ko76

Nicely done mate, 2 kings are better than none! What lure did you get them on when trolling?

Well done mate. Sounds like a good day on the water. My guess would be a rat king as they seem to be rampant now. Also, a word of advise, i own a Tohatsu 30hp and its been great. Ive been told by at least 2 tohatsu mechanics that they are fantastic motors but you do need to run them in according to the manual.

Ive used my downrigger when stationary. The current was raging and didnt want to use too much lead so threw out an unwaited squid then clipped on the downrigger. Had the bait waving around in a 20m arc, much better than I could do with any sinker and you can gaurantee that it was holding mid water.

Cannon mini-troll with a 3lb or 6lb bomb and i generally troll around at idle speed of around 2knots. Didnt see the point of buying a larger and more expensive one when i havent used them before and cant see myself using it in water deeper than 30m. Works fine for me just need to get out there more often!!

I agree that big bait catches bigger fish no doubt. I normally fish with 15 - 20cm mantle squid or palm size yakkas. Threw out a 32cm mantle squid at North Head and got absolutely smoked by what I presume to be a big King or Jew. My TLD20 set to maxed out drag just kept on screeming until it it reefed me. Also, with large yakkas I tend to agree that there not much good for Kings. Had small ones taken but never large. I threw out a large Yakka at Bluefish Point and one of those massive Sea Lions took it. Its true that it was a big catch but not exactly what I had in mind!

Got me curious.... whats "the deadly Penguin prawn technique". As for the screaming drag.....unfortunatly that didnt happen. I wasnt having much luck using the downrigger clip with 30lb braid in it so I used the old elastic band thin size #12. Even this +60cm didnt break the elastic band. I just noticed the rod buckle down. I pulled up the downrigger bomb, released the line and started to wind in, thats when the Kingie started to kick up a stink and fight like a Kingie normally does. Ive never had a Kingie behave like that before, almost like it took the squid and then was happy to cruise around with the downtrigger. I check the Kingies stomach contents and it did have a bit of the small fry baitfish in its stomach aswell and part of my squid(i think). It would appear that the Kings eat like the Salmon school do sometimes. They gulp at the surface of the water and eat microscopic fish. I suppose they burn up alot less energy gulping mouthfulls of bait fry father than chasing down a zippy yakka or slimie.

One thing to add: When I brought it on board it spewed out a gob full of tiny fry. Found it interesting that they would bother feeding on such small tucker. Would take millions of these miniature bait fish to keep them fed!

Headed out 5am this morning and over to Balmoral to get some squid. It was a bit windy this morning and only managed to boat one squid. Lost another at the boat that was barely hooked. The other squid that I did see were tiny and wouldnt attack the jig. Tried a few other spots around but couldnt manage any more over the next 2and a half hours. As you could imagine Id had enough of jigging for squid so went over to North head and anchored up for a few 'just under legal' snappper that were returned. Followed this up by trolling a bibbed minnow and a popper around north head for zilch. Finally, headed back to middle harbour with my one and only squid. Dropped it on the downrigger and trolled around the morings. After a while the rod buckles down and Im on to a 62cm King. Hoped it would have been bigger after reading Kelvins reports but at least the first one for me this summer and the first for my new downrigger. Either way it made for some great sushi! Sorry no pics, didnt bring the camera.

Completely agree with you regarding the BOM. Was expecting a great calm morning out at Syd Heads but could even get out. The strnger than predicted southerly stayed all morning while I was out and never changed. Im not sure if they use the info from the BOM but there is a web site www.seabreeze.com.au that seems to have slightly varying data from the BOM and MIGHT be more acurate. Kenji. PS - Have you heard if the Kingies are back in the Bay yet? I usually fish Syd Harbour but will make the trip to Botany when the Kings are on as its a bit of a change

That a seriously impressive catch.....very nicely done. Can I ask how far past south head? How far offshore & deep was the water? Kenji

Dean, I dont mind going out in a high swell but I dont like tackling high seas. Mine is a 4.4m. Its a Quintrex Fish-About hull converted to centre console. Esentially it is a largish tinnie. These models of hull are very old but known for excellent stability. I dont have too much problem with swell. Make sure you dont have too much weight at either end of your boat, take it slow (ie dont plough through waves or try to set high jump records) and take swell/waves relatively straight on (no more than 30degrees). Im not sure of the make of your tinnie but I see people with smaller tinnies than mine go even further offshore. If you have the right safety gear and pick your days ragarding the weather I would say most boats could go most places(relatively) as along as you use common sense. Kenji

Once again another outstanding effort of Kings. Well done Kelvin.

