Rest of Asia Maldives

[Makaira]

Hi guys,

Just back from a trip to the Maldives. Fished the southern atolls. Weather sucked (winds up to 30 knots with rain), which made the sea condition atrocious, and to make things worse, hardly any currents during the day time. Needless to say, day fishing sucked big time. Not a single GT popping; not that I am a popping aficionado to begin with … but I did try ... when I was not losing my balance on the bucking boat. Jigging was ok at night when we managed to anchor off the ledge at the atoll channel entrance; which was only possible if the wind co-operated and we were on the correct side of the atoll. The shifting winds made it extremely difficult for us to predict which end of the atoll to be at for the night anchorage. Lots of “rat” doggies up to 8kg and countless bigeye jack & juvenile GT if you bothered to jig. Great fun on my Boss 870N hi speed loaded with 30lb line paired with my new Calstar GF600MH. Attached is a photo (taken the morning after) of the catch from 20 minutes of jigging on one of the few nights when we managed to anchor correctly and the winds & sea conditions co-operated. The good news is that there are good fish around; doggies 20-30kg according to what my diving kakis told me. They simply were not taking jigs, or perhaps my technique sucked more than the weather!!!

Trolling was tragic!!! In the 10 days there, only 2 wahoos, 1 mahi mahi and a few small doggies. Highlight for the trolling was 2 good sized sails estimated 40-50kg.

Conclusion is I think the trip was timed too early in the season and on the wrong lunar cycle. The crew told us fishing the week prior to our arrival was fantastic (what else is new???). Fishing probably hotted up again the day after we left. Oh well … that’s fishing I guess.

Best regards,
Makaira

[edylie]

Nice report there KK. I will revenge for you next month

Cheers,
Edy

[Makaira]

Nice report there KK. I will revenge for you next month

Cheers,
Edy

Yo Edy ....... I certainly hope you do!!!!!!

[stickbom!]

FIELD MARSHALL CASTING POPPERS IN MALDIVES!!! MAN... this must be some some kind of event worth recording in the Guiness book of record!

Actually December should be fine for Maldives leh... Pelagic Hunter & Co have been fishing there around this time for years. Must be one of those days...

Hey Mak... any photos showing the GF600 under load? I'm quite keen to get one myself. Scenic shots would be most welcome too!

[Makaira]

FIELD MARSHALL CASTING POPPERS IN MALDIVES!!! MAN... this must be some some kind of event worth recording in the Guiness book of record!

Actually December should be fine for Maldives leh... Pelagic Hunter & Co have been fishing there around this time for years. Must be one of those days...

Hey Mak... any photos showing the GF600 under load? I'm quite keen to get one myself. Scenic shots would be most welcome too!

Hi Mikey,

I was there Nov 23-Dec 3. So A little too early imho. I think I am a pretty eclectic angler lar ...... Jacks of all trades, master of none

I'm afraid no pictures of the blank under load. All I can say is I love it. Pretty whippy tip, but when it locks up, it can really pull & give the fish a run for it's money.

Best regards,
Makaira

[stickbom!]

Jacks of all trades, Master of none... aren't we all guilty of that? Well its fun trying out new forms/styles of fishing I guess. Okay I hear you loud n clear on the Calstar... will go bug Benji to build me one next year. Thanks again for the ever-so-valuable input buddy.

[mack]

Nice report. Weather plays a big part in fishing.

The weather has been very bad for the past weeks in Baa Atoll - Landaa Giraavaru, hence bottom fishing has been cancelled for past 2weeks. As i am typing now, the wind is howling loudly outside and white cap can be seen everywhere. On our side, we do get some pretty rough weather for a few days in december/ january.

Did some early morning trolling a few days ago, landed some wahoos and a sail fish too. Surprising, we catch wahoo only in november, december and january.

Just curious, what jigs did u use for the doggies? I do not have much luck on doggies on jig.

Edy- give me a call at 7788 072 if u come to maldives, maybe can meet up in Male.

cheers
adrian

[edylie]

Hi Adrian,

I will definetely give you a call when I am there. I will be in Male on 10th of Jan ... lands in Male Airport around 10PM.

I am taking noranee2, have you heard about that boat before?

Cheers,
Edy

[Makaira]

Just curious, what jigs did u use for the doggies? I do not have much luck on doggies on jig.

Hi Adrian,

Thought you were back in Singapore. Would have liked to contact you but it was a straight to the boat from the plane & vice-versa kind of thing so wouldn't have had the time to meet up with you.

I got the most of the fishes using the Maria Sea Flower & OK jigs rigged with trebles. Go get the Maria (black or purple) from AO and the OK jigs (blue/pink, black/lumo & the pink) from Deep Sea the next time you are back.

Best regards,
Makaira

[arowana]

Makaira.....Nice report.

Good Sportmanship

Cheers

[mark]

old man, U quiet quiet when Maldives without saying hor!!! if you've told me i might be able to pass you a killer lure for light trolling ard the reefs, my last record stands at 5:1 against other lures..hehehehe....

BTW, was your pics taken when the boat is back in Singapore? cos the fishes looks so........ exhausted leh??? hahahaha...

Cheers

[MarkR]

Hi Mak,

Nice report Do you think fishing is better in the north or south? Some guys who have been to both northern and southern regions tell me that they believe the North is still better for the bigger GTs.

Cheers

[Makaira]

old man, U quiet quiet when Maldives without saying hor!!! if you've told me i might be able to pass you a killer lure for light trolling ard the reefs, my last record stands at 5:1 against other lures..hehehehe....

