DaveTheBoy

The action of the jig isn't affected mate, only it's starting point (ie the bottom rather than the surface)

Sounds like a great trip out, we'll done on the king (and a nice meal too!)

Mate my only advice might be to lose the float, fish that squid unweighted. I've caught 4 kings in the past fortnight probably in the same spot as you. Try to keep it just off the bottom with a slow retrieve to remove slack line. I'm envious of your squid though, I haven't been able to get any from the rocks myself.

Nothing on the lures or plastics today, it was all bait. I had caught my own slimies & squid on Tuesday afternoon at balmoral, both worked equally well no difference.

Thanks mate, I believe it was the Northern breakwall (I meant to hit south but got it mixed up on the drive)

A nice mixed bag mate! It was not a fun day to be out however makes it worthwhile when you're catching!

You neglected to tell me that bit mate - no wonder I was struggling on 30lb!

Having taken on some good advice from fellow raiders (thanks gazza in particular) – I hit the breakwall at Port Kembla prior to sunrise this morning. I was armed with fresh caught slimies & squid for bait. I found myself with the entire place to myself, I must admit I had very high hopes of adding to my lifetime kingfish tally of 1, but spent the better part of the first 90mins without so much as a nibble. Tried flicking a lure about but that fared no better, so I began to rework my rig to find a different depth. On my third such attempt – I found the right place in the water column & things got frantic. Hooked up on what I knew to be a king right away as it was peeling line at pace, but the difficulty of fishing from these rocks means there’s very little finesse involved – it’s a matter of locking down the drag and rolling the dice. First fish up, a quick measure (62cms) and it went right back in. A new leader tied on, cast back to the same spot, and was on again within five minutes or so – this one came up to colour easily and then bolted down. It ended up being a smaller rat (59cms), also released, but my heart was truly pumping. From there I was busted off on the next two consecutive casts, both felt like kings to be sure. I traded up my 30lb leader to 50lb, and on the next cast came up this fish measuring 68cms which was kept for the table. Next cast hooked another king which was lost as it bolted into the breakwall – it’s so disheartening as you really can’t move across the ledge or anything to work the fish – you are anchored to the spot, the fish come up very green and once they near the surface they steam into the stones. By this time I was retying a new leader/hook after every cast, due to bust-offs or landed fish coming up on weary leaders. There was time for one quick cast before one of the big ships came in – and I thought for a moment I’d hooked a tugboat. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was almost pulled in, at one point I very nearly had to let go of the rod for fear of losing my footing. I had to release the drag a little and that was all the window it needed. It came to the surface and I’d guess about 80cms – however with the backed off drag and a green fish I was never going to win. I think it also did some damage to my reel stripping the gears (that awful grating noise!). So all of this in the space of about 45mins, and I was forced to take a smoko as the big ship came into port bringing some big wake into the wall. When I resumed fishing – the kings had moved or been put down, but were swiftly replaced by tailor (40cm-50cm range). I was lucky to land about 1/3 hookups, as they all seemed to nip through the 50lb leader when it came time to lift them up to the wall. I was only about 2m or 3m up off the water, but managed to get a couple for the table. Then the weather closed in & it was time to go back for work anyhow – I think my hands are still shaking. All in all I think I counted 7 hookups/3 landed (I legal) on the kings, and 5 hookups/2 landed on the tailor. If anyone knows how I might better tire out the fish or improve my landing rate I’d be happy for some advice - after trying for so long I only caught my fist king a fortnight back so I have lots to learn. I knew my issue was that I was bringing those fish up green, they barely knew they were hooked until I saw colour and by that time they were very close to the wall. i was fishing alone so no help with a net o anything to land them. Side note - many people have commented at the terrible way some choose to pollute this area – and I couldn’t agree more. I carried back with me a bucket full of rubbish left behind by others, and could have filled more if I could carry them. There are very adequate cleaning tables & garbage bins at the site – so the mind boggles.

Agree with all of the comments here and thanks for your help. Onemancrew - I must have been blessed as I had the entire wall to myself today, but I also carried back with me a bucket full of other peoples garbage that was left behind, and I could have filled a few more if i could carry them. You will be pleased to know that I did put back a few rats, keeping one legal fish for the table. I'll post a report shortly. Gazza - you were bang on my man, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Mate they are a great size! Flatties & squid for dinner sounds ace

Hi guys - I am planning to try my luck from Port Kembla breakwall (Sth) early tomorrow morning, hoping for king/bonito/tailor etc. I've just been out & caught a few nice squid which I will use for bait, and flick a few lures about also. If you'd like to join me I'd be happy for some company please send a pm. Dave

Haha! So much time spent catching lives & squid wasted, I feel like a dummy. Will try that bread/cat food combo for sure!!

I always have a special place for hairtail (though never caught one so big myself) - so mysterious and give a great account of themselves! Wonderful catch mate

Well done again Jet! You've got the whiting touch my man!

It has been a while in the making, but finally landed my very first legal kingfish today from the rocks, a spur of the moment trip before work. Found a ledge that was unoccupied, watched the ocean for 10mins or so - then started fishing at 7am, was all done by 8:30am. It measured 70cm, and was taken on an unweighted squid pinned simply on a single 3/0 Mustad 'Big Gun' hook - just flicked out into the wash from the rocks at the south end of Coogee (toward Maroubra). As soon as it hit, there was no doubting what it was - those things really do peel some line very quickly, the fish took its first big run away from the ledge which was to my advantage. I had already been dusted on 20lb gear on my first cast (which I think was a large salmon), and luckily switched up to my 30lb braid spool on which this was landed. I reckon they would have heard me cheering from Bondi as it came up over the ledge having nearly done me twice at the death! Also released a few small tailor & pike which took my fresh slimys fished in the same manner. Whilst I would loved to have stayed on - I was fishing alone, I am not a hugely experienced rock fisho & the swell began to come up a bit so it just wasn't safe to stay out there. Suffice to say I will never forget the feeling of the fight & those nervous last moments trying to land it unassisted, but it has been well worth the effort. Also want to mention a big thanks to some fishraiders who have generously helped me with tips & advice (you know who you are) - and proof that nothing beats persistence and time on the water.