Launched 6am and over to Middle Harbour and jigged around for some squid. After 40mins with no success we decided to call it quits and chase the Salmon. Over to North Head and the ever reliable Salmon school was there. With the water temps up the Salmon seemed much more energetic, moving around much faster than they have been over the past few months. The sea wasnt the best with a decent wind and swell but we managed to bag 4 Salmon over the next couple of hours using flick baits and poppers. Getting a bit sick of catching Salmon but they are still great fun on light gear. A change of tactics led us over to the eastern wedding cake that didnt produce exept for some throw-back snapper. Only good thing was gettiing some livies that we then trolled around sow & pigs for zip(trying to christen the new downrigger). Trolled back to middle harbour still with no success. After a bit more of a fish west of the spit for not much more we called it a day. From my own efforts and speaking with other raiders like Namesay it seems like harbour squid are really hard to find lately. Might give Long Reef a try next week for a change. Does anyone know how its fishing lately?

Once again, very nice job on the Kings Kelvin. Its great to meet with fellow raiders. I did have a great day with the salmon unfortunately not with the Kings. Ill post a report when my mate sends me the pics. Will keep an eye out for you on the water next time. Kenji

Hit the water at 5am and headed out to North Head past a pod of dolphins. Expecting nice condition as forecast by the Bureau we were met by a fair southerly swell chopping with a much stronger than forecast nth east wind. Typical Bureau! Anyway, located the salmon school but it was much smaller than the previous week and they were even more skittish. This combined with the average conditions only resulted in 2 55cm salmon boated and 1 lost. The school disappeared so started a troll on the inside of Nth Head for zip. Went over to fairlight to get some yakkas but only managed 4 as we coudnt get the jigs or bait past those annoying sweep. Back out to North head to try my new home made down rigger. Trolled around for a while with no luck untill I hit a rock/reef with the downrigger bomb and lost the livey and my rig. By this stage the swell was picking up even more so headed over to Sow & Pigs where my mate picked up a nice 30 cm dioxin Trevally. Finishing up there, we moved over to Clifton Gardens for ziltch and then got drenched heading back to Clontarf also for zip. Not the best days fishing but it sure beats working!! Sorry no picks cause they were only salmon and the camera stayed at home.

Dan & mgj, A couple of weeks ago I was fishing north head using a 33cm horse size yellowtail as a livie when the drag on my TLD20 goes nuts. At first I thought it may be a shark but I only had 60lb leader anyway and I had manged to fight it for 5 minutes. Anyway........... After 5mins of fighting up pops a sea-lion that I estimate to be +100kg as it was bigger than me. Tried to get some of my braid back then had to cut it loose. After speaking to a few north head fishos there are a few sea-lions that can sometimes be seen on the rocky leadges at the heads. Theres a fair chance thats what smoked a few of your reels aswell. A +100kg sea-lion would need to eat quite a few 65cm salmon to keep itself fed each day!!

I dont know where your planning on fishing for them but can recommend South West Rocks. A friends dad landed an 18kg specimen a month ago. If your like me and fish in Sydney I wont be much help. All I can tell you is that I managed to fluke one, last summer at North Head. It wasnt large, only 50cm but I was happy as they are quite rare in Sydney. Was fishing a reefy structure at North Head using a whole dead squid during the day chasing Kingfish. I guess its not much help but it might be worth something.

Thanks everyone for your input. Ill let you know how I go with the squid. Hopefully go out again this wednesday

Ive been sponging off this website, reading the forums for info but never contributed so I though its about time I start contributing to this very informative site. Headed out 430am with a mate to the Spit to try and catch some squid. Been fishing for years but never tried for squid before. Anchored on the eastern side of the bridge not too far from the permanent house boat thing and threw out the jigs. 40 mins later and still no squid. The sun was coming up so headed over to North Head to chase salmon. Got just outside the heads and found the school. With half a dozen other boats there too. Started throwing out a popper and my mate used a 10g metal slice. Mate hooks up but after a short fight looses the fish to find the treble hook pulled straight. Got a few nudges on the popper but had trouble casting the light weight popper into the wind so switched to a flick bait and was on in no time. Short fight later a 55cm Salmon in the boat. Kept chasing the school for the next couple of hours having a ball! Boated 3 Salmon and lost plenty more on light tackle. Salmon ranged from 55cm - 65cm. A change of tactics was the plan so started a troll up north head in hope for some Bonnies or Kings. No luck on either but got another 65cm Salmon. Had enough of the wind and medium swell so headed back to the newly renovated yellow marker just inside north head. Dropped a few baits down but the only keeper was one leather jacket. Moved over to Clifton Gardens and later Clontarf for a few throw backs also. All in all a great day because I wasnt at work, had a the weather was good and we caught a few fish. PS - Has anyone had much luck with the Kingies lately I know they usually show up a bit later in Nov but was wondering if they might start up earlier due to the warmer than usual water. Also, can anyone recommend a reliable squid ground in north or middle harbour. I need to master this squidding art for the Kingfish summer! Here's a few photos by my budding photographer mate.