Fishing Reports

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Fun fishing day at Bolgoda

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Last week-end Pershy from Awesome Foursome group have a great time fishing at Bolgoda Lake with our Guide Shaktivel.

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"It was a fun full day in the best way to spend our Sunday at Bolgoda. We had a good day in the water with a catch of 2 Barramundi, 1 featherback and 2 Mangrove Jacks which was caught by casting lures and all the fish was successfully released back into the water.”

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“A big thank you to Sportfishing Lanka and Boatman Sathivel for job well done"

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Congratulations Pershy see you soon

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Amazing fishing day at Bolgoda Lake

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Last Sunday with our regular Japanese anglers Hiro san & Miyazaki san, we had certainly one of the best day fishing at Bolgoda Lake.

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They caught 9 barramundi, they also missed or lost 4 or 5 more and they caught countless Mangrove Jack in the 40 cm up range !!

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The barramundi were so active, Hiro and Miyazaki have a double hook up. It was insane !!

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Tight lines

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Another great day fishing with two expats Japanese anglers at Bolgoda Lake

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Yasuhiro san and his friend were in business trip in Lanka and they decided to have a break to fish at Bolgoda Lake.

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During the morning session they caught a dozen of Mangrove Jack with some big one up to 45 cm. After a delicious lunch at the villa, we started the afternoon session on Barramundi spots. At the beginning there was some wind which don't make the fishing easy, but just before the evening the wind stopped and make the Barramundi hungry. They had 3 bites and Yasuhiro san friend caught two nice Golden Barramundi.

We finished the day to target Featherback but they were not keen to bite their lures. Anyway, all in all it was a very enjoyable day fishing at Bolgoda. Yasuhiro which is also a GT fisherman, has planned to come back with his GT tackle for his next business trip in Lanka. 
It was nice to meet you guys, I am waiting to see you again and to have fun.

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Fishing day at Bolgoda Lake with Japanese angler

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Last week we have received Hayano san from Japan for a day charter at Bolgoda.

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He had a nice day and caught some nice Mangrove Jack during the morning session and the afternoon he lost a big Barramundi and caught a featherback.


It was nice to meet you Hayano san. Hope to see you again at Bolgoda Lake and take your revenge with the Barramundi ;-)

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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A nice day fishing with friends at Bolgoda Lake

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Going fishing at Bolgoda Lake with some buddies like Pershy and Damith, this is the way every Saturday should be spend !

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Here some pictures of our catches, Pershy was the man of the day with 2 barra, Damith was unlucky this day (for once) and caught a ladyfish. My day was not bad with some decent mangroves jacks and 2 featherback.

Guys, I enjoyed my fishing day with you as usual and can't wait for the next one.

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Nice fishing day at Bolgoda with Jordan & his Dad

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Traveling with their family in Sri Lanka, Jason and his dad who are come from Florida want to go fishing at Bolgoda Lake to catch a Wild Golden Barramundi and some Mangrove Jack.

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Weather was nice and water color perfect. They start the morning session with some nice mangrove jack. Just before lunch Jordan has a serious bite of Barramundi, the fish goes in a strong rush to reach the structure, but fortunatly Jordan managed perfectly. The Barramundi jump a couple of time and finally in his last jump he manage to hook off. 
After a good lunch, we go on some other spots and Jordan finally caught a nice Wild Golden Barramundi. The end of the day fishing was slow and they only caught some small mangrove jack.


All in all, it was a nice day, Jordan & his dad enjoyed the fishing at Bolgoda Lake and watching the wildlife, as the huge croc on our way back.
Lures of the day : Rapala Shadow Rap Shad

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Personal best GT on popping for Su Lin

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Mid May, as the southwestern monsoon started to settled, our regular singaporean angler Su Lin informed me she will be in Sri Lanka in a couple of days and she wanted for one or two days fishing at sea. She wanted to do some light jigging and have a try on popping to catch her first GT. I told her the true regarding the weather forecast, but I promise her if we have a good windows we will go.

