GT Fishing Lucinda #angler #angles
Channel: Go Fishing
Date: 2020-08-04

GT FISHING BASIC


By Chris Henry
If an adrenalin hit is what you are after when you hit the water, then look no further than the Giant Trevally. These fish are bullies and downright thugs of reef systems and island groups over the top half of the country. They hit surface lures with unrivalled aggression and will expose any weaknesses in your tackle and even your personal fitness. At full maturity, a GT can weigh in excess of 50kg, with common catches around 25-35kg and record captures over 70kg. When targeting fish of this calibre, preparation and planning is of utmost importance. Here are just a few basic tips to get you in with a shot at one of sport fishing’s most prized target species.
Gearing up
There is a fine line between buying a setup that is strong enough to pull in a sunken ship and one that you can actually hang on to without doing a front flip on the hook-up. Try not to get your ambitions mixed up with your ability and buy something that suits your strength and confidence level. For a starting point, I would stick between a PE8 and PE10 setup although I would happily recommend dropping down to PE6 for a beginner or first timer. Once you gain more experience then by all means move up in line class, but I must stress that it is a strenuous exercise when fighting these fish and wouldn’t recommend diving straight into a PE10+ outfit. I run a 20,000 Stella SWC on a PE10 Ocea Plugger and find it to be more than enough stopping power for fish exceeding 40kg. I also recommend using gloves and a gimbal belt, as the leverage on these rods are enough to cause damage to your stomach, leg or (gasp!) groin region.
Leader size will be determined by what line class you choose to run. For a guideline I personally wouldn’t go below 100lb even on the lighter setups and choose to run 200lb on my PE10 setup. Your leader should be long enough so that you have a comfortable length out for casting but yet still have your finger on leader material. The reason for this is that if you are making repeated casts with your finger on the braid it will wear the integrity of the line and may result in a line failure.


Lures and terminals
Large cup faced poppers (between 150 to 250mm) and stickbaits (180-300mm) are the main calling card for this style of fishing. It doesn’t hurt to stock up to give yourself options if the fish are being fussy. GTs are very aggressive when they hit a lure, but on some days, can be fussy. A big mistake a lot of people make is not matching the size lure and terminal tackle to the action of the rod and breaking strain of the line. Take into account the gauge of the hook as to not go too thick so that you cant set the hook. Going too thick will give you trouble when setting the hook, go too light and the fish will turn them inside out.


Knots and rigs
Seeing as you are casting such a heavy and long leader through your guides, the good old uni to uni certainly wont make the cut. FG and PR knots are the most common leader knots for this style of fishing with a few other variations getting around. On the business end of the leader a solid ring to split ring or a swivel to split ring combo via an AG chain knot is the go for quick lure changes. Buying a quality set of split ring pliers is a necessity! Instructions for these knots can be found all over the internet and a simple Google search will give you plenty of variations.


Finding fish
Giant Trevally can be found along the entire stretch of Queensland coast, from the NSW border, all the way north to the Cape York peninsular. Shallow inshore reef systems and island groups are the perfect place to find these large predatory fish. What you are looking for is any structure that rises out of deep water obstructing current flow. Pressure edges, points or bottlenecks where the current is either upwelling or being concentrated around these areas are where these fish will be patrolling. Any form of bait presence in these areas, no matter how subtle should be investigated including bust ups from other species like tuna or mackerel. Often, trevally will feed with and/or on other schools of fish below these schools without even breaking the surface.