BTW, was your pics taken when the boat is back in Singapore? cos the fishes looks so........ exhausted leh??? hahahaha...

Cheers

Hi Mark,

Trip was a last minute thing so I did not really have much time to prepare.

Pictures taken the morning after being caught lar. If I put you in an ice box for a few hours then take your picture, you will also "exhausted". Hahahahaha!!!!!


Best regards,
Makaira

[Makaira]

Hi Mak,

Nice report Do you think fishing is better in the north or south? Some guys who have been to both northern and southern regions tell me that they believe the North is still better for the bigger GTs.

Cheers

Hail Almighty King Of Dogtooth ,

I really have no idea which is better. This is my first ever trip to the Maldives. We ventured south because mutual friends advised us to try the south as they did pretty well on big GTs in March. Alas, they were not to be found by us.

My instinct tells me that the south should be better for angling because there is much less human habitation and hence do not suffer from overfishing (I think). Should I have the opportunity to go back to the Maldives, I would personally still give the south another try.

Best regards,
Makaira

[DaFrogman]

Psst Mak,

Night jigging?..... Did you use all lumo jigs or just the ones with lumo undersides and eyes?.... Enquiring minds want to know...

Nice CR BTW, shame the weather crapped up a bit. Whats the rating on that GF600MH?...

Saimee

[Makaira]

Psst Mak,

Night jigging?..... Did you use all lumo jigs or just the ones with lumo undersides and eyes?.... Enquiring minds want to know...

Nice CR BTW, shame the weather crapped up a bit. Whats the rating on that GF600MH?...

Saimee

Hi Saimee,

Did not particularly look for lumo jigs to use. The Maria Sea Flower has no lumo on it whatsoever and I think some of the OK Jigs had a lumo belly. We were fishing between 200-500 feet (60-150m) of water, depending on where managed to anchor at night. Luckily, there was not much current flow in the night as well so I could use the lighter jigs, perhaps 130-230gm or so. It just takes a little longer to reach the bottom Surprisingly, the most productive fishing for doggies was at 200-300 feet (60-100m) of water. Perhaps this relatively shallow water produces only the "rats". Good fun nontheless.

As for the GF600 blank, please refer to this post :

http://www.fishingouting.com/forums/...nder-load.html


Best regards,
Makaira

[Blackmarlin]

Jacks of all trades, Master of none... aren't we all guilty of that? Well its fun trying out new forms/styles of fishing I guess. Okay I hear you loud n clear on the Calstar... will go bug Benji to build me one next year. Thanks again for the ever-so-valuable input buddy.

Hi Mickey,

You....... going for Calstar rod, thought all this while the Jap rod are your favourite. hehehehe


KK, all captain/crew are alike, same like a few in P. marina always tell us, catch of yesterday or day before was better. Well to me fishing is at the "right place and right time" it's all yours.

[Makaira]

KK, all captain/crew are alike, same like a few in P. marina always tell us, catch of yesterday or day before was better. Well to me fishing is at the "right place and right time" it's all yours.

Hi Robert,

I know EXACTLY what & which party(ies) you are talking about. You forgot to add ....... "I told you to book the day after tomorrow or next week ...... lao chui ka ho ... you want today ...... bo pian"

Timing is crucial; for fishing and for many things in life, isn't it?

Best regards,
Makaira

[Sportfisherman]

Mak ,

When fishing , I like to go when the high tide and low tide times are during the fishing time . No point going fishing when the high/low tide during too early or too late in a day .

Sportfisherman .

[stickbom!]

Hi Mickey,

You....... going for Calstar rod, thought all this while the Jap rod are your favourite. hehehehe

Hahaha... Robert don't like that leh... anything good (n cheap) I will use. Did you know I have a few good ol Ugly Stiks @ home?

[Blackmarlin]

Hahaha... Robert don't like that leh... anything good (n cheap) I will use. Did you know I have a few good ol Ugly Stiks @ home?

hahaha, something to share with you guys, Ugly stiks, good rod but no backbone. Was on Rico II at Pengarrang, super strong current, one kaki hit a stingray, poor guy struggling to pump with his Ugly stik. Rod bent like siao, Mike Goh on the trip said "wow this one must be at least 20kg. Everyone brought out camera to take pic. Then I realised Ulgy stik and super strong current. I told Mike Goh, no lah prata probably less than 5kg. Finally after 25mins struggled prata surfaced, everyone put camera back into their bag. Prata 4kg only. hahahaha

[Narc]

hahaha, something to share with you guys, Ugly stiks, good rod but no backbone. Was on Rico II at Pengarrang, super strong current, one kaki hit a stingray, poor guy struggling to pump with his Ugly stik. Rod bent like siao, Mike Goh on the trip said "wow this one must be at least 20kg. Everyone brought out camera to take pic. Then I realised Ulgy stik and super strong current. I told Mike Goh, no lah prata probably less than 5kg. Finally after 25mins struggled prata surfaced, everyone put camera back into their bag. Prata 4kg only. hahahaha

Wah! You the sharpest man there and then lah!
I bet if it had been a Lemax, the prata would have surfaced in 2.5mins la!

Those P.Marina boatman, they should have known better than to tell you such stories la! Did they expect they can pull a fast one on you??

[Blackmarlin]

Wah! You the sharpest man there and then lah!
I bet if it had been a Lemax, the prata would have surfaced in 2.5mins la!

Those P.Marina boatman, they should have known better than to tell you such stories la! Did they expect they can pull a fast one on you??

AhGu

hahahhahaha