Early records are hard to locate, but flyfishing for GTs most likely began in the Pacific Ocean on Christmas Island (Kiritimati). The earliest records there of fishermen actually targeting these predators on the fly is from the late 1970s. Fishermen flocked there as one of the first international flats destinations to open after the development of saltwater flyfishing in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. I am sure that many people probably tried to catch trevally with traditional methods on the Hawaiian Islands where the species was revered before then, but very little has been documented. I can only imagine the experiences of those early flyfishing explorers, fresh from the Florida tarpon flats; happily bonefishing on some large expanse when out of left field a GT charged in and removed the prize from their line. The piscatorial version of a UFO sighting!

It was only a question of time before some of those flyfishermen tried specifically to target this mugger and they were completely astounded by their aggressive power. In the 1970s the first generation of guides operating out of the Captain Cook Hotel on the island began to unravel the GTs habits, patterns and even moods. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Zen Masters of flyfishing’ these early guides included such names as Simon Corrie, Big Eddie, Tebaki, Pilau, and of course Moana Kofe. Sadly some are no longer with us while others such as Simon and Moana are still guiding. These pioneers of the sport were the first to begin to think about how to specifically target GTs and unlock their mystery. A handful of their clients became equally obsessed and began to dedicate some serious time and effort to landing these beasts.

At that time the tackle used was adapted from the tarpon flats, so 10-12# rods, saltwater lines of the time which required regular application of silicone to make them shoot in the tropical heat; light braided cores and light shock tippet with IGFA class tippets would have been the order of the day. To land a GT on this light gear, especially light flyline cores, meant many cut or snapped lines. It must have been exceptionally tough, making the achievements only more laudable. Up to this point, GT fishing was conducted for an evening giggle at ‘cocktail time’. The original ‘local special’ was a piece of white PVC piping threaded with 80lb wire and a massive treble hook. Local guides would hold clients up in the surf to prevent them being knocked down and lacerated on the sharp coral.

Early fly patterns were also adapted from tarpon fishing, yellow and red deceivers and cockroach patterns being favoured. Smaller hook sizes such as 1/0 and 2/0 were preferred for their greater penetration as there were none of the cutting point hooks we have today. A small band of dedicated anglers appeared such as Richard Humphrey, Jerry Swanson, Lance and Randall Kaufmann, Tim Pask and a few others who spent nearly all their time hunting these fish above all other species. Richard Humphrey would target GTs for two weeks a year, twice a year, and held the IGFA record for a time of 62lb landed on a 10# as his guide was carrying his 12# at the time! They believed that if you wanted to hunt for them specifically then rather than have the guide carry the 12# and carry an 8# then you needed to have the 12# in your hand all the time or when the opportunity arose it would be missed. These dedicated few, along with a handful of converts, began to explore some of the other Pacific fisheries such as Midway Island, Bikini Atoll and Kanton Island. Although Midway’s primary focus was marlin and the bluewater fishery, Captain Ed Hughes and some intrepid anglers explored the eight-kilometre-square lagoon and hit some massive GTs in the mid 1990s.

From the mid 1980s, GTs were also being fished for in South Africa and other countries along the Eastern African cast line. Referred to as iggies, ignoblis, kingies or kingfish, fishing for them was concentrated in the reef surf line and estuaries, a tricky environment at the best of times. As there are no areas of typical flats, it made hunting particularly tough, with GTs being considered a huge prize. One of the very first of these dedicated anglers was Andy Coetzee who has since gone on to be a household name in GT flyfishing in South Africa. He was part of an elite group of ‘Kingie catchers’ headed up by Lance Rorick, who caught the first GT over 10kg on fly on a 9# in the Kosi lakes in late 1985. The movement gathered momentum with men like the late Keith Miller, Richard Schumann and Jake Alletson, all of whom had an influence on which patterns to tie for these voracious predators.

