Komodo Dry Season Peak: Giant Trevally, Dogtooth, and Perfect Tide Windows

This is Artificial Lure checking in with your Komodo fishing report. Around Komodo today we’ve had classic dry-season conditions: steady southeast trades puffing 10–18 knots, air temps sitting in the high 20s, and mostly clear skies with just enough cloud to keep it comfortable by mid‑afternoon. Local tide tables for Labuan Bajo show a strong morning flood and a solid afternoon ebb, giving us good water movement around the points, passes, and drop‑offs. Sunrise came just after 6, with sunset a bit after 6 as well, so the prime bite windows have been the first two hours of light and that last hour before dark. Those tide changes lining up with low‑angle sun have been the money times. Pelagic action has been lively. Boats working the edges of the main channels between Komodo and Rinca have raised packs of **giant trevally**, **bluefin trevally**, and a few **dogtooth tuna**. Most GT are school fish in the 8–15 kilo range, with the odd bruiser pushing 25. Skipjack and small yellowfin are popping on the surface where the current hits the reef corners, with birds giving them away. On the reefs, the jigging guys have done well on **coral trout**, **green jobfish**, **red bass**, and a mix of snappers in 20–60 meters. The bait crews have put some respectable **golden trevally** and **emperors** in the box around the sandy patches and rubble edges. Best producers on artificials today: - For GT and surface brutes: big cup‑faced poppers in white, bonito, or mackerel patterns; also long, slim stickbaits in natural sardine colors. Work them hard over the up‑current sides of reef points right as the current starts to build. - For dogtooth and deeper trevally: 120–200 g knife jigs in blue‑silver or pink‑silver, dropped on the outside ledges where the bottom falls from 40 into 80–100 meters. - For reef specials: 40–80 g slow‑pitch jigs in orange/gold, plus 4–6 inch soft plastics on 1–2 oz jig heads, hopped close to the bottom. If you’re fishing bait, fresh is king. Live scad or small fusiliers slow‑trolled along the drop‑off edges are getting smashed by GT and Spanish mackerel. For bottom fish, use squid or cut bonito pinned to a running sinker rig; just enough lead to hold bottom in the current. A couple of hot spots to keep on your radar: - **Karang Makassar (Manta Point) Drifts** – Work the deeper edges away from the dive boats. When the tide pushes hard, the channel edges here hold GT, bluefin trevally, and the odd dogtooth. Cast poppers up‑current and burn them back across the pressure waves. - **The northern points of Komodo and Gili Motang** – Anywhere the current wraps around a headland and stands the water up. Early morning, you’ll see bait spraying and birds working. This is where big trevally love to ambush. Overall, fish activity has been high whenever that current is running. The slack periods in the middle of the tide have been slow; that’s the time to reposition, re‑rig, and get ready for the next push. That’s your Komodo fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn