There's nothing in Australian sportfishing quite like a GT smashing a popper. One second it's a calm flat, the next there's an explosion and your rod's nearly pulled out of your hands.
Giant trevally are the bullies of the tropical reef. They hit hard, they pull harder, and they'll bust gear that would land most other fish. This is a game where your weakest link decides the result.
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About GTs and where to find them
Giant trevally are a tropical and subtropical fish, so the top half of the country is GT country. Cape York and the far north Queensland reefs, the outer Great Barrier Reef, the Torres Strait islands, and across the top through Arnhem Land.
Over on the west coast, Exmouth and the Ningaloo Reef is world-famous GT water, with the flats and bommies producing fish on poppers in clear blue water. The Kimberley holds plenty too.
They live around structure and pressure points. Reef edges, bommies, channel mouths, headlands, lagoon entrances and the flats where current funnels bait. A GT sits where the current does the work and ambushes anything that gets washed past.
When to target them
The tropical north fishes best outside the wet season, so the cooler dry-season months are the prime window when conditions are settled and you can get out on the reef and flats.
Tide and current are everything with GTs. You want moving water, and the bigger run-out and run-in tides around the new and full moon really fire them up. A current edge pushing across a bommie or out a channel mouth concentrates bait and brings the GTs on the hunt.
Low light helps, dawn and dusk, but GTs will eat a popper in the middle of a bright day if the tide is right. Read the water and fish the current, not the clock.
How to catch them
Popping
The marquee technique. A big surface popper chugged across the water creates a commotion and a trail of bubbles that GTs can't resist. Cast at the structure, the bommie, the reef edge, the colour change, and work it back with a steady, rhythmic sweep of the rod.
The retrieve is a workout. Big sweeps of the rod followed by winding up the slack, making the popper dig, spit water and chug. Keep it moving. A GT will often track the lure and hit it right at the boat, so don't stop until it's out of the water.
Stickbaiting
When they're following but not committing to the popper, a stickbait often gets them. A sinking or floating stickbait worked with a sweeping, side-to-side action looks like a fleeing baitfish and draws a more committed eat in clearer, calmer conditions.
Work it just under or across the surface with sharp sweeps and pauses. The pause on a sinking stickbait can be the trigger, so let it flutter before the next sweep.
The eat and the fight
When a GT eats, don't strike with the rod. Keep winding and let the fish load up against a locked drag, then hang on. The first run is brutal and they'll try to bury you in the reef.
You stop a GT or you lose it. There's no letting them run. Lock up, apply maximum pressure, and try to turn the head before it reaches structure. This is why the gear has to be right.
Gear
GT fishing is heavy tackle, no compromises. A dedicated popping rod rated for the job, matched to a big high-capacity spin reel in the 14000 to 20000 size with a serious sealed drag.
- Braid — PE8 to PE10, roughly 80 to 130 lb. You need the line capacity and the strength to stop a fish in reef.
- Leader — 100 lb and up, often 130 lb or heavier off the reef. Heavy mono or fluoro to handle the abrasion against coral.
- Connection — join your braid to leader with a strong, slim knot like an FG knot. It's the most reliable braid-to-leader join for heavy GT work because it's thin and runs through the guides on the cast.
- Terminals — strong split rings and heavy single or treble hooks. Upgrade the hardware on every lure, because factory rings and hooks get straightened by big fish.
Check every component before you fish. The GT will find the one weak ring, the nicked leader or the dodgy knot. If you fish heavy reef country, our piece on the GT and its caps has more on the species, and the offshore mindset carries over from big baits, big bills.
Landing and release
Most GTs are released, and they deserve to be handled properly. Use a big knotless landing net or a soft cradle, never gaff a fish you plan to let go. Keep it in the water as much as you can.
Support the fish horizontally with wet hands, get the hooks out quickly, take a fast photo if you must, and put it back. Hold it upright in the water, facing into the current, until it kicks off strongly under its own power. A big GT needs a moment to recover before it can swim back down to the reef.
Common mistakes
- Light gear. Going under-gunned just kills fish you can't land. Bring the heavy stuff.
- Weak terminals. Factory rings and hooks fail. Upgrade them all.
- Letting them run. Lock the drag and stop the fish. Give it line and it's gone into the reef.
- Stopping the retrieve. A following GT eats at the boat. Keep the lure working all the way in.
- Fishing dead water. No current, no GTs. Time your casts to the run of the tide.
- Poor release handling. Don't gaff or beach a fish you're letting go. Look after them.
GTs are right up there in the fish every Aussie angler wants to tick off, and once you've felt one hit a popper you'll understand why.
Fish the tide, bring gear you trust, and lock up when it eats. Check your state's current size and bag limits and release rules before you head north, and treat the big fish gently so they're there next trip.