Welcome to the World of Extreme GT Fishing - Christmas Island

Landing a forty pound Giant Trevally in 3-1/2 minutes. A sixty pounder in under six. Casting a 6oz lure 70 yards, and dead-lifting 20 pounds with your fishing rod. Welcome to the world of extreme GT fishing.

The beginnings of our adventure into “extreme” fishing were rooted in last year’s trip to Christmas Island. Previous attempts to land the big GTs had resulted in long, arduous fight times, and frequent break-offs. A big strike usually resulted in a drawn-out fight which exhausted both angler and fish, and during which no one else could fish; or a tragic break-off that cost us both precious gear and time spent re-rigging. In an effort to remedy this situation, we had to look beyond what was considered appropriate tackle in Hawaii. The traditional tools of the big game whipper: the long, soft whipping rod, heavy monofilament line, and resin lures were out of the question.

The Japanese have made lure fishing for GTs an art form, and their rods, reels, lines, and lures are made to handle loads unthinkable compared with the usual tackle employed in Hawaii. Begging favors of Japanese friends, scouring the internet, and doing hours of research eventually got us our necessary tools. Our rods were shorter (around 8ft in length), and constructed of ultra high modulus graphite. They could easily handle dead lifts of 15-20 lbs and cast lures weighing 4-7oz. over 60 yards repeatedly. The shorter length made working deep cup-faced lures easier, and they were much lighter and comfortable to cast with all day than older graphite-fiberglass composites. The reels were the very best large spinning reels available with 6:1 line retrieve ratios, overbuilt gears and handles, and capable of dishing out over 30lbs of drag smoothly (although the typical drag setting was 15-20lbs.) Cheaper reels might last a fish or two, but I’ve seen GTs reduce inferior gear to junk, with broken clutches, stripped gears, and warped rotors spitting aluminum shavings being the result. Our line was 80-100lbs braided PE, utilizing the 8-carrier style of braiding to be smoother and stronger than the cheaper 4 carrier type usually available. This meant less flattening and tangling after being cast repeatedly. Leaders were long, heavy nylon, spliced to the braid and wound onto the reel. They would absorb the shock from the strike and provide abrasion resistance, while still allowing us to use the thin, non-stretch braid to cast for distance and work the lures sharply. The final pieces to the puzzle were some of the biggest wooden and urethane lures available, outfitted with matching 4/0-6/0 heavy wire, barbless trebles and 200-300 split rings. Chuggers, pencil poppers, and stick baits all took massive strikes from big GTs, with the advantage going the chuggers’ way when fishing in deep (over 60ft) water and calling the fish to the surface. Smaller lures worked fine on papio and omilu, but to get the big GT to leave its cave, a BIG lure is necessary. The ferocity of a GT committed to crushing a surface lure cannot be overestimated. Through-wire construction is a necessity. After a few strikes, paint became optional.

The end result was fight times were dramatically diminished and only 2 lures were lost to the coral. We landed around 40 GTs over 30lbs, with the average being around 40lbs and the largest around 70lbs. The average fight time was about 6-7 minutes, which may sound ridiculous, but this was repeated over and over throughout the week. Fish, which in previous attempts may have taken us 30-45 minutes to land, came up floating in less than 5 minutes. We were able to fish longer, fight and land more fish, and release the fish while they were still healthy to fight again another day. The ability to put a consistent pull of over 15lbs on the fish and pump them in with full confidence in the strength of the rod and tackle made all the difference. Our guides were amazed at our ability to pull fish out of nasty coral, land them before it seemed possible, and release the majority without the need for any resuscitation.

It should be noted that this type of fishing is not for couch potatoes. It takes stamina to repeatedly cast and retrieve the big lures GTs love, not to mention fight the beast once it’s hooked. A little weight lifting and cardio work is highly recommended. Those with weak constitutions should probably stick to lighter tackle and smaller game.

The overall outcome of our experiment was an overwhelming success, and I heartily recommend “extreme” fishing to anyone with a strong back, appetite for excitement, and a bit of disposable income. A big mahalo goes out to the kind people of Christmas Island for help making our dreams of GT madness a reality.