Tackle Source and friends travel to the centre of the equator and the magnificent Maldives. The guys are armed to the teeth with jigs so the we knew where we were headed on this trip.
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| New boat, heavy expectations as we steam out of harbour... |
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| After a short travel our first drop finds this Niger Triggerfish on the Shout! Strobe jig... |
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| Fish number two is much better. A strong fight later we have this beautiful Coral Trout in the boat, courtesy of the Shout! Flash jig... |
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| The red Major Craft Slow Draw slow pitch jigging rod at work... |
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| Turns out to be a small Greasy Grouper on the RedX CrossII jig... |
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| We get a second one on the Major Craft Jigpara jig... |
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| Next drop with the Major Craft Jigpara and its a baby Goldflag Jobfish... |
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| For the duration of this trip all slow pitch jigging is performed with the help of the highly successful Major Craft Slow Draw series rods. They were born of a collaboration between Tackle Source and the Major Craft brand... |
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| A good fight had this Rosy Jobfish proving its worth. These fish go hard! |
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| It took the FEED Lures FALL jig with gusto... |
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| Almaco Jacks are awesome fish to catch, they fight all the way up and never give in. Unfortunately this one was a little small, but it took the Shout! Cradle jig with enthusiasm... |
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| Bouncing the Shout! Shab Shab jig over reefy bottom was a good way to get one of these. An awesome looking Coronation Trout displays its lunar tail for all... |
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| Another drop with the Shout! Shab Shab and another small Almcao Jack jumps on... |
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| We then head for shallower reefs and first drop with the new DUO Drag Metal jig finds this Greasy Grouper... |
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| The DUO Drag Metal proves its worth with this stonking Rosy Jobfish next. We were testing out new FEED prototype rods and it provided for a few anxious moments... |
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| Back to a deeper drop and the Shout! Shab Shab brings a Rockcod aboard... |
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| And how about two baby Coronation Trout on one Major Craft Jigpara jig... |
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| Followed by a beautifully marked Comet Grouper on the same Jigpara... |
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| We drop an IMA Gun Peki jig and up came a little Jobfish... |
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| While the Shout! Shab Shab finds a nice Cod... |
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| Goldflag Jobfish are super abundant in these waters, this SFC Spunky wouldn't go untouched... |
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| Here's another on the Shout! Strobe jig... |
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| Another Rock Cod hits the deck with the Shout! Shab Shab in its gob... |
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| And then its another Goldflag Jobfish on the Xesta Flap jig... |
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| The myriad of species that potentially could be hooked when a jig is dropped is amazing. It is deep when you snag a Ruby Snapper on the SFC Spunky... |
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| Each evening when the anchor is dropped out come the micro jigs like these FEED FLIPs and Xesta Slow Bees. The Paddletail Snappers are always willing... |
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| Emperors are pretty thick as well. And they like FEED FLIP jigs too... |
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| The fishing can get pretty hectic, here's a trio of Squirrelfish, Striped Snapper and Red Bass... |
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| The colours of the Sabre Squirrelfish are just amazing, this one took a FEED FLIP jig... |
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| How about a tiny Squirrelfish on the FEED FLIP? |
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| And we get a third Squirrelfish specie in succession on the FEED FLIP jig... |
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| Next morning we hit the drop-offs with jigs in hand, first fish on the boat is a Black Jack on the RedX CrossII slow jig... |
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| We can't escape the Goldflag Jobfish. This one liked the Xesta Flap jig... |
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| Rock Cods are also a common encounter. On the light Jackall Anchovy Driver rod they are maximum fun. This one took a Shout! Strobe jig... |
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| Goldflag Jobbie on SFC Arc. Almost the same size... |
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| The better fish come from the deeper drops, here's a truly scarlet Flametail Snapper on the Shout! Width jig... |
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| A surprising hit when the Jackall Anchovy Missile was being retrieved turned out to be a feisty Yellowfin Tuna... |
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| And the Tuna theme continues with this Dogtooth, which came as a nice surprise too... |
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| It took the SFC Arrow jig so hard it punctured its jaws... |
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| Here's an abnormality from the deep, a Trumpetfish on the Evergreen Javelin jig... |
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| We then hit the reefs and find a small Coronation Trout on the FEED FLIP jig... |
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| But then it gets better with a nice Coral Trout on an IMA Gun Peki jig... |
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| Casting towards shallow reefs with the highly capable DUO Realis Pencil finds a small Peacock Hind after many hits... |
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| This was an opportunity to test out some prototype FEED rods, which we used to throw lures like this DUO Fangbait diver. Peacock Hinds were always willing... |
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| The new DUO Drag Metal jig also accounted for many fish from the shallows, like this Paddletail Snapper... |
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| And this Red Throat Grouper... |
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| These beautifully marked Sabre Squirrels were also abundant we learnt. This one on an IMA Ichimatsu jig... |
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| IMA Gun Peki jig finds a nice Emperor... |
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| Then a pleasant surprise as the DUO Drag Metal pins two fish which were fighting over it. A nice Coral Trout and a Paddletail Snapper... |
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| Yet another Squirrel is the Spiny Squirrelfish on the IMA Gun Peki jig... |
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| That night we had special visitors at the back of the boat, a total of 3 gracious Nurse Sharks were hand fed... |
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| Morning drop with the FEED FALL jig snares a Green Jobfish... |
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| Being close to the bottom gets the Rock Cods to attack, and the FEED FALL jigs which their sexy flutter did much damage... |
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| Some were less lucky and incurred the wrath of the Triggerfish from the deep... |
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| Much fun was had in the shallower water with micro jig outfits in hand. DUO Drag Metal jig is hard to resist for Paddletails... |
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| The Paddletail Snappers lined up to attack the DUO Drag Metal jig... |
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| When we get past the Paddletails the chance to hook a nice one like this Coral Trout gets real... |
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| DUO Drag Metal does the job... |
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| Never short of beautiful fish on the DUO Drag Metal, this Undulate Triggerfish proves greed doesn't pay... |
More to come in part 2!
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