Goliath Grouper, GT and Queenfish .... it's the moment !!!!

Hello again...it's been a while...

well...more fishing than blogging.The more you catch,the less you want to take pictures or videos,until you come across to an unusual catch,like in this trip...

This Goliath made my knee shaking while reeling it in...it was not the speed,but the force of it's weight.Caught on a mid diving glow in the dark lure, the first thought was the lure is stucked to the coral,and the second thought was a turtle accidently hooked to the lure...until it ran,slowly,then you know that something not too small is at the end of the line.

It's bigger than me...

What keep an angler casting all day long?
Hope...faith...believe...and experiences...it happened many times before so it will happen again.

Queen on a popper...

This GT took the popper when the lure almost reaches the boat...it came fast from the dark deeper part of the sea cliff and gave a firm strike on the popper.

This very same spot has seen two bigger GT s escaped with the lures.On the first trip, it broke the 60lbs braided main line and on the second trip, it broke the 100lbs wyre leader!!

This time, Pakcik the boat men reversed the boat so the Speedo don't get to run to the rocks and breaks the line again.

Speedo and tail dancer...


Weapons that involved in the battle with the goliath grouper...

Reel:Shimano Jigger LD 2000(2)*(aka Talica outside of Japan) , Rod:Xzoga Takadum PE5G, Lure: Storm Deep Thunder (glow in the dark), Main line: Muzi Power 40lbs, Leader: 80lbs Steel Elephant Power

Video will be uploaded to https://www.youtube.com/user/AnglersTaiton/videos
Please subscribe and share.
Thank you for reading and till we fish again...

Barracuda and coral trout..

The sea is friendly again...the season is back...load up the gears and head to the islands..

Back to the island...

The sea is super calm!..

Mount Santubong is there as always..

The water is super clear...

A diving boat..a diving girl is not something you want to hook on..literally

Try some poppings..

and trolling..

The result is pretty fine...

This is how you welcome a fish on board..

closer shot..

the razor sharp teeth join in the club too..

Look at the size of the eye!..

The storm is coming in..it's time to go home..

After a long dry spell....

Thanks to the mother nature for this special Christmas gift..:)
After about 2-3 months of zero catch of giant snake head,this morning,around 8 am,we both caught one each in between of about 10 minutes time.
At one stage,i was almost give up on lure casting.
Started at about 6am with X-rap walk the dog..i changed to popper,and then big skitter by French champion, Sebile...before i changed again to X-rap 'walk the dog'...while thinking,if this doesn't work,next time i'll 'walk the cat'!
Ernesto lost his brand new Yozuri popper to the grass...second time in 3 days time,last 2 days he lost his Yozuri pencil bait.So,he changed to Spinner Bait.
It was this X-rap 'walk the dog' and spinner bait that make our day.

When i was at the brink of giving up,i squatted by the lake side,stop casting and just watching the surface of the lake.And there,about 30m a bit to the left, i saw a small ripple of water.I though,this will be just another cast...and i cast a bit further and reel it in passing by the ripple about 2m away to the right.
And 'Pop!'...a big splash and my lure disappeared from my sight...for a while,the fish was fighting around the area,before it made a torpedo speed run to the right...and i can see its beautiful stripe in the water....

'my heart stop beating for a while...my system stop pumping oxygen to my brain..and for a while,i saw stars,maybe due to the lack of oxygen in the head'..
it was such an adrenalin rush.

When the fish starts to give up..it used its typical dirty tactic by rushing to the grass,the way it did last year to escape from my popper.
I shouted for help from Ernesto which was about 100m away behind the trees.
He was holding the rod while i was jumping to the lake to get my trophy that stuck in the grass...which i didn't do last year.This time,i must land you and take picture.

And it was so sweet...the moment.

About 10 minutes later,when i was smoking trying to calm down and do random casting (and rewarding myself)...Ernesto shouted for help.God...this can't be real...we broke the taboo this morning.
From far i can see him fighting the fish.
And i jump again,the fish using the same dirty tactic again.
Again,the beautiful purplish stripy python look alike scale fish,in my hand again,still struggling proving its reputation as the best fighter of the region's freshwater fish.

It was a great day...
thanks to Shimano long cast rods,Ryobi Fokamo reel,Abu Garcia Cardinal reel,Spiderwyre braided line,Rapala X-rap Extreme Walk,Spinner Bait...
'to the brands mentioned above,we don't mind to do product endorsement for you' :)
thanks to mother nature,thanks to the spirit of the lake,thanks to Lewis for proving that lure still works here,thanks to Ernesto for the early morning plan around 2am text message,and thanks to all our supporters and critics..:)

Spinner bait did the job.

Worth the wait...

It's the moment!

And yes...we did catch and release..fight another day..grow bigger,fight better!