So after Pam and Dustin left, my cousin Brent arrived with three of his mates. I stayed on to fish with them for the second week, and just take it easy. It was a nice opportunity for me to be on the water with no pressure to catch fish, no cameras, just a week with some good guys and an opportunity for me to take some pics, do some snorkelling etc.
We decided to head south from Sakatia, as we had been North the week before. This meant cruising down around the Radama Islands on the Yacht "Now Now" and fishing from King Julien, Madagascar Fishing Adventures' fantastic fishing craft.
It didn't take long for the boys to start getting into fish, with Peter Brooke opening his account with a bluefin kingfish taken on a Sebile Magic Swimmer.
Brent wasn't far behind and got the first GT of the trip, casting a stickbait towards a rocky outcrop and bringing it back with a gentle sweeping motion.
The boys were chuffed, this was what they had come for, and everyone started casting lures with vigour. In fact the boat became a bit of a hazardous place to be when the adrenalin was running so Brandon and I took cover beneath the T-Top and watched as the guys blew off some steam with frenzied casting.
Next customer was Peter with another great barracuda which took the Magic Swimmer, luckily I had learnt my lesson by now and had rigged the Magic Swimmer with a bit of wire, after seeing how the barracuda and king mackerel liked it.
Greg Hill got into the action with his first fish of the trip, a nice bluefin king, which took a monster yellow Mcarthy dropshot rigged on a Bimini Jighead.
Brent then got a Black Jack (Caranx lugubris) on a dropshot worked near a dropoff in around 35m of water.
Greg then landed this Marbled Coral Grouper on a Sea Iron Pelacus jig, fished on a Jigging Master 250 rod and PE 4 reel. A really nice light setup for dropshotting and jigging. The guys fought over who was going to use that rig, due to its lightness and ability to still deal with good fish.
There were plenty of bonnies around to provide frenetic light tackle action. Here Jarl Heurlin shows off a pretty Kawa Kawa taken on a Sea Iron Super Sprat spoon. Probably the finest lure to target these feisty little members of the tuna family.
Peter then got this lovely king mackerel on a Darkstar Tuna 100 Popper. The fish hit the lure with a spectacular smash and fortunately didn't bite it off, as there was no wire leader on.
These Darkstar Tuna 100's are fast becoming my favourite popper for general use in the tropics. It is easy to work, makes a big disturbance and attracts just about every surface feeding fish around. I think that the fact that it doesn't have too much resistance, makes it easier to move through the water at a more brisk speed which generates strikes.
Another lure that did some damage in Madagascar is the Sebile Stick Shadd, this lure is the perfect size and shape to imitate a Fusilier, which is one of the GT's favourite foods in the tropics. The above colour is also the nearest colour to the Fusiliers that I could find.
Brent with another GT which fell for the old Faithful Tuna 100 popper. By the end of the trip this particular lure was looking like it nhad been chewed on for a week by a Staffy Puppy and had the guys reaching for it at every opportunity as it seemed to be the lucky popper on the boat.
And another...
We fished a river mouth near the Radama Islands and got into some really nice Greenspot Kingies on light dropshot tackle. Natural colour dropshots were the best producers, with the above fish taken on a Berkley Pearl Watermelon Shad, rigged on a Berkley Nitro Jighead. The Nitro jigheads were ideal due to the strength of the Owner hooks.
A local Pirogue coming into the river mouth in the late afternoon after a day's fishing out at sea.
The GT's continued to provide entertainment. Here Greg Hill has caught yet another on the Old Faithful Tuna 100 popper. We fished this lure on the Jigging Master GT Monster 7'8" rod with a Shimano Twinpower 10 000 reel, with the Jigging Master extra large spool and power handle conversion. This was loaded with 80lb braid and proved to be a great GT weapon.
Greg got a Barracuda on the same lure shortly afterwards.
The Tuna 100 starting to get chewed up...
Greg with a rainbow runner, racking up the species.
And another nice greenspot Kingie in the river mouth.
And a double spotted needle scale queenfish taken on dropshot in the river mouth.
Jarl casting with the Penn Torque 20 on a Berkley Venom Viper GT stick, another good popping outfit.
Jarl with a big garfish. Man these things are aggressive. Imagine if they grew to 30kg's...
And the tuna 100 kept producing GT's
Casting around a lump of rock sticking out of the ocean, there can be few more scenic spots to wet a line.
And the Sebile Magic Swimmer attracts yet another bluefin kingie!
We took the opportunity to cool down by snorkelling around some of the islands. I got to swim with a whale shark and a manta ray during the week. Both spectacular experiences.
The old faithfulstill producing.
And starting to look like it has had a heavy week.
Greg into a good GT
What a great fish!
That is his trip made!
Then there are those colourful reef species, such as this Swallowtailed grouper which are caught on dropshot and bucktail jigs.
Jarl with a GT taken on popper.
And a blufin on dropshot, they just kept coming.
Brent got his green jobfish on the Old Faithful, just to add to the species list.
Greg with a very decent bluefin King taken on dropshot.
Jarl with a teenage GT which hit a Darkstar Tuna 100 popper.
Greg got this Orange Spotted Rockcod on a jig in about 40m of water.
Pete landed this beauty of a King Mackerel on dropshot, with no wire, very lucky!
Pete with a GT taken on a Darkstar Ulua 90 stickbait. The guys were more keen on popping than casting stickbaits, but I was pleased when Pete did try one and had immediate success.
The Birthday boy, Brent with a nice GT which he caught on a Darkstar Tuna 100 popper. A nice 40th birthday present.
All in all the guys had a blast and caught some good fish. There are also tales of the ones that got away, but that is what keeps us coming back for more. Thanks again to Madagascar Fishing Adventures for another awesome week!
