PAPUAN BLACK BASS

PAPUAN BLACK BASS – Lutjanus Goldiei

They are regarded as the hardest fighting fish, pound for pound , agressive in nature and smart witted using structure to hide , strike and hide again 

An absolute challenge as an angler.

My comparison of these fish, is the strike of a mangrove jack , but with the fight of a larger weighted barramundi.

The strike happens so fast that I was literally blown off my feet on occasions , and not only lost what could have been the fish of a lifetime, but my lure, abit of line and my dignity.

Multiple times on our exploration, when we reported back to the mothership about our morning , it was moments of ….. could’ve been , should’ve seen this hit…. If only we were more prepared…. 

The biggest black bass for the trip went at around 80cms

The smallest around 40

And the ones we lost …. Who knows?! 

10kg drag on a 300curado , was not enough on multiple occasions, learning from our first session, locking it up to it max and ready for the hold on experience.

Morning bite for these lutjanuts seemed to be the best , with sunrise bite always nabbing a couple off snags.

We peppered many trees and deep lay down banks , which is where we had triple hookups and double strikes many times. I was really enjoying to use vibes so I could get nice and close to the snags and try get the lure deep in amoungst it , knowing well that it was flirting with danger. 

Big bib lures also effective , often on a faster retrieve with pauses … the fish is agressive , and seems to dominate the snag. Deep divers 5m + 3m lures 🤙

A triple hookup moment was epic as we came past a big corner I was checking the side scan looking for structure as that’s were we had found most bites. Ahead of us a big fallen down snag pile looking literally like a jungle, had us squirming with joy , lures already swinging in anticipation of a cast.

Bang bang bang, 3 casts , 3 black bass.

And I strongly believe there was more, as we did jump around the boat in excitement, another 3 casts  would’ve nailed a few more.

We landed 6 fish off the snag and had other multiple strikes and losses of lures. It was halfway though an outgoing tide , and clear water.

Can’t wait to get back