ophet

Cheers mate, those fish you caught at Jervis Bay were thumpers, and to get four of them in one trip must have been a buzz. Have you caught many like those in Jervis Bay before? I saw the episode on TVS last Thursday, where the guy was downrigging frigates off Jervis Bay, and was continually getting busted by massive hoods. The ones he did manage to bring up were beefy indeed !!

More questions !!! Man, you are an inquisitive bugger. When the adrenaline is pumping, 5 seconds may seem like 5 minutes, so I would be guessing here, but I guess the fight to take about 5 minutes. I caught the fish off Sydney, and on Paqeboy's boat, not a charter. I can't recall the depth, but it was DEEP. People say that fish in cold water don't fight as well, cause they are shut down, but this baby had plenty of fight in him and had a number of long hard bursts. He certainly was not lethargic and fought all the way to the top. I would say though, that if I had caught a fish of this size inside the harbour, I would have had no chance. Firstly cause I would not have been using the heavy gear and rod, and also cause he would have bricked me on a reef or obstacle in seconds. They don't have to run too far in shallower water, to find the reefs or snags. If you read some reports from Raiders during summer, a lot of guys got done by some big boys, in shallower water it is hard to stop them. Ask Kelvin about some of the bruisers that gave him a run, and lasted only a few seconds. I was lucky to land my one, cause I reckon I stopped him just before he reached the reef. More luck then good fishing. You just have to get out there and give it a go reddragon. That is how you gain your experience and give yourself a shot at catching the fish of a life time.

Ha ha, people like you would put me out of business Kelvin !!!! Thanks Inhlanzi. The siblings can't get enough of fresh Kingfish, they especially love having Sushimi!!! Easy tiger, so many questions..... Fish was caught on Pink 230gram River2Sea KNIFE jig. The fish was fine to eat, it did not taste any different to any other King, although cooking style needs to be modified cause the fillets are so thick. I have been sworn to secrecy by Pageboy not to divulge his location, sorry.... G'day Heath, you would be used to seeing Kings of this size up your way !? This may even be considered a rat up there !!! I have often wondered what I could catch if I used King fillets, it seems like such a waste though... But I guess I would swap a few King fillets for Pearl Pearch. I was up your way in Easter, and went out on a charter. Jigged up a wahoo, but lost it at the boat, very disappointing. The boat did well though, heaps of trag jew, Kingfish, mackerel and pig fish.

Nice report Jason, shame you could not get stuck into any of the big reds. I have never tasted a Groper, but I'd imagine they are rather delicious.

Nice one Mushtaka, have to be happy with that, love the size of those YFT !!!! I feel sorry for your mate, would have been good to get him onto one. Well done, and made the rough ride out there worth it.

Thanks Greg, glad you enjoyed the read. I couldn't believe how thick and heavy the fillets are !!! I had a quarter of the fish at my brother's place last night, and it tasted like any other King. There was no difference in texture or taste, due to the fish's size. More of the fish will be eaten tonight with the in-law, and I will distribute the rest of the fish to my family at the end of the week. So, unfortunately when you have a big family, nice fish don't last so long. But I love sharing the fish with family and friends, as the ALL love eating such fresh and sweet tasting fish. Ha ha, I wish I could make a living out of fishing, however I don't think a DVD on a single fish over 1mtre will be enough to feed the family. Cheers.

Well done Kiwi Dan, the first one is always the hardest. The others should come easier for you. You have been broken in.

Cheers Andrew, you are next to join the Hood club. I know, I know, I am itching to get out there amongst them again. It is going to be hard to beat, but I am going to try

