Best Wishes for 2014

 

With 2013 almost gone team GFA would like to extend warm thanks to all our supporters and wish all our readers and clients the very best for the new year, Roll on 2014!!

The trip of personal best GT

For the first time we had a group of anglers who had fished for GT before but all of them were after a bigger fish than they had caught before and wanted to see if they could better their personal best catches till date. There had been a lot of to and fro emails on the tackle list and what was working the best, but at the end of the day it comes down to you and your luck at the moment you need it most.

Perfect weather and we are off with all expectations running high

On day 1 there was a slight SW’ly wind which I do not really like and the drifts were not the usual way so we needed to improvise however a few drifts into the first session and Nick is into a decent fish, we land it and its a PB for him at 20kg, a quick photograph and we are back to the fishing.

Jason then gets his PB with a GT in the 20kg range, in the first morning session too, the expectations are higher now.

Wong kept catching fish through the day, he had the most GT’s it was really quite funny because he would take a break and rest and everyone else would keep and when then needed a break Mr Wong would take a cast or 2 and hook a fish, his biggest of the day was a fish close to the 30kg mark. Below he poses with one of the smaller ones.

Saikat too is into the fun with a small GT so now we are in the morning session of day 1 and everyone has got a fish.

In the calm conditions the stick-baits worked well, of course the old GT Gamma is a favourite.

The Next session is flat calm, with current a few drifts as we wait for the current to pick up and look at the sounder to see whats going on down below, we have a few smaller fish first then Mr Wong is into a good fish, which takes a lot of line,

we were a bit surprised to see a GT in the 30-35kg range as it fought much harder, buts is again another PB fish for a happy angler.

I tell Saikat there is fish marking and to pop like he means it, on the 3rd cast there is is this huge explosion around his Craftbait GT3, I see him struggling but he manages to set the hook a few time and line is disappearing fast.

20 minutes later there is this enormously fat GT on the deck she is thick and wide with huge tail wrist and we estimate in the 45-47kg range for a delighted Saikat who has also got his PB GT.

Another view of the fish showing its girth above and below the Gama GT Recorder that had broken, such are the strength of these fish.

A bit of jig on the way back and Saikat is again into a good fish, that fights like a demon close to the bottom, and boy is he happy once he lands this super grouper below.

Next session Nick is into a another good fish which gives him a workout….. here he is with the hurt on at both ends.

and Nick resets his PB with another nice 30kg + GT, way to go boys!!!!!

What followed next was amusing a PE10 popping rod broke at the handle, not on a big fish but on an estimated 8 kg Spanish Mack near the boat, and that is Nick out of rods for the last session of the last day, his other rod broke and eye and was unusable…..what a time to go….

Jason has some bad luck with a big fish that he hooks up but breaks him off, some fish are just unstoppable here. However he is soon in another big big fish that has him gasping and he needs to put all his strength into holding on, with Nick behind him to support him in case of a line break.

Many minutes of pain later followed with some deft boat handling and the fish is under control, Jason is happy now and can manage a smile between the excitement.

And here he is all smiles as he rewrites his PB again this time with a 143 cm estimated over 50kg GT, it is also the end of the trip with some amazing memories for all anglers.

Till our next report

Tight lines.

CONO CONO Time Its Raining GT’s

Come the beginning of November and we had a group of 3 French anglers, fishing with us for 9 days, we had just come off the back of some really bad weather, green water and coral spawn so we were not sure how it was going to pan out, however we were sure that if the weather was able to hold out we would be into the fish.

The first day we had some squally weather but the fish we about, we had lots of strikes both from smaller fish as well as from a few bruisers that came off or broke the line 3 to be exact, we did land a nice 30 kg GT towards the end of day.

