Shore fishing for Giant Trevallies (GT)

One of my long time dreams is to catch a nice GT on topwater --- either using a popper or a stickbait. My first attempt was on Grande Island a couple of months ago. It was sort of a disappointment because I did not catch anything. The closest that I got was an explosive strike from a big fish that I think was a GT. On the next trip a few weeks back, I went to Masinloc Zambales and did some light popping and stickbaiting and I was lucky enough to catch a red snapper but still no GTs.

Last Sunday, my luck changed. On that day, my game plan was to switch from UL tackle to Stickbait. I first sweeped the spot with my UL stick and when there are no takers, I combed the water with my stickbait combo. My stickbait was a Tailwalk Gunz Floating Stickbait at 60gms from Naks Nakamura, our local-Japanese fishing guide, and guru.

At around 8am, I chanced upon a shallow spot. Using cheap polarized glasses, I saw that the point of the shallow area has a deep drop that extends all the way out. At that time, it looked like a perfect spot for an ambush. I first casted using the UL and caught a small Cuda. After a few minutes or so, the bite died as if all of the residents were spooked as the water felt really silent. No surface activities whatsoever. I switched to my big stickbait combo and casted as far as I can. A few sweeps of the lure later, a huge swirl engulfed the lure and I instinctively set the hook twice. The reaction of whatever is at the end of the line was amazing. It pulled back with such force that my right leg slipped from my perch and almost fell into the water.

I managed to grab into one of the rocks and regained my composure. I sat down to gain balance while fighting the fish. I didn't realize that the drag was really heavy and standing up while fighting it was out of the question. Changing the drag setting was also out of the question.

A few minutes later the fish gave up and I was able to crank it near the bank. It was no match for my combo on PE3 line.

The problem is, the landing net was beyond my reach and instead of a metal lip grip, all I had was this Aji fish grip that looks like a big plastic scissors with tiny teeth.  This GT was way big for it. When the wave came in, I pulled the fish using the leader line and managed to grab it by the gill plate and dragged it to shore. It was my personal best 88cm and 8.5kg.

By 10am, the sun was too hot for fishing so I went home. I went back at four in the afternoon hoping to get another one. When I was fighting the fish, there was another one trailing it from behind. I sure looked bigger than this one. After 3 hours of casting and retrieving, I was drained and went home really spent. My body's still aching from casting and my shin is still bleeding but it was worth it. I am so gonna stickbait again next weekend. :-)