Thanks Kelvin, if I crack the 20kgs the whole of Australia will hear me shouting !!! Jigging certainly puts you in the frame for the bigger fish, and I was always confident I would get my first hood jigging. It is hard work though, you have your good and bad days. Sometimes you put a lot of effort into the jigging, and you only score one or two medium sized fish all day. But the fight on a jig is fantastic, and you somehow feel like you have earned the fish, when jigging. I too am very much looking to the coming months, big Kings and YFT !!! Thanks Steve, I smashed my PB which was 82cm before the hood. I caught an 85cm fish with Kelvin the first time I went out with him, but that does not count, cause it is like cheating when going fishing with Kelvin. G'day Steve, welcome to the site. That was one uncomfortable night, we did well to score some Kings in the end. I am glad you and the bro managed to take a King home each. Hopefully you will be able to get out on the water more often, and get stuck into the Kings as well. The Thunnus is a Shimano Baitrunner style reel. The model I have is the 16000F, and I like the feel of the reel and it does perfectly for jigging. I can't yet justify getting a Stella, so this was my substitute - I saw Kelvin's Thunnus and he recommended me using it for jigging. Because of the bait runner functionality on the reel, it is also a nice reel to downrig with. I don't think they make them anymore, but I think you can find some people selling them or can still get them from overseas. Ask Red the resident reel expert (from this website) about the reels, I believe he rates them as well. The Thunnus is a Shimano Baitrunner style reel. The model I have is the 16000F, and I like the feel of the reel and it does perfectly for jigging. I can't yet justify getting a Stella, so this was my substitute - I saw Kelvin's Thunnus and he recommended me using it for jigging. Because of the bait runner functionality on the reel, it is also a nice reel to downrig with. I don't think they make them anymore, but I think you can find some people selling them or can still get them from overseas. Ask Red the resident reel expert (from this website) about the reels, I believe he rates them as well. Keep trying barrykrocker, I heard you did alright on the jig last time you were out with Kelvin. You never know when the big one is going to jump on your jig. Thanks baitfish, I know I am pretty lucky. Also getting the fishing bug out of my system, before the little ones arrive, who knows how much time I will have then... The way I see it, if they love you, they would let you go fishing That's the excuse I use.

Thanks guys for your congratulations and kind words. I am glad you enjoyed the report, I took care to write the report as I wanted to give a good account of the experience and the fight the fish provided. I was stoked when I caught the fish, and am still on a high, the experience of fighting the fish was like nothing else. I have caught 35kg Yellowfin Tuna before, but that fight was more laborious, whereas this King was just a brawler and kept me on my toes the whole time. I hope some of you guys will get to experience such a feeling one day, you will remember it for as long as you live. Thanks Jason, my advice is not to start jigging. Getting the right gear, and then the jigs can become pricey, especially if the leather jackets show up.

Nice, nice. Fantastic capture, makes my fish look like a rat !!!!

Nice report Ceph, and absolutely AMAZING that you managed to get your rig back !!!! Fantastic news, just have to get the salt water out and give it a good clean, well done mate.

