2 Days with Gabriele

November saw us fishing 2 days with Gabriele, a returning client who had earlier had his first taste of GT popping with us in April of 2010 and friend Andrea a popping and jigging newbie. He obviously liked it because he was back with new stick baits from FC labo and ready to cast all day long. Work commitments meant only 2 days fishing but we were ready to give it a try.

The weather looked good but on the day Gabriele arrived we had afternoon squalls which roughed up the seas and we could not get out to where we wanted and had to settle for a slow day with a few fish on jig.

Gabriele raring to get into some fish asap

We also had a group from France fishing with us and that evening there was banter between the 2 groups about who was going to get more fish the next day.

Day 2 was clear weather and flat seas, great fishing conditions and the mood was good as we set off.

I have the following excerpts from Gabriele about his trip:

1. Andrea on his first fishing trip ever, first time spinning-casting-popping got 5 GTs and lost a fish jigging (apart from 2 bonitos) and he never did vertical jigging before

2. Darran lost 3 fish jigging because of not setting the hook properly...unbelievable, he that basically is able to break a white shark jaws when setting

3. Italy vs France 21-14 (2 1/2 fisherman on Italy boat vs 4+Kanta on French boat)

4. I got a pretty nice doggy and a smaller one both with my new stick baits for a total of 11 fish in a day

5. Deckie Gafoor, out of 10 casts, was able to cross line with me 9 times; loose 2 poppers

6. I almost smashed my right ear casting and was going back to my girlfriend telling her: "my darling from now on no sex: I nearly lost my bits because trying to hook a GT"

One of 11 in the day for Gabriele

Doggie on stick bait from a bait school

Andrea’s first

I lost a very nice GT after a Gamakatsu GT recorder 8/0 opened a few minutes into a fight, it was a really good fish and a pity it was not landed. Doggies on stick bait were a surprise but something to try again. GT fishing is a high adrenalin sport and in the excitement of fishing it pays to be safe, we saw a popper come flying 20 odd meters out of a GT’s mouth and set itself into the anglers pants!! Lucky escape.

Tight lines

Fishing General!

Earlier in the season we were out fishing with General Chauhan and party, who visited the Andaman Islands to catch some GT on popper. There trip was a short and explosive trip with many a quality GT being landed on popper.

Darran and Akshay.

Season's Greeting!!

Wishing all our fans, followers and fellow fishermen a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We 're ending the year popping and jigging and will soon have many a trip report up on the blog for the new year. Wishing everyone a big GT and an even bigger Doggie in the new year.

Darran & Akshay.

Popper Pulling Pacitti.....

Late October 2010 saw us fishing with Colin Pacitti, Richard Foster and Michael Bailey. It was a pleasure to fish with the group and share many a laugh while going about the business of catching fish.

Our boys Kantha and Gafoor posing with a GT that couldn't resist hammering a popper chucked over a deep reef by Colin.

A jig caught Dog Tooth Tuna with Colin.

Above, Mike with a fantastic specimen! We often have Red Bass on popper. Considering they don't get to massive sizes they pull really hard especially over shallow reefs. Specimens like the one above are often caught and make for some awesome photographs.

A GT that couldn't resist a Yo Zuri Bull GT. It's a lure that still never fails to raise fish and one we don't see visiting anglers fishing with very often. It's a great fish raising lure and can be very effective when fish shy away from large slower chuggers. We find the darker shades work better on overcast days. It's worth having a couple of these lures in your tackle bag while fishing in the Andaman Islands.

Richard fighting a GT and making it look easy ;-)

A 'Rat' GT being released to grow up and fight hard another day!

Mike with a small GT caught close to Havelock. We spent half the trip fishing from Havelock Island in Ritchie's Archipelago. A great and very scenic area to fish from.

Above Mike with his GT and the after effects of fighting a large fish. This was Mike's first GT trip and we know for sure it won't be his last. Look forward to fishing again with Mike.

Another Red Bass for Mike!

Colin leaning into a GT tearing off towards the reef.

A quick shot of Colin's GT before it was released back to the reef.

Alas, all good times have to come to an end and we saw the group off from Port Blair. They then headed to Thailand for a couple of weeks of fishing, before heading back home.