Fishing in Sri Lanka GT Popping Rapala Xplode.jpg


The day before her arrival, I send her an email with last weather forecast and I told her the only day we can go was on her arrival day... I knew she will arrive in the night at Colombo and she will need to wake up few hours after she arrive in her hotel. But Su Lin was so happy to go fishing, she just reply : "So, I will be waiting for you to pick me at my hotel tomorrow morning at 6 am. Thanks and see you in 12 hours".
So next morning at 7:30 am, Su Lin was doing her first cast of the day. At this stage of my report, I want to precise it was the first time Su Lin was doing some GT popping, meaning casting a 130 gr popper with heavy tackle. And to be honest, to do that after traveling from Singapore and just few sleeping hours, I was very impressed and as a captain, I really wanted she caught her first GT on popping because she was deserve it.
It's for that reason, I was more kind and patient than usual when her cast were not so good. I gave her my best tips to increase her casting distance and make sure her popper make enough noise to trigger a GT bite.
After a couple of hours of intensive cast, Su Lin has the first bite of the day and it seems to be a decent fish. She sets perfectly the hooks and the GT goes in a long rush. After a nice fight, I landed the first ever GT of Su Lin caught on popper and it was a decent 20 kg fish. Su Lin was thrilled and I feel she started to be hooked on GT popping and my feeling was confirmed by her following long distance casts.

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On the next spot, she missed a shy bite, but I knew we need to wait for the tide change to found again some good activity. After lunch, I try again the spot where Su Lin caught her first GT, but nothing happen. On the next spot, as she finished retrieving her lure and was about to take it out of the water, a GT appear from nowhere and grabbed her popper. Fortunately it was not a monster fish, otherwise in this condition the end is not in the favour of the angler. Sun Lin manage well and landed her GT, not a big one, but what a bite !!! We try for a while in some deep water spots where I spotted lot of baits on the sonar, but sadly GT's where not there or did not want to play with us. On the way back I make a last drift on a good spot and I spotted some baits in surface which seem to be afraid by a predator. I ask Su Lin to cast in there direction and on the second pop, a big GT grabbed her lure in a big swirl. Su Lin was ready for this fish and strike perfectly to make sure the hooks penetrate well in the solid jaw of this big fish. But the fish was strong, maybe a bit too strong for her, she cannot put enough pressure on the GT who found the reef and broke the leader. What a pity... Anyway Su Lin was really happy of her day at sea and promised me to come back next season to have her revenge with the big GT.
As usual, it was a pleasure to have you onboard Su-Lin and I really want to congratulate you for your catch you really deserve it !!! See you soon ;-)
Capt. Nico

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First GT popping experience for Ukrainian couple

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Beginning May, we also have some good fishing days at sea, like the 2 days spent with Vladimir & Anastasia from Ukraine. The young couple was travelling in Sri Lanka and Vladimir as a crazy angler for predator fish in Ukraine, wants to do some saltwater fishing and especially with GT's on popping. Anastasia was also keen to have a try, but she never cast such big lures as 130 g popper.

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First day, weather was beautiful and sea was also nice. After a quick casting lesson for Anastasia, we start fishing some of our good spots. On the second spot, Vladimir has a big bite close to the boat. Fortunately, the GT don't go under the boat and run straight out of the rock. Vladimir was very surprise how the GT is strength. After a nice battle, it's a 25-30 kg range GT I put in the landing net. A very good size fish for his first GT ever !!! Quick picture and we release the fish. We try some other good spots but the fish don't seem to play with us, till the tide change and in the afternoon we try some shallow water area and Vladimir was again in the game and caught another GT. Anastasia also had a bite but she lost the fish due to a slack line. Few hours before to get back the harbour, we try a last spot and Vladimir caught one more small fella.


The next day, Vladimir came alone, Anastasia has decided to stay at the hotel for some Ayurvedic massage. Morning was a bit slow, till we fished a new area where the water was more clear, I caught the first GT of the day, just after Vladimir missed one. We stay for a while in this area and Vladimir caught another GT and missed some. The afternoon, I decide to reach the shallow water spot where we have some good activity the day before. On the first drift, Vladimir had a serious bite and the fish was running so fast, it didn't gave time to Vladimir to try to stop it and the fish goes straight in the rock and the line broke. On the second drift, it was my turn to have a bite of a serious fish and the same story happen to me !! After that we try, some other rocks in this area but sadly without success, tough to finish the day with two big fish lost, but that's fishing.


Vladimir plan to come back with some friends to make a proper fishing trip. Waiting to see you again in Lanka to caught some GT's and to have your revenge on the big fish lost the last day !

