A list of Personal Recommendations for Giant Trevally Fishing Gear
Not meant to be the end all list. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
Poppers and Stickbaits
A range of sizes is best. I am not as much concerned with colours. If I was, I would say my favorites are Orange/White and Pink/White Nemos, Black and Green. With that said, I have seen every colour you can imagine work. I would go not go larger than 150gr unless you are a Gorilla. Big ones can be very difficult to work for long periods. The smallest I go is about 80gr. As for brands, I will suggest two types: Rigged and Unrigged
Rigged Poppers
I suggest both River2sea and Halco Roosta poppers. Both of these are reasonably priced and come with hooks and splitrings installed that will handle fairly large GTs. Another one I really like is the Yozuri Surface Bull lures. Only problem with the Yozuri is the hooks and splitrings will need to be upgraded.
Here is one if you can’t figure out which colour to get!
Rigged Stickbaits
The only ones I have a bit of experience with is the River2sea Rover and Wideglide. Both seem to work pretty good and have reasonable hooks and splitrings. Other rigged stickbaits that have worked well are Orca, Starwalker and Yozuri Sashimi. But if memory serves me correctly, they need hook and ring upgrades.
Unrigged Poppers & Stickbaits
Wow, where do I begin…. There are heaps of good lures out there, so I will go with some of my favorites that are not priced up in the stars. Heru Lures, also carrying the names Nomad, Blackjack, El Toro, maybe others. These may be available in your local tackle shop, but can be very pricey. Try www.jignpop.com They have some of the best prices I have seen. Here are some of the models I like: Cubera 125 & 150, Skipjack 100 & 150, Bugatti Special, Ulua, Wahoo. Subject to change, so check them out.
There are also heaps of Chinese lures around. Some of them work very well, some do not. The one point I would like to make is they are very cheap to buy from the factory if you can get them. With that said, I just want people to know that the shops do not pay much for these lures, so do not pay too much for them. Below is a photo of a typical Chinese tail weight to help identify these lures. Please remember, I am not bashing these lures, I have some I really like, but I just want people to be knowledgeable and spot a possibly over priced lure.
For you Kiwi’s out there, there is a fantastic young man in Napier that is producing some awesome lures. Have a look at reelappeallures.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/pages/Reel-Appeal-Lures and support one of your countrymen.
Also check out Aotea Lures at there Facebook page Aotea Custom Lures
Great stickbaits been working for all kinds of fish here in Tonga.
Hooks
Front/Belly Hooks
One word …. OWNER. The best ones for GTs is the ST-76 in 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 sizes. Size depends on the lure size. You do not want a floating popper sinking.
Tail Hooks
I do not like to put treble hooks on the back of my lures. The main reason is the hook tends to cut up the GT under the belly. To minimize the injury to the fish for releasing, I like to use single hooks. There are many brands out there, but I personally like to use Longliner hooks like the one pictured below. They are cheap as chips and very strong. The welded ring also allows the hook to point up or down, not to the side. These are no longer available at our local tackle shop, but can be found online with a little effort.
Split Rings
Again, one word …. OWNER. Best sizes are 9, 10 & 11. Have never had one fail, so with that I see no need for the 11H size.
Shock Leader
As before, there are many different brands that will suit. Look for a leader that has reasonable stretch and small diameter in the 120 – 180lb range. The goal is to have some abrasion resistance and to absorb the shock of powerful strikes and runs. I do not like Flouro leaders for this purpose because it is not that stretchy. It also is hard, making it difficlult to use with friction knots. Varivas makes an excellent shock leader of 170lb and only 1.1mm. There are also some great Longliner leaders out there from Korea with 170lb ratings and only 1.12mm thickness. Just takes a bit of research.
General Gear to Bring
Snorkel Gear – it is randomly available, but even with that the quality is usually very low. Sometimes we swim with the Manta Rays. Sun Screen – it is available, but pretty expensive Lite Rain coat for rain and rough days Hat Polarized Sunglasses
What you can leave at home if you are trying to save room, or weight, we have them
Split Ring Pliers Gimbal Belt