Giant trevally (GT) is a popular target species in the Maldives. And they can get pretty big too although the common sizes caught are those between 10kg to 20kg (20-44 pounds).
There are three ways to fish for them. Fly fishing, jigging and casting.
Fly fishing for giant trevally
Fly fishing for GT is certainly the most challenging and probably, because of that, to land one on fly is a great accomplishment.
As there are no luxury of fishing from a skiff, fly fishing for giant trevally in the Maldives generally means stalking the flats and surfs on skinny water and waiting for one to wander close enough to make a good quick cast to. The thing is, they seldom seem to get close enough and when you do spot one close, they are quickly showing their tail at you. Good fly casting skills are (as always) essential.
Persistency and determination (lots of those) will eventually yield some results.
Jigging for giant trevally
There isn’t much to jigging for gt really, you just need them to be around and ensure you are using gear beefy enough to tackle them should one grab your jig.
Jig selection would depend on the location you’re fishing, such as depth and current. Most rods are rated PE3-4 for gt jigging.
Casting for giant trevally
Popping rods of PE4-6 is common here and we cast either poppers or stickbaits. If you’re not used to casting big poppers and popping all day, it is very physically demanding and you will appreciate interchanging with the stickbait once in awhile.
There is not many more explosive moments in fishing than seeing a giant trevally smashing at a surface bait and catching a giant trevally on popper. If you have never experienced this, you must give it a go.
Those big, heavy hard-bodied lures can be cast a long way and that comes in handy when you need to cast into the surfs, over the edge of a reef or over a pinnacle from the boat.
Quite often the giant trevally will miss the lure but when there are aggressive fish around you will see a second or third explosion of the water as you work the lure back, not forgetting seeing those big dark shadows zipping past and following you lures in clear waters, and get ready for a powerful pull when you connect to a giant trevally.
Hooks must be extra strong – even then, I’ve pulled open hooks on unstoppable big giant trevallies.
Just added another fishing adventure to my bucket list.
Life is about living the experiences.