Tight line 

Capt. Nico

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Great fishing days at Bolgoda Lake with Japanese anglers : Yuzo san & Satoru san. 

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 Satoru san fished with us last January and caught some nice Mangrove Jack, but he was unlucky with the Barramundi. But on the first day of this trip, he caught the first barramundi ! Good start !

A bit later and after they caught some mangrove jack, Yuzo san had a serious barramundi bite. The fish goes in long and powerful run, a bit scared Yuzo put some pressure on the spool with his thumb and lost the fish. His lure came back with a hook less and a strong split ring completely open... A serious fish for sure.

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In the afternoon, he miss 2 nice golden barramundi, fortunately for him, he caught a juvenile GT and a featherback in the evening.

Second day, on the morning session Yuzo caught another Featherback and Saturo a baby barramundi, plus some usual mangrove jack. Just before lunch Satoru caught a nice barramundi.

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On the afternoon session, finally Yuzo san caught a wild golden barramundi. We try also for featherback, but they don't seems very active, then on the last hour before back to the Villa we fished some good spots for barramundi and Satoru san hooked a big wild golden barramundi. Fish was strong, he came twice a long the boat and we saw a very big fish. After a bit of stress during the battle, I finally put the fish in the landing net and it's an absolute beast which is on the boat deck. This wild Golden Barramundi was stubby, his lenght was 89 cm for a weight of 22 lb on the Boga Grip. Satoru san was so happy and I saw his hands were shaking as the one of a kid who caught his first fish. Such a long time I haven't seen this kind of emotion from an angler and I was also so happy for him.

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Last day the morning session was a bit tough due to some windy condition, but we manage to catch some mangrove jack, tarpon and lady fish. The afternoon, on the first spot Yuzo san caught a nice wild golden barramundi.

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After that some serious lightning were coming fast, then we decide to end the fishing day and the trip. 
It was a really nice trip, the guys enjoyed a lot to fish Bolgoda Lake and promised me to come back soon with friends. See you soon then.

Nico-Head Fishing Guide

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Japanese Gold Digger at Bolgoda Lake !!

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Our regular Japanese expat anglers Sugimoto & Hashimoto came for a week-end to fish at Bolgoda Lake.

Weather was good and the Wild Golden Barramundi active. They caught some usual mangrove jack, Sugimoto lost a very big ladyfish and Hashimoto was the lucky angler who caught all the barramundi. Another great fishing week-end at Bolgoda Lake !!!


Lures of the week-end : Rapala Shadow Rap Shad and Shadow Rap Deep

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Big barramundi for Japanese angler at Bolgoda Lake !!!

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Very busy these last days guiding at Bolgoda Lake and no time to put our last fishing reports. But here, a picture of the fish of the day, a proper "fat boy" Golden Barramundi (89 cm for 22 lb) !!! 

Our clients lost also some big one, who opened some serious split ring...

Stay tuned, fishing report coming soon !!

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Great popping & jigging trip for the Jerry's

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Middle April we have received the Jerry's for their second fishing trip in Lanka. This time, they wanted to focus catching GT's on topwater, plus doing a bit of jigging and finish their trip by some days fishing at Bolgoda Lake for Barramundi.

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The guys were much better equipped compare to their last trip. This time, they came with proper rods and reels, and good lures for targeting Gt's. We started the trip with some really good action and they caught some nice Gt's.

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Everybody caught his PB fish and "small Jerry" caught a cracking GT. Big Jerry also have a good GT in the 25 kg range on a PE 4 rod and a stickbait. Chugger popper made the trip as Cubera 150 or the usual Hammer Head E-cup. The last day a bit tired they let me join then and I caught a big GT.

Jigging was a bit slow during this trip in term of number of fish but the guys hooked some serious fish, like the unstoppable one who striped all the line, or the other one who fight for 45 minutes before big Jerry broke his rod and then the line. Small Jerry caught also a nice Shark and some groupers.

One day on the drop off we saw some big yellowfin tuna jumping and eating tiny red fish, we have a try but the tunas were focus on these small bait. A afternoon we go to found them, but without success despite some big school of spinner dolphin and pilot whales in the area.

They also did a bit of light jigging and ave lot of fun catching so different species and small Jerry caught a baby Napoleon Wrass just out of Colombo city on one our good spots.
All in all, it was a really good trip, the guys learned a lot during that trip, they enjoyed my sarcastic jokes and we have so much fun.