As Andy was living and working down in Kosi, he was able to dedicate a huge amount of time on the water and in the surf, experimenting with fly sizes, colours and styles. To begin with, inspiration came from Lefty Kreh’s book Flyfishing in Saltwater and they copied his deceiver patterns along with full-sized poppers. Very quickly these were modified and Andy developed flies called Kosi chartreuse deceivers, Hardy head deceivers, Epoxy sprats and poppers. The biggest sizes were 1/0 to 2/0 in the early years of 1985. He began fishing with a very mismatched #9 weight rod matched with a tiny Okuma fly reel and floating line. Needless to say in the surf environment this outfit did not last long. He then coined the phrase ‘go big or go home’ and started on a composite development 10# rod from NZ with a Martin reel. That lasted a few months until he upgraded to a G Loomis 12# with a Lamson #3 reel and intermediate Airflo line with fly sizes jumping up to 3/0 and 4/0 34700 Mustad hooks. He beefed up from 20lb tippet (which proved to be just wasting time) to 45lb Maxima.

Poppers were very popular, although Andy felt shank-tied poppers were too cumbersome to cast and when the kingies smashed into the popper they invariably ‘blew’ the popper away with the splash of water trying to engulf it. He began to use popping heads, a bullet-shaped popper slid up the line so it could be used as a ‘chugger type’ or ‘slider’ head, depending on the wind conditions. Different size popping heads could be changed to suit the conditions. They also developed the African-style stripping basket comprised of a big washing basket deep enough to stop the line from blowing out, combined with thick nylon spikes glued to the bottom to stop it tangling. The critical thing for these early surf flyfishermen was putting the fly into the productive zone which Andy and others learned through trial and error. Timing the cast was the critical aspect, as casting into rolling breakers achieved nothing but tangled lines. It was imperative to false cast until the wave passed then to drop the fly into the white churned-up, productive water.

The early African pioneers had their work cut out as the reefs were close and as soon as they hooked a fish, it would charge off to the reef edge and cut the line. Andy became tired of losing flies and decided to try not giving any line and hold on for dear life, straight sticking the fish and using the power from the butt of the rod. Thus, some might say, the modern method of fighting GTs on a flyrod was born. In the early years of the mid-1980s there were no more than a handful flyfishing the salt. Jake Alletson, Richard Schumann, Andrew Parsons, Mark Yelland, Joni Botha, MC Coetzee and the late Keith Miller were some of the pioneer saltwater and trevally flyfishermen who have since gone down in South African fishing folklore. GTs became the fish to catch on a fly and they have continued to be revered in South Africa ever since.

Exploring anglers moved their way up the coast-line and the archipelagos of Bazaruto and Benguerra in Mozambique became popular. It was in early 1986 that Sabal Lodge opened in Mozambique and a few guides earned great reputations from guiding there. Although not classic flyfishing, such skilled practitioners as Andrew Parsons, Guy Ferguson, Anthony Diplock and MC Coetzee developed the technique of dredging with fast-sinking lines and heavy rods. Andrew started guiding on Bazaruto in 1995. GTs were his target, but he had a lot to learn. From his surf fishing days he knew they loved fast-moving surface lures so he fished mostly poppers to begin with. As there were very few giant poppers available then, he had some conversations with Murray Pedder, one of the foremost fly tiers at the time. He started using what was known as a ‘Master Blaster’ made in kit form by Edgewater Poppers. It was essentially a billfish popper but Andrew used it for some time very successfully for GTs, catching a good number around the one metre length mark.

Deep fishing, or dredging as it is now known, came about from Andrew’s scuba diving. It became obvious to him that all the big fish around the Bazaruto and Benguerra archipelago were deep. The only time they caught them higher up would be when these big bruisers were pushing bait to the surface. He started working on getting his lines deep and made bigger and heavier flies. The technique proved extremely effective in hunting GTs off rock pinnacles and structures in deep water otherwise inaccessible to fly anglers.

It was not until the early-to-mid 1990s that the Indian Ocean fisheries came into play. Early exploration was done entirely by live-aboard charter vessels as there were no structures on most of the atolls. The first pioneers heading in that direction found huge...