Alles Army!

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.

Darran & Akshay.

One can read about this trip by the guys on the Italian Sea Spin Fishing Forum at the link below:

http://www.seaspin.com/newforum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=18864

For more information on Alles Lures have a look at the link below:


http://alleslures.blogspot.com/


Alessandro's blog about his travels, fishing, lures and last but not least food!

http://thevagabondfisherman.blogspot.com/

Stephane & Patrick

We spent a week out fishing with Stephane Escoffier and Patrick Rodriguez from France in January. It was a week of some great fishing based from Port Blair. On this trip we concentrated more on popping for GT. The trip was filled with great action, double hookups and some large fish that couldn't be stopped!

Stephane & Patrick were amazed with the power of these GT as many a lure came back trashed and with trebles crushed.

Above, a truly special place, which anyone who's been fishing to the Andaman Islands will recognize. The popper fishing was great among the fusilier schools with many GT's crashing out of the water after poppers.

The boys even had some great action on jig.

We finished fishing with them after a week and eagerly awaited the arrival of our next group. We were to fish with a group of Italians who were being led by the famous lure maker from Italy....Alessandro Massari.

Darran & Akshay.

Popper Fishing Parisot

We had a family of popper fishing enthusiasts from France fish with us over Christmas. Pascal joined us every day with one of his sons and we set of on day trips searching for GT on popper. As this was one of the first 'Tropical Fishing' trip for the kids we toned the fishing down, fishing with smaller poppers, lighter setups, looking to catch many fish and species.

Pascal started the trip with a popper caught Barracuda that was released after a quick photograph.

We spent the week fishing off Havelock Island and Ritchie's Archipelago that's perfect for a fishing holiday especially for a family. Apart from some great fishing in the area there's a lot to do for non angling partners on land.

We were out fishing in some great conditions and had a wide variety of species. When the boys found the popper fishing difficult we switched to stick-baits with some awesome results.

Darran & Akshay.

First Time Poppers....

Earlier this season we had a group of first time popper fishermen from India who visited the Andaman Islands to try their hand at catching GT on popper. They were amazed at the action they had and have promised to return next season with upgraded equipment to target bigger specimens. With the rising popularity in Popper and Jig fishing across the world we see a large number of groups who are first timers.

Nakul with a small popper caught Blue Fin Trevally.

Fish Marking!

Moncho with a Popper caught Trevally.

The gang with a great Spanish Mackerel caught while trolling on the way back to Port. We look forward to seeing them back in the Andaman Islands next season.

Darran & Akshay.

Venting Reef fish

For us it is very important that we conserve our fishery in order for it to be sustainable as well as try to ensure maximum survival of the fish we release.

The correct venting procedure has been reproduced below from the NOAA website Sea Grant Florida and the link to their page is below:

Sea Grant Florida

The Procedure:

It is best to vent the fish as quickly as possible with a minimum of handling. If the fish’s stomach is everted out of the fish’s mouth, do not attempt to push it back into the fish’s body. Expelling the swimbladder gases will allow the stomach to return to its normal position within a few hours. Hold the fish gently but firmly on its side and insert the venting tool at a 45-degree angle approximately one to two inches back from the base of the pectoral fin. Only insert the tool deep enough to release the gases - do not skewer the fish. The sound of the escaping gas is audible and deflation is noticeable. If a fish is extremely bloated, use the hand holding the fish to exert gentle pressure on the fish’s abdomen to aid deflation.

Keep a good grip on the venting tool during the entire process, so that an unexpected jerk from the fish does not dislodge the tool and cause injury to others.The fish’s everted stomach should not be punctured. This practice is not as efficient in releasing gas from the body cavity and results in additional injury.

Return the fish to the water as soon as possible. If necessary, revive it by holding the fish with the head pointed downward and moving the fish back and forth to pass water over the gills until the fish is able to swim unassisted.