The last day we have a go at Bolgoda Lake and they caught some Barramundi and Mangrove Jack.

Guys thanks to come fishing with us and I know we will see you soon for another memorable fishing trip in Lanka !


Tight Line
Capt. Nico

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GT Popping with Singaporean Team !!!

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We have received a nice Singaporean team anglers with Henry, his brother Louis and his friend Dereck for a great 5 days popping and jigging fishing trip. 

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During all the trip, weather was really nice, the water color on our popping spots was a bit green due to some rain the days before, but that don't disturb too much the GT's which come in surface to smash the poppers and stickbaits of the boys. We had some great action on topwater, especially the first day with a total of 13 bites but for only 3 GT caught...

The others days we mixed the day between popping and jigging. On jig the second day Derek hooked a big sailfish, but sadly it came off after a while and Henry caught a shark. We did also a bit of trolling, especially the last day, condition were perfect with a lot of life, with many birds under skipjack feeding, we also spotted some dolphin and some big tuna, but fish did not seem to play with us. 

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This trip was really nice, we had a lot of fun onboard, especially with Henry when he missed these Gt's the first days, but finally he landed plenty of Gt's and as his brother, he took his personal best GT during this trip !! Derek was a bit unlucky the first days of the trip, but after I gave him some good tips to handle his floating stickbait, he made up for lost time and he landed some good size fish.

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I really hope to see you again in Sri Lanka guys, I really enjoyed to guiding you and Henry be patient before to catch your monster GT, that will arrive one day for sure don't worry ;-)

Tight line
Capt. Nico

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"Dad & son" GT fishing !!!

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Just back on the sea for a "Dad & son" day charter. Guilain and his 13 years old son Adrien wanted to finish their holidays in Sri Lanka with a bit of fishing. Guilain who is a expert fisherman in France for sea bass, has fished for GT before. He wanted to share this great experience with his son and asked me to make his dream true. It's always nice to have beginners on board, especially when it's a young boy who love fishing. 
 

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Morning we reach our first popping spot, I took time to teach Adrien how to cast with this heavy tackle and how to pop. I know it will take a while, but after his first cast, I was confident it can do it. His father Guilain was quickly in the game and on the third drift, I spotted a school of bait and he cast at the edge of them. A GT come up and smashed his popper. Guilain strike properly the fish and landed a decent GT, that's a good start ! A while later another GT came behind his popper but miss the lure.

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Around noon, the current slow down and I decided to go for trolling. That will give a bit of rest to Adrien who started to be tired casting with heavy tackle. We reach an area where I know we have good chance to have wahoo and sailfish bite. When we reach this area, we saw plenty of birds and skipjack busting small anchovy. We trolled and we were waiting to have a bite. Sadly, we don't have any action despite a good activity with skipjack feeding around. Then we go again for some popping to end the day. 
Adrien was really motivated to caught his first ever GT on popper. He kept casting, and like usual his effort pay off and a GT took his popper. His father came to help him, but Adrien handled it well and landed his dream fish. Guilain was so happy and proud of his son.

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After a quick picture, Adrien released his fish. After this GT, Adrien's cast were just perfect and we can feel his motivation to caught another one and on the next drift he caught his second fish !!!

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Guilain was not expecting so much for his son and it's with lot of happiness we decided to end the day and back to the harbour.

Tight Line

Capt. Nico

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Another good day fishing at Bolgoda Lake for Hiro & Miyazaki san !!!

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A week ago Hiro san and Miyazaki san were back for a day fishing at Bolgoda Lake with our fishing guide Shaktivel and as usual they have a great fishing.
 

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The rain of days before make water color a bit murky in some area of the lake and don't make the fishing easy for them, but Shaktivel with his good experience of the lake found some good spots with clear water. Morning only Miyazaki san caught fish with 3 nice mangrove jack, one was 49 cm and give him a good fight. Hiro san just lost 2 lady fish.

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Afternoon, Shaktivel try another area and Hiro san break the ice catching a 50 cm Golden Barramundi. After that catch, they want to have a try on the featherback, which were active due to the rain of the last days. The elusive knife fish were rolling every where, but not of them were keen to bite. At sunset time, Shaktivel decided to have a try on one of our good barramundi spots and Hiro san, who has caught his personal best Golden Barramundi on his last day fishing a month ago, caught another big one of 83 cm !!!

