Episode 215: Nth Queensland Land-based Giant Trevally With Jonny Brooks

Brooksy’s Top Giant Trevally Fishing Tips

• Land-based fishing is a very inefficient way to target GT’s. Research and planning can reduce the potential for wasted time. Look for places that can be fished on both phases of the tide without having to travel far in between, such as headlands and points that have structure on both sides. Google Earth is your friend in this endeavour. When boat fishing it’s normal to pepper a spot with a few casts, then move to the next spot if no fish materialise – this is not possible when land-based fishing.
• Strong currents with the presence of baitfish and bommies are a good combination. Giant Trevally are usually found just up-current, rather than down-current, of bommies. Pepper the area well, sometimes a lure needs to be within 5m of the right spot to be noticed by GT’s.
• Brooksy doesn’t find that factors such as time of day, weather conditions and so on are too important. Lunar cycles are important only because they influence tides. The GT’s bite more freely around the full and new moons because the tidal run is very strong at those times. At mainland sites these big tides can often result in stirred up, dirty water that will detract from the bite.
• When choosing a spot to fish, look for areas of wash where a played-out fish can be safely worked close to shore and extracted by gripping the tail and leader and supporting the weight as they are lifted horizontally.
• Extracting Giant Trevally once hooked is usually a matter of wedging yourself in the rocks, locking the drag and hanging on. For safety, Brooksy recommends having another angler stand behind while a fish is being played. It’s easy to lose balance and hit your head on a rock if the angler and fish part ways.
• Everything needs to be strong, smooth and well maintained. Many of the Lures for this style of fishing are sold unrigged, others have inadequate terminals. Replace split rings with Decoys and hooks with BKK’s to avoid unnecessary losses.
• GT fishing from the rocks is punishing and you’ll lose plenty of fish. That’s just the nature of the game.
• A good quality pair of gloves is a good investment for this style of fishing.

Brooksy’s Giant Trevally Fishing Tackle

• It’s worth using heavy, high quality gear as it’s impossible to know when a monster GT will show up.  A PE10 outfit is the preferred option, rods in the 7-8ft range are best as longer rods are very hard on the back during a long day of fishing. Large, high quality spin reels are good, loaded with 138lb braid and topped with a 200lb leader.

Best Giant Trevally Fishing Lures

• Black ledge VLF 130 Popper is a good sized lure for casting and whilst expensive is extremely good on the GT’s. It’s also big enough to handle the large terminals used for GT’s and is well-made to last plenty of fish. These can be fished in multiple different ways, ranging from short, sharp stabs to work the lure noisily across the water surface to longer sweeps with pauses. Lengthy pauses of up to 20 seconds between bloops can be very effective. Let the lure sit for a while before working it as the initial splashdown is your first pop and fish will often take the lure before you even start moving it.
• New Zealand made OTL 130g Floating Stickbait is super effective, casts well and is easier to use than many of the floating stickbaits. You’re looking for a walk the dog style retrieve, so use short, sharp stabs or long sweeps. Either way it’s important to get a little slack line between pauses to get the best action.
• Siren Deep Seductress 185 fast sinking stickbaits are near indestructible and can be sunk along deeper edges if the fishing is a bit slow. They can be worked with a similar retrieve to the footing stickbaits and once again are very easy to use in comparison to many large, sinking stickbaits.
• 174mm Suspending MB Customs stickbaits have an incredible action and are deadly on Giant Trevally. Once again, work them the same way as the Sirens and OTL’s, but these lures tend to work fairly close to the surface.
• If you are fishing with mates, me sure you all start with a different style of lure until you figure out what’s working, then switch over accordingly.