davester28

They are. Catch 'em all year round, esp in Botany.

Guys, this was an article in Bluewater about 2 years ago when the Pacific bluefin tuna fishery was just kicking off in NZ's Hokitika Trench. check out this passage: As the hours passed, it became clearly obvious that this was a much bigger fish. It just took line with ease at any stage it wished. Often the reel would look almost full and we would stare into the dark looking for the swivel to pop into view from the dark depths. But NO! Twenty-three kilos of drag meant nothing to this fish. As the saying goes, it was easy come, easy go. The fish just did what it wanted and we often wondered if it even knew it was hooked. ... One such run, five and a half hours into the fight, left us all speechless. Again the reel was almost full when the fish decided to go for a sprint yet again. This burst was like no other – straight down for probably more than 700 metres, at a speed I've never seen a spool turn before. We were sure the only thing that stopped it from spooling us was the fact that we were only in 700m of water – so it probably bounced off the bottom! It was at this stage Paul, the ‘unlucky' angler, turned to us and said “Get me out of this harness. I've had a gut-full of this…”. He'd been totally worn out and demoralised by the fish. We unclipped him from his harness and he passed the tackle to another angler while he took a short break. ... This particular morning may have been beautiful, but for us it was bittersweet. Paul was back on the rod after a 60 minute break. We had been on the fish for 8 hours; however, we certainly did not appear to be winning this battle. While we had not seen the fish at any stage, we knew it was a tuna, we knew it was big, and we knew we were being taken to the cleaners. At about 10am, after 11 hours of battling, we finally saw our nemesis. Words can't even describe it: huge, enormous, gigantic, incredibly big. We finally got hold of the leader and all hell broke loose. ... What happens next? You'll have to read the article. Suffice to say, the fish was over 14 ft long and 450kg.

You are right - the 4500J is too heavy for the Snapper Raider. More of a 30-40lb braid reel. Also, as it is designed for jigging, the narrow spool prevents it from casting well. The OS Stella is not a bad option. You will not have warranty, but so what? Unless you suffer catastrophic reel failure, what does warranty cover you for anyway? You still need to pay for your regular reel service.

Hi Netic, The problem with the Varivas GT is it changes colour only every 25m - not the greatest for jigging. The Varivas Avani Big One and Varivas Avani Jigging Max Power are the same braid as the GT, but with colour changes every 10m. I have spools of both the Big One and GT and can't tell the difference in performance. (BTW, you can often score a bargain on eBay - I bought a 600m spool of GT for US$110). However, I was a bit concerned reading an article written by one of the skippers on Nomad - they reckon the Varivas does not wear well and the braid needs to be changed the moment starts to fluff up. cheers, dave

That info's gold. Thanks so much Greg! cheers, dave

I've heard a bit about this Middle Harbour spot. Never actually worked out where it is, or how to get there, though. Anyone able to fill me in? All I know is that it's inside the upstream point of Sugarloaf Bay. If anyone could let me know how to actually get there (eg. nearest street, how to access the water etc), I would be most grateful. (Feel free to PM if you prefer.) cheers, dave

Not true, the Aussie Twin Power has a spare spool. TBH, I am not convinced about the local TP even though I own the 4000 model. It seems closer to the Jap Biomaster than a Jap Twin Power. (Biomaster sits below the TP in the Jap domestic market.) The Jap TPs I own seem much sturdier and smoother (Jap 5000PG, 5000HG vs local 4000). All in all, a good, perfectly serviceable reel - just lacking that "wow" factor, I guess.

Here are the lures I have caught kings on. Not a comprehensive list, just what's worked for me: Lunker City Slug-go, 6 inch in all the white variations (Albino/Ice Shad/Salt & Pepper) Mojo Twitchin' Minnow, 6.5 inch in white (cheap - $3 a pack at CA if stock still available) Berkley Gulp Jerk Shad, 5 inch in Glow and Sapphire Shine Platinum Stick Bait, 6 inch in white Unweighted on a worm hook on the surface or, if they're hanging deep, on a jig head (1/4 to 1/2 oz, depending on depth, current) fished mid-water and below. Faster retrieves generally seem to work better, but not always the case.