Like he told me : "This fish was few centimeter more than the one I caught last time, but completely different fight and weight !! It was Big Mama !!
The Bomber Long -A hooks were bended and snap also was almost broken."

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Congratulation Hiro san for this very nice catch and hope to see you soon for another good day fishing at Bolgoda Lake !!

Nico - Head Fishing Guide

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Nice GT fishing on popper !!!

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Last week, before our Head Fishing Guide Nico goes to Japan for the Keep Cast, we received Sam and his girlfriend from Australia and 2 french anglers, Nicolas and Olrich for a day charter at sea, mainly to target GT on popper.

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Sam and Nicolas have fished GT on popping before, for Olrich, it was his first fishing experience. Early morning we reach our popping spot with a flat sea condition. We found plenty of bait and after a while Sam with his popper Cubera 150 cast close a school of fusiliers and on the third pop a decent GT come up and grab his lure in a nice splash. He hooked properly his fish and after a nice fight he landed the GT, he was so happy.

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We continue to fish around, Nicolas missed a fish but the current slow down and we decide to try some jigging but fish were no keen to bite their jig, then we decided to back on the popping spots with the current increased. Good choice, we had a super action on popper. First of all, Olrich was fishing with a pencil popper, our guide Nico spotted a long tom running as something was big and afraid him. Nico asked Olrich to cast in this direction and just when he was starting to reel an absolute huge GT come behind his lure and engulfed it. Everybody saw the fish and the bite, only Ulrich as a beginner didn't see it... We all told him to strike, but it was too late, the big GT has released the lure from his mouth...

This action keep all casting and Nicolas caught a small GT and another one, Sam missed a very nice GT close to the boat and at the same time 2 big king mackerel came behind his popper but sadly don't bit it. On our last drift of the day, a massive whale shark came on surface and passed under the boat and let us in memory the nature is just beautiful. 

Another good day fishing in Sri Lanka with happy clients !!!

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Great GT Popping day for Richard !!!

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Richard from Sweden was traveling with his family in Sri Lanka for a week and has planned to fish with us for a day charter, mainly to targeting GT on topwater. Richard has some experience in GT fishing from his previews fishing trip in Kenya and Thailand.

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We start the day on one of our good popping spot, some fusiliers were cruising in the shallow rocks. At the beginning fish were not keen to play with Richard lure. Just before lunch, I spotted some baits near a shallow rock and I asked Richard to cast in this direction, on the third pop a GT come and smash his popper, the new Rapala XPlode. Richard strike perfectly his fish and landed a decent GT.

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After a while, Richard take a break and invite me to cast. On my first cast, on the edge of nice rocky plateau I caught a small GT, not bad ;-) After lunch, I decide to reach our deep water spot to look for a bigger fish. On the third drift a decent GT came up and missed Richard's popper. We tried another spot where I spotted a school of bait, Richard casted close of them and a nice GT came immediately behind the lure but didn't grab it properly. We finish the day on the same spot we fished the morning and Richard caught another GT around a school of bait. 

GT Fishing Sri Lanka Catch and Release.jpg

It was a nice day, with some nice topwater action of GT's, sadly some missed the lure, but Richard and I enjoyed our day.

Tight line

Capt. Nico

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Swedish family caught their first GT's ever on Popping !!!

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Last week, we have received Robin, his brother Tobias and their step father Thomas for a day charter to target GT's on popper. They were traveling in Sri Lanka and came from Galle to fish with us.

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Robin wanted to catch his first ever GT on topwater lure. Morning was a bit slow, lot of bait cruising around our popping spot, but GT's were not keen to smash their lures. After lunch, we reach one of our favorite popping spot and we found some activity. Thomas caught a small GT on floating stickbait, Robin caught his first GT also and was so happy !! His brother has a serious bite on his floating stickbait, but sadly the fish hook off.

Popper Rapala XPlode GT Fishing Sri Lanka.jpeg

All in all it was a nice day at sea, with nice weather condition and it was not a bad day for these 3 beginners in GT fishing. Personally, I love to have anglers who catch their first GT with me onboard. Congratulations guys, you have never give up and you kept casting and you deserved your fish.

Tight line

Capt. Nico