so great. Since this was a large group we fished off 2 of our boats. Halcyon our 23ft boat was to have 2 anglers on board and Halcyon II the 33ft boat was to fish the remaining 4 anglers. Most days the boats were to head in separate directions to cover more water and on some days we fished together in tandem, especially when fishing large reefs so we could cover and work the water better.
The first day of the trip started with a BANG!! And a 50kilo + bang it was for Christian who was almost ripped off the boat as a monster GT rose from the depths and inhaled his popper. Big GT just come up and inhale poppers in a large swirl of water and disappear unlike the smaller ones that cause much crashing and commotion on the surface. Irrespective of the strike.... we had a Stella 10K screaming and a carpenter looking like it was a degree away from exploding. We had to move to get Christian in a better position to fight the fish and we placed the boat in deeper water. Knowing the bottom was free of large bommies was a relief and after the first couple of minutes we knew quickly that the fish was ours. After the short intense battle a dark shadow appeared to shouts of joy! We took a few quick photos of this fantastic beast and returned it to swim back to rule the reef.
Often too much time is spent searching for cameras etc and that puts undue stress on large fish making it harder for the crew to release fish in a good state. Large fish fight very intensely and it makes a lot of sense to be well prepared before fish reached the boat. Just a point worth remembering while GT fishing!
A custom Carpenter rod made for stick baits and the Carpenter Gamma Stick-bait when this fish took. This GT fought like it was on steroids and we thought we were in for another 50 kilo Monster. Once the fish was landed were were amazed to see the Stick-baits and trebles (Gamakatsu GT Recorder) were crushed like they were made of plastic. Just goes to show the immense crushing power of the jaws of a GT.
The Carpenter Gamma stick-bait that going to be framed and put up on a wall somewhere in Italy!
Antonino with another fantastic GT he had while popping the same reef! Our crew helping Antonino safely release the GT back over the side of the boat.
Daniele putting a bend in his Patriot Design rod. It's great to see a rod do the work for an angler. A good rod assists in lifting fish and making it easier for the angler, rather than the other way around.
Joy! The look on Daniele's face just says it all. Another GT to fall victim to the GT2 from Craft Bait!
Alessandro with a GT caught on one of his creations.
Andrea and Daniele with 2 small GT from a double hook-up they had. The action in places was fast as we had 4 to 5 strikes within a couple of minutes as we drifted past the reef that was being patrolled by shoals of GT.
Antonino with another nice GT caught on one of Allessandro's poppers. We noticed short chuggers fished with a single large treble and with a spinner blade on the rear were what made the difference. The flash of the spinner blade probably helped the fish home in on the popper from a long way down.
Daniele releasing Antonio's GT from the stern of Halcyon II.
Antonino was smashed by another huge fish that fought hard and deep. Another really large fish that let Antonino have it! Fishing high drag is great but it often takes its tool on the angler.... This fish just fought too hard and Antonio had to pass the rod to Daniele who struggled with the fish for the remainder of the fight. He eventually managed to turn the fish, we assisted with the boat keeping the line well clear and managed to land the biggest fish of the trip.
The four with the large GT for a group picture seconds before releasing the fish.
Alessandro getting out of the way of the victory dance Daniele and Antonio kept breaking out into every time a large GT was released to swim away back where it belonged. Like we said earlier.....high drama!! Days lost to bad weather, on the days we could get out the fishing was insane, bust-offs, rods and reels being tested nearly to the point of destruction, the destruction on many a beautiful lure..... all things good GT trips are made of! Oh yeah.... and we hardly jigged as the popper fishing was so crazy.
We know 'Alle's Army' will be back next season and we're looking forward to another epic trip with these guys.