Nice fish, mate. 36 cm is a ripper for IC. I fish IC a bit and find they average a lot less there.

Nitro Godzilla TCurve Bluewater 10 - 15 kg G.Loomis PBR844S (or was it 845? i forget) Daiwa Saltiga is a bit above your budget, but do a few great rods that would suit

Not a bad idea. I was in NZ a couple of months ago, and of course, bought every fishing magazine there I could get my hands on. The point is, every single big king in those mags (in NZ, that's 20 kg plus) was landed on a 1 - 2 kg kahawai (salmon) live bait. Squid was also used, but generally accounted for much smaller fish. Not sure why we don't follow their cue.

Never used it, mate, but I do have the previous generation Steve Starling Barra Spin (4-8kg, 6'6"). I think the Starlo Stix is very similar, just 6 inches longer in the tip which should help with casting. It's been a great little rod - used it as a Slug-go rod on Harbour kings. Never had any issues. Upgraded to the T-Curve as I wanted something a bit heavier to take jack fishing up north. Should be fine with either size reel. With the Barra Spin, I tended to use Shimano 4000s, which are generally smaller and weigh less than the Daiwa 4000 reels (TwinPower 330g, Biomaster 310g). Then again, I have a Daiwa Tierra 4000 (370g) with my Snapper Raider (which never gets a run, as I prefer a short butt). cheers, dave

I too would agree that the Snapper Raider / Symetre 4000 is pretty good combo and is perfect, weight-wise, for Harbour kings. You should be able to get it for much less than $299, though. My own personal preference for fishing SPs is to use a rod with a short butt, as I find a long butt tends to get in the way when working plastics. So I got a T-Curve Power Spin 5-10kg matched with a Twin Power 4000. However, as it is a shorter rod (6'7") you may lose some casting distance. When I need to cast long distances, I use a Daiwa Saltiga M-Over 80s (8 ft, 10kg). However, I find the butt far too long and uncomfortable to use, so turn to the T-Curve more frequently. There is a 7' 4-8kg Starlo Stix that may give you the best of both worlds. Designed for working bigger plastics, it has a shortish butt but is still long enough to put out a good cast.

The stickbaits I meant are the bibless ones exactly as Ben described - eg. Smith Towadi, Owner Tango Dancers, Daiwa Saltiga Sliders etc. Nomad #####ing make their own (at $60 a pop unrigged) and Carpenter sell hand-made ones for about $130 a pop! The Carpenters and Orions are the go for GTs apparently, with the Carpenters better when conditions are calm and the seas glassy, and the (slow sinking) Orions the better option when there is a bit of chop. Smith Towadis ... killer on bream: A few Orion Bigfoots and on the far right, a Carpenter Gamma: Daiwa Saltiga Slider (I have a stack of these!): Owner Cultiva Tango Dancer (I also have a stack of these! ): Orion Crazy Dog GT on an Orion

Ditto the Rapala. My TP 8000 is matched with the Rapala 20 - 40lb, 6' 6" rod. Good all round "do everything" rod, (big plastics, bottom bashing, light jigging, casting). However, as it is "do everything", it tends to be a compromise. Eg. It won't cast as far as a 7' 6" popping rod, nor will it handle heavy jigs (prob 150 - 180g max). For purely bottom bashing and jigging, I also have a Daiwa Saltist 56S 8/10 (5' 6", PE 5, up to 330g jig weight) which is another great match.

Thanks mate - great info there and an excellent video! Out of curiosity, what types / sizes did you use on the Harbour kings?

Thanks fellas, makes sense. If anyone wants some of those stick bait articles, PM me your e-mail address and i'll attempt to send you softcopies. cheers, dave

Hi all, Been reading a lot about stickbaits recently in the various fishing magazines. Apparently they're magic for catching anything from bream to GTs (obviously using different sized stickbaits!). I've read such claims as stickbaits outfishing poppers 5 to 1 on GTs in the Coral Sea (on Nomad Charters). Being an inveterate tackle junkie, I immediately stocked up in preparation for the upcoming pelagic season. I must have bought 30 or 40 of the suckers: from the little 4 cm Smith Towadis to large-ish 18 cm Daiwa Saltiga Sliders and just about everything in between, in both floating and slow-sinking models. I intend to mainly use the 10 - 14 cm (15 - 50 g) sizes on Harbour kings, bonito and sambos. One slight snag, though ... I don't really know how to fish them. Some of articles I've read say to fish 'em with the rod tip held high, some say twitch 'em side to side and yet others say snap the rod tip down and away and take up slack. All very confusing and contradictory! So, after the long-winded pre-amble, my questions are: Has anyone used these babies on Harbour kings/pelagics? How effective were they? How did you work them? Thanks for your responses!

