The magical Maldives. We were back.
6 months is a long wait and the anticipation couldn't have made it harder. Alas on the flight to Male the thoughts of a week of joy soothed the soul. The weather reports weren't encouraging but we put it behind us when sunlight poked through the windows early the next morning.
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| You know you're on a Maldives Safari Boat when a bunch of bananas are onboard. What taboo? |
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| As we left the capital of Male in our wake, we were excited on what doors would open up to us in the week ahead... |
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| Rise and shine and getting straight to the job! |
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| And indeed! With a hook up. But this fish won its freedom shortly... |
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| A small GT from the inner reefs to get things started... |
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| Followed by a nicer one next. This fish was in the mid-teens... |
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| Like the first, this fish fell for a lightly worked Maggy Gara GT Popper... |
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| This was followed by a pretty Red Bass on the small-cupped El Gaviota popper... |
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| Variety is the spice of life! And in the Maldives its certainly so. This Bluefin Trevally added more colour to the day's tally... |
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| The shallow inner reefs held no shortage of good fish. This nice GT fell for a prototype FCL Labo creation... |
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| The action was heating up steadily with multiple hook ups... |
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| Another mid-teens GT to make a happy angler. The use of a lighter rod like the Majorcraft Offblow Tuna popping series allowed strategically long casts that were essential to one's success. The little El Toro popper did the rest... |
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| This other nice fish fell for a sinking stickbait instead. The FCL Labo CSP needs no introduction... |
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| Even minors weren't afraid to go for sizable offerings like this FCL Labo prototype that's been launched as the ZC-L160 model... |
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| A funny and fresh FCL design - the HP160 proves it wasn't made as a novelty. It turned out to be really easy to work with a levels of strength applied to it... |
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| Under cloudy skies another FCL Labo rod is under load. The 80EXT rod is a pleasure to cast... |
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| Another nice GT hits the deck. There were some good fish landed that day... |
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| The new FCL Labo TG190 swimmer is an easy lure to manipulate. In fact, it helps itself... |
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| More variety with a Green Jobfish on a sinking pencil, the Shout! Engra is small but heavy and packs a punch when cast... |
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| Off a shallow reef came a dark shape which pummelled the lure with such intensity it sent all on board scrambling to catch a glimpse. It was fight on! The tough customer sure did take a lot of coaxing to get boatside and eventually to the leader... |
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| Here's a catch of a lifetime for a lucky angler. Coral Trouts of this size aren't too keen on coming on board and have a nasty habit of showing who's boss when hooked... |
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| A fish like this sure deserves another shot. It was no surprise the FCL Labo SPP Tuna did this guy in. Reefies can't seem to get enough of this lure... |
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| The Giant Trevs were liking the small poppers and the Maggy Gara Short Popper scored again... |
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| Some hung deep and took abit of coaxing with the CSP sinking pencils... |
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| Meals were a welcome break for anglers to catch a breath... |
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| The short pumps of the El Gaviota replicates fleeing bait perfectly, and the GTs react like homing missiles... |
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| The willing GTs gave us a chance to swap lures and experiment with the new... |
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| Here's an FCL Labo prototype that most probably will not make it to production, although it produces a beautiful wide walk... |
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| There were some very decent fish thrown in the mix... |
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| The radical FCL HP160 really shone and was a revelation with its versatility... |
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| Shout! Engra Tuna/Hiramasa sinking pencil scores with this Bluefin Trev... |
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| Once at anchor down out came the light stuff. IMA Gunpekis are madly effective anywhere in the world... |
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| Of course it attracts all kinds, wanted and unwanted... |
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| There was no escaping the GT that day as shown by this one on a light IMA Ro jig in the shallows... |
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| Every sunset was a treat... |
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| On light gear you never know what the next catch will be. Sometimes you get blown away, sometimes you get lucky. This Green Jobfish was hard work on the Majorcraft KG Lights and was an early morning excercise more than was bargained for. It fell for a prototype FCL Labo mini jig... |
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| Next day we hit the outer reef but were greeted by some very enthusiastic smallies like this GT that had no qualms whacking the brash and loud Fisherman S-Pop HP Tail popper... |
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| A switch to the smaller CSP sinking stickbait was greeted enthusiastically by the Blue gang... |
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| The second consecutive Bluefin Trevally being the bigger one... |
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| It was a great sign when the first fish you pull up on jig is the much celebrated Yellowfin Grouper! |
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| Another look at this stunning fish with the Shout! Shab Shab jig in its mouth... |