Put in a good effort on Vday which permitted me a fishing pass. Spent probably 10 or so hours over the weekend standing in the rain soaking livies (slimy & yakka), live and fresh squid, squid strips. I always have one out on the bottom with lead, and one under a balloon (livey) or unweighted (squid). Livies were no trouble to come by at all, however the squid were surprisingly tough to catch. Have been averaging 15+ most trips lately, could only get a handful all weekend. Managed to burley up a few rats right up against the pier into my trail of bread whilst catching livies, and as I was clearing my line to throw something their way one grabbed the sabiki jig & provided me with a fun 5 seconds before popping the light line. There were also some reasonable school mulloway coming right up on the burley later, though they couldn't be tempted even by unweighted live squid floated down on (relatively) light gear. Got me stumped! Consoled from a total loss by keeping a handful of calamari and this flattie for the table which went just over 50cm. It was taken on a squid fished down on the sand, a few smaller models & a few passing tailor and trevally were released also. However I made a few new fishing buddies to pass the time, sometimes with the right crowd there is comradery on the piers. Still on my adventure to land a king from the shore, still no dice for this guy.

Nice work mate, i've been fishing the same ledge (or one nearby) - drop me a PM if you want to line up a trip one day soon...

Grew up calling those "Gunthers Wrasse" not 100% sure if there's a more correct term

Mate if you're having trouble sinking them try rigging paternoster style. Keep the sinker on the bottom, and the jig on a short trace say 30cm above. I've been landing about 15 squid per trip at the minute, I use a 1.8 size jig so def rely on the sinker to find the bottom.

Great catch jet! On a roll

Mate that's great! i too have just switched to circle hooks for whiting (everything I thought I knew about whiting from when I was a child is being turned on its head these past years with poppers and circle hooks and the like.) My only question is I have trouble getting my bait to stay on (I use yabbies mainly) - any tips?

Hi guys - Still putting in a lot of time/work to catch my first king but to no avail. Fished from the shore on what I call (though some have disagreed) Lavender Bay - anyow the foreshore around the Luna Park area, between about 3pm-9pm. There were schools boiling all afternoon though out of my casting range - some folks in a boat looked to be getting amongst them (or at least doing a decent job of trolling through the school enough to put them down). My rig for kingfish is not dissimilar to my jewfish rig. A running traced star sinker above a swivel, I've even dropped to a 30lb mono leader above 2 snelled 4/0 big guns. I fished with live yakkas & fresh squid for about 5.5hrs without a touch. With no luck there and light turning to night I threw my squid jig around the kelp beds and did fairly well. Some of these will make an appearance back on the end of a hook, some on the BBQ plate. My advice with the squid right now is keep your jigs small and pink. There were about 5 others squidding on the same shoreline, my catch rate was probably 4:1. So now to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I only ever fish live/fresh caught bait. I've listened to buckets of advice, but mostly I have put in the hours which is what frustrates me. The drop in leader from 50lb to 30lb hasn't hurt my jewie catch rate at all - though fish are averaging 3-5kg at the minute so no monsters. PS - If anyone wants to help a frustrated lad catch his first king, even a rat, a PM would be appreciated. I don't have a boat so shore-based harbour or surrounds. I just don't have it figured despite countless hours trying. Will trade you for excellent jewie knowledge. Heck I'll even join you on a trip - I always have a supply of fresh squid to share.

Let me start by saying that fishing during school holidays has opened my eyes to the wonders of fishing with kids (I'm not a parent myself & will be waiting some time!). Just about any spare patch of rock, jetty or sand was packed full of holiday anglers - looked like an excellent time to be the owner of the local tackle store judging by the new shiny gear in everyone's hands! Headed with the Mrs down south and worked our way back up the coast over a week. Whilst it wasn't the primary goal, I managed to drop a line almost everywhere we stopped. At Eden Wharf I tried floating live baits along the breakwall/jetty into deeper water, but no luck. I was able to help a father who was struggling to keep his kids entertained - re-tied their lines with some more suitable gear & they were having a ball pulling in slimies to their little hearts content! This was the only jetty where it was possible to get a line in; Merimbula and Tathra were shoulder-to-shoulder with folks who seemed intent on scaring any life away from the jetty. At Pambula I was able to pump some yabbies & was shown up by the Mrs who caught some nice whiting from the beach. There were also some nice trevally & salmon in the back lagoon in the evenings (and plenty of rays which are always a disappointing end to a nice fight!). These were mostly caugh on fresh slimies I had caught the day before, rigged simply on a single 1/0 hook. At Merimbula we found pippies & caught bream from the river. Also managed to spin a few on SPs (squidgy wriggler 3" 1/16oz head #2 hook) from a back creek somewhere in the National Park where swell prevented beach fishing. Prawns were also running in the lake and was easy to scoop up a pot-full after dark, even for mugs like us. At Moruya Heads - fishing was hard due to an obscene amount of boat/shore traffic, but was able to pull a few flathead on SPs (berkley 5" shad 1/4oz head #1/0 hook) to delight the crowds! No monsters but the pictures below give you an idea. Was a lovely holiday but actually glad to be back and escaping the crowds back home Sydney! Would love to get south again perhaps at a quiter time of the year.

That's great thanks!

Thanks mate will give it a try & report back