Thierry and Xavier

Mid Feb saw us out fishing with Xavier and Thierry who'd fished with us in the past and were no strangers to the Andaman Islands. The Frenchmen are keen fishermen and popping addicts, making many a trip around the tropics in search of popper chasing fish. It was great to host them again and we were keen on getting them to our best spots for some great GT fishing. As the whole trip was based out of Port Blair we concentrated on fishing the South Andaman Islands.

Above, Xavier with a nice GT caught off one of his favourite spots. As we had great sea conditions fish were readily taking poppers and action was fast.

Gafoor landing a rat GT that beat a couple of bigger fish to the popper!

Ghislaine with a GT she caught on popper before releasing it back to the sea.

Above, Thierry with a beautifully coloured Red Bass that took a popper while were were in a cove anchored off a reef for lunch.

Xavier needing a hand to keep his balance as he fought a GT off the bow of the boat. Little did we know Ghislaine's popper got take by a big GT from stern. Luckily we had both fish on the boat without too much of a hassle.

Murielle with a GT caught on popper. Again it was a day with some quality fish caught and released.

The next day saw some great action as well in the second half of the day with fish going for poppers off a large plateau. However this session the fish were readily taking stick-baits and the popper cation was slow. We headed back with dark clouds on the horizon with a plan to head to one of the more further away islands the next day that was fringed by a shallow reef and was loaded year round with schools of Fusilier.

The next morning conditions had taken a turn for the worse and the sea was too rough for us to venture out. February is one of the best months of the year weather and fishing wise but the rain Gods had other ideas for us.

The conditions only worsened with no break in the weather for the next couple of days. We did on some days make it out, but the bite was off and it seemed like the fish had disappeared.

Xavier back at port in a jovial mood considering the weather Gods had no plan on relenting this time. We sat out the weather only knowing that the fishing would get better after a patch of Bad weather. We soon saw the rains pass and the skies clear after which it was back to business as usual and we were out again chasing GT.

Darran & Akshay.