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| A little Coronation Trout on a Shout! Flash jig... |
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| A very greedy Trumpetfish taken on a Shab Shab jig... |
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| From the deeper spots we got Rockcods like this. They were pretty common and weren't choosy. This one fell for a CB One Quick Zero jig... |
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| Another victim on the CB One jig, a Black Trevally... |
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| And on consecutive drops another Cod specie from the deep, on the CB One Quick Zero... |
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| You know you're fishing deep when you get ooglies like this Big-Eye which took a Shout! Shab Shab... |
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| Another Cod on the Shab Shab... |
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| And the procession continued with another on a Shout! Width jig this time... |
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| Followed closely by another... |
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| A nice Green Jobfish to break the monotony of demersals. This guy took a Fisherman Andaman jig and ran hard on the Evergreen Poseidon Spin Jerker outfit... |
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| Shout! Width jig with a GT... |
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| A smaller Green Jobbie on an Andaman... |
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| And a small Dogtooth Tuna on the same Andaman jig... |
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| An FCL SL jig worked slow with the overhead Poseidon High Pitch Jerker rod drew a response from this nice Nassau Grouper... |
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| Another Big-Eye from the depths on a CB One jig... |
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| Here's a uncommon capture, a deep-sea Bream specie on a Fisherman Marado jig... |
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| Poseidon High Pitch Jerker, no contest against a school sized Rosy Jobfish... |
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| At anchor it was back to the light stuff. Green Jobfishes were abundant this trip and made their presence known quickly. IMA Gun jigs were snapped up readily... |
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| Majorcraft KG Lights against the sunset, it couldn't possibly get better... |
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| The culprit - a sizable Green Jobbie which provided a few tense moments on the ultralight set up and IMA mini jig... |
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| After nightfall the Paddletails came out to play. These fish go hard! |
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| Here's one of the biggest one we've ever seen. Like all others it took an IMA Gun jig... |
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| This night would be species galore, as a baby Red Bass was next onboard... |
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| Followed by a close cousin, a striped Snapper common to these reefs... |
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| Better Bass provided some thrills... |
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| They were certainly queueing up for a shot at the IMA jig... |
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| A beautiful Squirrelfish biting off more than it can chew... |
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| A rare Snapper on the Bassday Nin Cas mini-madai jig worked with a Temujin 'Spider' rod... |
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| Next morning, first drop was rewarded by a baby Coral Trout. This guy had some growing up to do... |
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| This larger Red-Throat Grouper almost took the IMA Gun jig home as it was forcefully yanked up after burying its head into the nearest bommie... |
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| The popping was proving very difficult as the days wore on, contrary to expectations. The weather was changeable, winds were shifting in from different directions and with it brought scattered stormclouds. Fish like this GT on an FCL Labo SPP Slim were the result of countless casts... |
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| The GTs were shy and weren't going after the topwater lures with much aggression. In between numerous misses we picked up a few good ones like this guy who sucked in an El Gaviota pencil popper... |
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| FCL SPP Slim worked with a do-nothing retrieve drew a few positive strikes... |
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| The perfect popping tool for the Maldives is the FCL Labo EXT 81M rod. Light, crisp and superb castability make it a joy to use for a week-long trip... |
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| Another SPP Slim victim... |
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| So too this small Bluefin trevally... |
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| Though the game has moved on, the old school Orion Bigfoot still manages to score one... |
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| The GTs were frustratingly small. Smaller profile lures like this FCL prototype did well on them... |
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| Some fish were more decent but no trophies... |
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| The small walking stickbait prototype did well to put a few fish in the boat... |
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| Alas we get a break with a strong fish that stood up against the FCL Labo EXT 81MH rod, putting a nice curve in... |
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| Tired? Almost there... |
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| A nice GT in trying conditions. It really went for the FCL Labo CSP175 hard as illustrated by the semi-swallowed stickbait... |
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| FCL CSP175s were the order of the day it seemed... |
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| They scored a few indeed... |
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| This one as well. Their castability, tight swimming action and lithe size stood them in good stead for the finicky fish we were encountering... |
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| The slightly bigger FCL CSP Slim 180S claimed one GT too... |
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| As did the crazy looking FCL HP160 chugger with its disproportionately large cup. Worked along the drop-offs it did well to raise this Giant Trevally... |
to be continued in Part Two...
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