Wednesday, December 11, 2013

TREBLE TRUTH - By Pat Dorkings

 

Many of us like to tune the lures we use for top-water gamefishing. The hammering strikes and high drags that we use to target our quarry, means that few experienced anglers trust the hooks that come with mid range lures, and, the top drawer lures rarely come with hooks to start with.

When changing existing hooks, or choosing new for the top drawer lures, the weight, strength and size of hooks is critical to the action of your lure. The problem is that not all hooks are created equal, and not all manufacturers use the same sizing protocols! When you add to the mix that many anglers are now changing to single hooks (or doubled singles), to take advantage of their stronger holding characteristics, the chances of spoiling the action of your lure, by too much, or too little, hook weight and drag are increased significantly.

Many will start heavy surface water angling with Owner products, it's a safe enough place to start. Overtime and with growing experience, some will move to other brands, as they develop their own personal preferences. All of the major brands are by and large reliable, none are cheap. In our opinion, it's not worth buying cheap untested alternatives, as a few cents saving, could end up costing you the fish of a lifetime. 

The data below, will make life a little easier, for those of you considering swapping out trebles for singles. For those of you just wanting a high quality treble hook, the major brands are listed below.

 

VMC Trebles Weight
6X 3/0 3.96 grams

 

Owner Trebles

Weight

St TN66 2/0

4.77 grams

St TN66 3/0

6.93 grams

St TN66 5/0

12.00 grams

St TN76 3/0

8.33 grams

ST TN76 4/0

12.90 grams

ST TN76 5/0

19.00 grams

 

DECOY Trebles

Weight

Y-S82 2/0

3.90 grams

Y-S82 3/0

5.10 grams

Y-S82 4/0

6.50 grams

Y-S82 5/0

8.40 grams

 

Shogun Trebles

Weight

8/0

18.00 grams

10/0

24.00 grams

 

Gamakatsu GT Recorder Trebles

Weight

Recorder 5/0

11.50 grams

Recorder 6/0

15.00 grams

Recorder 7/0

19.00 grams

 

Assorted Single Hooks Weight

Decoy JS1 5/0

2.60 grams

Decoy JS2 10/0

9.75 grams

Gamakatsu 55BL 4/0

2.80 grams

Gamakatsu 9/0

3.97 grams

Mustad Livebait 11/0

4.17grams

Owner SJ-41 9/0

4.26 grams

SJ-41 11/0

8.00 grams

SJ -41 13/0

9.70 grams

Decoy JS-1 7/0

4.70 grams

Owner SJ-51 9/0

6.4 grams

Decoy cutlass JS-2 8/0

6.50 grams

Shout kudako 7/0

7.75 grams

Owner Jobu 9/0

12.70 grams

Owner Jobu 10/0

17.00 grams

Shogun assassin single 12/0

18.00 grams

fisherman spinoza 13/0

9.00 grams

 

The data above has been compiled by a bunch of very experienced anglers on 360Tuna, I asked for, and was given permission to share this with you by the poster. Denis B on 360Tuna is one of the most knowledgeable, and technically competent anglers I have ever come across. Thank you Denis!

 

Pat Dorkings for Team GFI

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Directors Note - December 2013

2013 is almost gone, it seems like it just started and what a year it has been for us, another great year in the Andaman Islands which provided consistently good fishing and large fish to us ending the year by confirming Sri Lanka as a destination for monster GT’s and PE 10 as well as an inshore species paradise, we have been one busy team keeping the fish coming for our customers.

The sum up the year, it started phenomenally for us with the Andaman Islands taking the lead and culminating with spectacular run of Yellow Fin Tuna to the consistent landing of big fish in Sri Lanka on our exploratory fishing trips both in the South and East of Sri Lanka, to the unsettled weather in the Bay of Bengal which has seen numerous tropical depressions and us having to move our boats out at the last minute to save them from damage, all this aside there have been some amazing sights that we have witnessed through our fishing season from whales and dolphins, to monster doggies taking poppers almost boat-side and of course the biggest achievement for us this year was the landing and safe release of a truly Monster GT a beast with a fork length of 163 cm.

With the holiday season just around the corner and all of us looking forward to 2014, I am sure all our readers will hear many more stories of screaming drags and smiling pictures of happy anglers with trophy fish we would like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a new year full of fishing experiences to cherish for always.

Team GFA is ready for 2014 to provide our clients with an exceptional fishing experience once again and we forward to fishing with new anglers and making new friends.

Tight lines

Team GFA