Mate, I am shocked that you would be able to catch jewies, kings, yakkas and CARP from the same wharf. Unless "carp" is euphemism for some other species ... Nice kingy, btw. How big did it go??

Cheers for that mate. Sounds like a great little reel. Do you reckon you were casting further with it as well, due to the new spool lip? Would love to hear a review of your 1000S too, as 10lb Fireline would probably tend not to wind knot as much as light braid/gelspun.

Ceph, May I ask what you are planning to use your 2500 (which looks sensational, I must say) on? Casting at pelagics? What rod do you have on it? Also, which Jap shop did you buy it from? (PM me if you like). cheers, dave

Mate, the Rapala rods are great, BUT there isn't one that will comfortably match the Stella 20000. They are all too light, even the biggest 10 - 20 kg 7' 6" model. I concur with caranx about the Daiwa Saltigas. A Stella deserves a great rod, and the Saltigas are the best off-the-shelf rods I've owned. The 80TN may be just a trifle light for the Stella 20000 but you could get away with it. I would say it is probably best with the Stella 8000. I don't own the Muramura but have had a play with it. It is very stiff in the tip, so not sure if it's what you're after for livebaiting kings. It will happily chuck a chair leg sized popper a mile, though! There are also a few Saltiga 8' to 8' 6" GT popping and tuna casting models you might want to check out. However, I'm always a bit concerned about any heavy rod over 8' (esp fast actioned rods) and how the leverage works against the angler, but if you're 6' 4" and weigh 100kg, then no problems! Never owned the T-Curve Bluewaters so can't really comment, but for your price, they are probably the best rod out there. They don't feel as quite comfortable in the foregrip, though. And they don't look anywhere near as cool as the Saltigas!

I'm interested to know too. I'm thinking of getting the 1000S to pair with a new bream rod. Apparently Shimano have done a bit of work with the new Stella to eliminate / reduce their problem with wind knots. (Daiwa reels apparently have less problems with this due to superior line lay.) So it's either the new Stella or the old Exist ...

i found these. feel free to take them at face value, or not: "When the Saltiga first appeared on the market a few years back, one 4500 broke at Gold Coast, Australia. Most of us ruled that out as an isolated case. Then two months after the larger Saltiga's were launched, there was a uncomfirmed rumor that a Japanese angler broke his Z6000 reel foot while jigging in Taiwan. Next report of a broken Saltiga bail arm came from Australia (reel belonged to Allan Bevan of Shikari Charters), then it was Bertram's reel that gave way next. Recently I saw a Saltiga Z6000 with a broken bail arm in Singapore with my own eyes and it belonged to someone who went Samson jigging in Perth just a few months back. I would advice Saltiga owners to keep their drag in tip top condition in view of the high bail arm/reel foot breakage rate. Having a jerky drag when near lock out settings will definitely break the weak link in your reel. PS. I'm not trying to put Saltiga users down, just don't want anyone to lose that fish of a lifetime due to tackle failure." and: The newest Stella has two problems. 1- The bail arm screw needs to be held in place with loctite (liquid thread lock) and many anglers have encountered the bail arm assembly falling apart in the midst of fighting. Mine came lose at "peace time" so it was fixed before any real damage could take place. 2- I just helped someone inspect a faulty SW20000PG and the problem was its rotor counter balance weight. The piece of counter balance weight dropped off and got ground into many tiny pieces inside the revolving rotor. This problem was the reason why the first batch of smaller SW Stella got recalled by Shimano and it's the first time anyone had this problem with a SW20000PG.

From everything I've read (and as the owner of a Stella): The Stella has a superior drag. The Saltiga has harder gears (which are also slightly rougher). There are a few specialist heavy jigging / popping sites around and this topic has been debated at length on them.