GT Popping Basics – Leigh Fleet

Have you ever wanted to target and catch a Giant Trevally (GT) but don’t know where to start? These fish are a passion of mine and are truly king of the ocean. I hope the following blog will help you start to grasp the concepts and requirements needed to land one and how Daiwa can help you achieve this.

Giant Trevally (Caranx ignobilis) are one of the most aggressive and exciting sport fish an angler can catch, they can be found throughout tropical waters and can grow up to 80kg. Using big surface lures Giant Trevally will explode and even breach the surface mistaking your lure for an unexpecting bait fish. I have personally seen them 5 feet out of the air with a surface popper hanging out of their mouth, it’s truly an amazing sight to see. I have never been in such shock and awe as when I hooked my first big one, it literally took my breath away. The shear strength and power of these fish is just mind blowing no matter how big or small, and all anglers should experience this at one point.

Giant Trevally are most commonly found in shallow coastal waters like rocky reefs and shore faces. This, and their sheer power makes them quite difficult to catch. They will strike your lure then head to the nearest bit of reef, rock or coral bommie to try and remove the foreign object hanging out of its mouth. They must be stopped as quickly as possible and require high drag pressure, super strong line and a powerful rod to match.

There are few reels in the world that have the capability to stop these reef predators however Daiwa has the solution with the Saltiga 6500 or the biggest baddest reel in the world Daiwa’s Saltiga Dogfight. With a whopping 30 kilos of drag you have a chance at stopping the biggest Giant Trevally. These fish even at high drag pressure can still strip line at an astonishing rate so a good 250-300 mts of pe 8 or 10 is required and these reels have that capacity.

Your rod must be able to match the line’s breaking strain and also be able to throw big poppers even up to 200 grams. Daiwa has a number of rods that meet the requirements depending on your budget, but a well-priced Demon Blood 82xh meets the specifications required and has the power to pull the biggest fish of a rocky ledge. If its trophy fish you are after then there is no compromise to be made when purchasing your setups.

I will write a follow up blog on terminal tackle and line connections to match your new setup so you are well and truly on the right track to catching a monster Giant Trevally.

Stay tuned for part 2