For anglers, especially first time GT fishermen from the UK, it's worthwhile getting in touch with Richard who's traveled extensively and has a treasure of knowledge fishing exotic destinations. Richard can be contacted through his website:

http://www.fostersofbirmingham.co.uk/

A week after the departure of Colin and group saw a cyclone pass through. The last of the year, which heralded a change in the Monsoon winds here in the Andaman Islands. We now are well into the North East Monsoon and hope it'll be a good one this year. A good monsoon with rain resluts in a drop in Sea Temperatures and makes for a great later half of the season. We're now waiting for our next group of anglers to arrive, this time from France.

Darran & Akshay.

Wilson's Andaman Adventure II

The middle of October 2010 was spent fishing with a group out of Singapore, led by Wilson. It was our first group out of Singapore for the season and we have a whole lot on their way. This trip was a warm up trip for us as well as we were fishing most of our marks for the first time this season.

Wilson casting into a school of Fusilier that were being harassed on the edge of a deep reef.

Above, some of the jigging action on a sea mount we fish.

Ghani with his first decent sized Andaman GT.

Wilson with another good sized GT, not his first and definitely not his last fish.

Darran & Akshay.

C.F.O. Thompson and Party!

Our second group for the season was special as we had an old friend on board who was after some Andaman GT. We on our first trip to the Andaman Islands ever were accompanied by Gordon Thompson who at that time had vast experience and knowledge on fishing in Coastal waters of the Indian peninsular. Gordon, this time was accompanied by his buddies Anand and Praveen who were both keen on landing some decent fish.

The team on their way out of Port Blair harbour in Halcyon III.

Anand's weapon of choice was the Tailwalk Gunz that he fished very effectively. Above he tries to turn a GT hell bent on heading straight back to the reef.

Anand with his prize GT, the first of this size for him after a well fought battle. A quick couple of pictures later the fish was released to swim back to the reef it came from.

Praveen and Gordon both with nice GT.

Praveen casting to structure as we drift along a beautiful Island with lush tropical jungle growing on volcanic rock. The Andaman Islands are stunning to look at while fishing and are a balm for sore eyes.

A prize for hard work!

Gordon and group wanted to mix the action with a bit of popping and trolling. Above some of the fish caught trolling hard bodied swimming lures.

The trip was an enjoyable laid back one with some nice fish and as always it's a pleasure to fish with friends.

Darran & Akshay.

Start of a New Season (2010/2011)!!

We ended last season with a Epic Fishing trip with a Singaporean group and then carried on to welcome our new center console power catamaran! She turned out to be better than we imagined and is a perfect jigging and popping machine. By June the monsoons lashed the Andaman Islands and the fishing season came to a complete halt. We all got a much needed break after a hectic season, had time to spend with family and friends and eagerly planned our next season.

Our arrival in the Andaman Islands in early September 2010 saw us with a month of getting the show back on the road. All our boats were taken out of the water one at a time and it was time for our yearly maintainence of boats and engines. It's easy enough to do in a place with sufficient infrastructure but here in the Andaman Islands where you can't buy a spark-plug for an outboard, it's quite a challenge ordering spares from around the world, seeing they all arrive in time and finding reliable technicians to do the job. Three weeks later we had the boats back and taken out for trials before we were happy with their performance.

Our first clients for the season were Suprio Mukherjee and his angling buddy Vinay Badola who fished with us in early October 2010 for 4 days. Traditionally October has always been a great month as no one's been out fishing for the last 4 months and all our spots are well rested. However this year we had some strong winds with accompanying rain as there was a depression in the Bay of Bengal heading towards the mainland. The guys fished on Halcyon, had some difficult conditions and came away with some great fish for their hard work.

Suprio above with his first Andaman GT and we hope it won't be his last!

Vinay was soon into his own GT that took a popper and put up quite a scrap. After a quick couple of pictures we soon had the GT back in the water heading off to its favourite reef!

The boys hooked into a very respectable Giant Barracuda that smashed a well positioned popper. they'd noticed a bait school being harassed and were rewarded with this super fish!

Suprio with nice Big Eye Tuna caught while trolling between Islands.

Vinay above with the fish of the trip!! What a GT! Anglers travel half way across the world for a specimen like the one caught by Vinay and are almost always rewarded for their journey. A fish like the one above is what fishing in the Andaman Islands is about.

We wish Suprio and Vinay all the best and look forward to finding and getting them in to some quality fish here in the Andaman Islands.

Darran & Akshay.