The action continued with a huge fish caught on Day 2 which was estimated at over 65 kg. The fishing on some days was not always with many strikes, we did have periods of slow action but each day we did raise some good fish, most of the bigger ones came off or reefed the angler which is why we recommend at least PE 10 and very strong rods to fish here. We hooked into another enormous GT on Day 5, there were lots of Bonito around and it looked like bonito and Yellowfin Tuna had started busting on the surface about half a mile away from the splashes that we were seeing so we took off to run and gun the tuna only to find it was a school of GT’s busting the surface, the second cast brought up this enormous fish that we again estimated at over 60 kg, the hook was set but with ST/66 5/0’s on it was always going to be a slim chance…….it was. There were also some big fish estimated at over 40 kg that took in shallow water and even with the boat going the way you need to be very lucky which this time round we were not!!.

The fish of Day 1 which was landed as a squall approached, it was land, photograph and head back to end a super days fishing

A dark GT taken in perfect fishing conditions

The pink purple Cono-Cono worked well too

Another one bites the dust…

A happy angler is all smiles as he poses with his trophy.

The hurt is on at both ends.

Catching average size GT’s like the one above means you know there will be some bus sized ones about too.

A nice 30kg Gt with a different flavour Cono Cono

Here we go popping for Yellowfin Tuna busting the surface, you can just about make them out in the background above.

Jerome with the first popper caught Yellowfin in Sri Lanka

And it was a double hook up as well

One of many decent GT’s that we landed on the trip.

Check out the size of this Rainbow Runner that would you believe took a Cono-Cono

Double header of GT’s

The incredible beast the 163 cm GT that has made all anglers look differently at Sri Lanka as a top destination. See also http://gamefishingsrilanka.blogspot.in/2013/11/163cms-of-hard-work.html

Jerome swims the 163 to full recovery before she swam away fully recovered.

Action in the chop.

Another 30Kg plus GT is pictured before release.

A smiling and happy angler is all pumped up as he fights another GT

A nice grouper that took in shallow water.

Jerome poses with a nice Spanish Mackerel caught on popper.

Spanish mackerel  on popper if you are lucky not to be bitten off

The Team France coloured Cono Cono too

more GT above and below

 

 

Dolphins bow ride the boat on the way in, some of the amazing sights we get to take in while fishing in the waters around Sri Lanka, along with whales and basking marlin or jumping sailfish!!

I am sure Eric LeGuyader http://orionlure.free.fr/english.html would be only too happy to put this Cono Cono on his hall of fame, it looks nothing like it did when it arrived and was new and shiny… RIP

Till next time

Tight lines

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

Inshore species Bonanza- again!!

 

Fishing with our long time clients from Singapore leady by Nick and Ian, the weather gods did not smile upon us through the month of October with strong winds and cyclonic depressions playing havoc with the sea conditions. Again we had to change the rules and go inshore, however the guys had been briefed beforehand so they were well stocked with the lighter tackle and has a full range of lures to try out.

 

We started off with the usual suspects like the Mangrove Jack above and the Barrmundi below, looking at the picture above you would almost think you were in far northern latitudes, at least inshore we did not have to worry about taking a pounding from the waves and wind….

Then in-between the action we start to get a few others, take a look at the giant Gourami below and they would probably take a fly too…

Some more nice Barramundi here is a beautifully coloured gold one below for Ian who believes he is an expert here… respect!!

Then look what we land its another new species on lure, a feather-back, now its getting even more interesting, and Ian cant stop smiling….

More mangrove jack action, this time a multiple hook up below

Now a nice Barramundi for Nick as well

Ian was out to get all the species that were around and found a herring as well

 

Now Gerard gets his golden Barramundi as well, happy smiles all round.

and a super Mangrove Jack as well this time just near the river mouth casting.

Now we have another species a small oxeye Tarpon for Ian, is he having some fun or what.

Another Glimpse of the great inshore fishery that looks like its developing as well, we species and a few decent sized fish, with the big bad reef brawlers offshore and the barramundi inshore we really cant ask for much more action at the moment.

Tight lines.