Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:45 am
Guinea Bissau Amberjack trip no sharks were harmed in the writing of this article .
Hi All . Just a quick report on a 24hr trip , I did with Jurgen and Hardy from Think Big , the German tackle company .
We set off with far too much gear at about 4pm and headed directly out to the west wreck , which is a huge freighter broken in 3 pieces about 40kms off Unucomo grande . We picked up live yabouys on the way , arriving around 6pm . A Senegalaese pirogue was anchored alongside the wreck , so we started by Popping and had three jacks in the boat within 10mins , but nothing of any big size , another pass and two fish of about 9kgs , so we decided to anchor up and fish our liveys . Anchoring was no easy task , and after 3 attempts we decided to just drop the anchor directly into the wreck . That worked !!! .
Dropping down , we hit fish almost immediately , a proceeded to get stuffed into the wreck almost immediately . All but the smallest snapper and some Barracuda managed to escape capture by crash diving into the ironwork . We were fast running out of baits , so we switched to cut baits and the hits slowed , but continued . We did manage to hold onto about 5 good Snappers up to about 11kgs , back some of the hits were just untouchable , even on 80lb class gear fully locked down , by the time you had realiased what was going on it was all over .
A little crest fallen we set out the mattresses and 3 slept whilst one kept guard over what was becoming a very unequal battle . It was quite depressing really , having dozed off , only to be a woken by a screaming drag , 15 seconds of grunting , followed by swearing German , french or English , dependent on whose turn it was to lose the fish that time. Eventually we gave it best and all off us took the chance to catch a bit of rest . But having just managed to get to sleep , the Pirogue skipper decided it would be a good moment to pull the anchor and clear off . So having been woken again , I pulled the anchor and decided to drive slowly on to our next mark , which was about 25kms further out . Chugging slowly along in the dark , its amazing how much traffic is actually out there , Pirogues , Freighters , Trawlers , so picking my way through I finally arrived on the mark at about 3 am .
Well if you could say the sounder was full that would not be an understatement , and we slowed , it was solid red from about 60mts down to 80 mts , in some places it wouldnt even read the depth because of the fish . It was a mix of Bonito and Amberjacks , sitting on top of a coral reef . I dropped down a livey and drifted , but nothing not a touch , anyway everyone else was still asleep , so I reeled in and sat back to wait for the dawn .
Sunrise time to start fishing , everyone was freezing , so out came the thermos of coffee , only to find that it was smashed , my god how depressing was that moment . So Coke and cake fr breakfast and onto the main event .
My god was it a main event , As we moved back up onto the mark the fish were thick over the top of the reef , drop after drop produced good sized Amberjacks , the biggest coming in at 22kgs , but we had several hook pulls , before realising that actually they have quite soft mouths and although you need to be firm , if you over pressure them they will tear the hook hold .
Anyway , one thing I will say is Speed Jigging is a young mans sport , winding 300 grams up as fast as possible from 90mts is not for the faint hearted , having dropped down , and then begun to retrieve as quickly as possible , normally running out of steam at about 50mts up , if you were really lucky you got up without a take , but most of the time we were getting hits like turbo charged pollack . Believe me there was quite a lot of whimpering and whining going on even from the younger members of the Party.
Being a 51 year old smoker , I did quite a lot of videoing , but eventually I took my turn and must have had well in excess of 20 fish , I suppose we could have gone lighter with the jigs , but every time we went below about 200grams , we kept hitting 5kg Bonitos , which were above the Amberjacks and attacked anything smaller than about 250grams , probably because of the physical size rather than the weight.
Fish after fish , the only limitation was the ability of us lot to wind the jig fast enough . Speed Jigging it is a killer method { it kills the angler !!! } but get a good nights sleep before you attempt a mark like this , everyone without exception was like a bit of frayed carpet by 12.30 .
Gear was our normal jigging outfits ; I Probably a bit undergunned speed wise , next time I might look for something a bit speedier reel wise .
Shimano Blue rose / 10,000 SW Stella
Shimano Caranx / 10,000 SW Stella
Daiwas Saltiga 200-400gram / Saltiga Z6500
Heres a few pics , more later .
I think the 24hr trips will become a part of the itinerary for those fool hardy enough to go speed jigging , apparently the biggest Ambejacks are around Oct - Dec , also the proximity of the Bluewater means that the trip can also include trolling for Sailfish and Dorados with live baits which has proven very productive in the past .
So Next time a 300lb hand line for the wreck , and a group of slightly younger men for the speed jigging !!!!.
Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:46 am
Sounds like a great trip Richard. More unexplored territory. Maybe a trip for me in the future and I am "slightly" older than 51
. You may remember Michael who was 76 on our trip to GB in 2010 and the fish that he landed. There is hope for us all yet
Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:48 pm
Absolutely mate . You stay younger by testing yourself , not giving up . Be nice to host you guys whenever you fancy it .