Our good friend Joff Weston returned in October for his annual popping overdose, this year accompanied by GT trajic Chris Lee. Good weather greeted the boys and stayed with them for the entire trip, making conditions and access excellent. Rocky also managed to cast a few lures as the popping ran hot from day one.
With Joff's record of big catches on previous visits, there wasn't much left on his "to do" list. A big sailfish on a popper on the first day was a nice one to tick off that list. Chris, on the other hand had a very single minded goal and that was to catch a big GT. On the first day he had his top 4 personal best GTs and never looked like slowing down as he continued to catch great GTs everyday. He showed the value of having a well stocked bag of top quality lures, with fish falling to many styles of poppers and big stickbaits. Another highlight for Chris was surely his first ever sailfish taken on a Halco Haymaker in the new Red Tiger pattern. The sails just loved this lure.
GTs were generally plentiful, if they quietened down in the mornings we would change tactics and pursue them in the evening with good results. Red bass were again numerous and I'm sure that if they grew to 30kg we wouldn't want to catch anything else. For their size they really go hard. The sails were there whenever we went looking for them and wahoo were readily taken trolling when a rest from popping was in order. While yellowfin tuna were absent at first, which didn't matter with so many GTs about, some good sized specimens did turn up by the end of the trip.
In summary, the weather,the company and most importantly the fishing were first class. With the awesome fishing and wonderful experience Chris had during his time on the island, it's pretty safe to say he will return. As for Joff, well we know he'll be back.
Click an image below to enlarge.
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