Well yesterday Saturday 2nd June was it, I went where people who target our Seriola Lalandi friends dream of going, I joined Club Hoodlum. I went out with fellow Seriola Lalandi hunter Pageboy today to chase down our favourite quarry. The plan was to grab some yakkas, some squid and head out for a crack at the Kings either using the paternoster or jigging, then follow that up with some reef bottom bashing for flatties or snappers. Well the morning did not start too promising, with the yakkas playing hard to get at our usual haunts. Plenty of burley could not bring these little King lollipops to the boat, our suspicions of predators being around were confounded when OneLastCast hooked onto a little rat. We saw many other rats in our burley trail, so we knew it was a waste of time hanging around this bait ground. Moving to another bait ground, the yakkas were again hard to find, but they eventually found the burley trail, and we loaded up on a few snack sized specimens. Pageboy did not want to leave, as a school of garfish had turned up, so a few tricks to sabotage his gar chasing saw the school disappear and we were finally on our way for some serious fishing. We arrive at our first designated reef spot and a were buoyed by some interesting showings on the sounder. We see fish well above the ocean floor, in small clusters and layered on top of each other. We know these aren’t leatheries, and are confident they are Kings or some form of pelagic. We motor upwind from the sounding and start our drift. There is not much of a current, and little wind, however the sea is a little messy. First couple of drops, for nothing. Pageboy remarks there is something good on the sounder, I reel my line in to drop it in the zone, a couple of jerks of the rod and a few winds, I am on. The rod does not bend much and this is not a solid fish. I have thoughts of a foul hooked leather jacket, however this fish was fighting and not just a wet paper bag. I feel some fast tail beats, as I continue to skull drag the fish from the depths, I did not want to waste too much time on a little one. We see colour and Pageboy calls it for a snapper !! As it comes closer to the surface, I see the blotches on its body and it is a small Samson fish of around 40cm. This is the only Seriola fish I have not caught before, so I have now caught the three Seriola clan. Pageboy tells me they are a very tasty fish, so I am looking forward to tasting the little fella. Not a bad start to the jigging, so we return to our mark for a couple more drifts. Two drifts later, after about the fourth drop, I start the usual rod lift and wind. After reading some of the Jap jigging sites, I start visualizing the jig moving and try to imitate a fleeing fish. 5 winds into the jig I come up solid, the rod bounces downwards from the sudden weight. I bring the rod back up to feel SOLID fish, it feels the weight and takes off. The rod tip nearly touches the water, and heads towards the boat’s engine. I need to move away from this corner. My Saltist rod is bending like never before, and I crouch over as I try to cushion the fish’s strong run, hanging on for dear life. The fish peels line off the Thunnus, which was set manually to a strength that I was not able to pull line with my hand. The line is coming off the reel way too easily, I know I need to stop the beast before it reefs me, I put my hand over the reel to put more pressure on it, taking care not to overdo it and I slow the run. I put more pressure on it, hoping something does not give. Finally the beast stops peeling line and I am able to stand up and lift my rod, I try to win back some line, as I knew he was terribly close to the bottom. I start the pumping and get him away from the reef, but he is not finished yet. He pulls again and I let the drag do it’s job, as I knew I had some room to spare, if he takes too much line I am going to have to palm the spool again. Thankfully he stops and again I take the moment to try to inch back some line. This tug of war continues for a while, with the thought of equipment failure never leaving my mind. I pray that every knot has been tied properly, and that he is hooked properly. If I was to lose this fish, I would have been greatful for experiencing the fight. I now start to feel my biceps tighten from the strain the fish has put on my hands. There is stale mate, the fish has enough weight on the line that I do not want to force him up and he does not have enough strength to peel off any more line. I know I have the upper hand now, I wait for a moment where I can gain line and wind like mad. He is starting to come up now. I can feel the big strong head shakes that everyone talks about, and I do everything to not let him turn his head. The fish has some more runs in him, but I just let him run and wait for the release of tension and gain more line. The runs are not as long or strong and he nears the surface. We see colour Pageboy comments ‘it is a good fish’. We are both quiet, tense and know that the fish is very close to being boated. It comes to the top after an epic battle but doesn’t present itself to a good gaff shot. Pageboy is very careful not to rush the job, and doesn’t want to be responsible for losing my first Hood. Pageboy balks at a gaff, the King turns on it’s side belly facing the boat. Pageboy sinks the gaff in and lifts the King onto the boat. The tension is released and there is hooting and hollering on the boat (mainly from me). We are both jumping up and down, hand shakes, back slaps and general marvel at the beautiful fish. I have a grin from ear to ear, and an immense satisfaction that I have joined the Hood club. The moment we had it in the boat, we knew it was over the magic metre mark. After some more marvelling and some disbelief that I/we had finally done it. I say ‘we’ because as Kelvin had said before, when jigging, it is like a team effort. Every fish is like a team fish, everyone jigs together and work the school together and everyone enjoys seeing beautiful fish landed on the boat they are on. Pageboy had been close before, falling short by centimetres, but this is the first Hood boated on his Trailcraft. I am proud to have been the one to help him Hooden his boat. Actually Kelvin, Pageboy says he beat you to the punch and helped me get my first Hood on his boat, I would be happy to let me catch a Hood on your Noble as well. After the adrenaline had subsided, we measure the beast and he measures in at 110cm ( the fish weighs in at just under 11.5kgs at home). Pageboy does not have an esky large enough to house the fish, so we wrap the fish in a wet towel, and put ice packs on top of it to keep it cool for the day. We try further jigging for no more fish, and head off to do some bottom bashing, where we pick up little rubbish fish. It didn’t matter to me; all I could think about was the Hoodlum at the back of the boat. So there is the tail of how I became a member of the Hoodlum club, a moment I will never forget. It has been a long time in the making, countless hours on the water, trial and error. Since I first bought the boat a little over a year ago with Shane (who became a member of the Hoodlum a couple of months ago), we have been chasing the Seriola Lalandi relentlessly. We went on charters, read what we could and watched every DVD on these fish. It has been a steep learning curve. The learning curve would have been much steeper and longer if it hadn’t been for the tuition and mentoring of Pageboy and Kelvin. These two guys have been instrumental in teaching me the ways of downrigging, offshore fishing and chasing the Kings. I am indebted to these guys, and I dedicate the capture of my first Hood to both Pageboy and Kelvin. Thanks guys, and I hope I can return the favour sometime in the future. Oh, and my wife reminds me that she should get a mention special mention on this report, as she has allowed me the freedom to pursue my passion. She is the best wife in the world, and I could not have picked a better partner to allow me to go fishing every weekend (that should take care of things for a while).

Ha ha, I reckon that is why you guys have me at the front of the boat. Hoodlum territory is obviously at the back of the boat !!! Bring it on Kelvin, I gotta get me a Hood. PS - You must be on life support, not out fishing on your day off !!!

Sounds like you are catching up on the fish Tony !! 9 in 2 sessions is good, 3 over a metre is tops !!!! I don't think I want to go out with you and Kelvin anymore, it has been a while between jigs and I don't want to be dragging the chain !!!! I think I'll take baby steps, 15kg will do me for starters Geez, you know how to make us younger blokes feel ordinary !!! Sounds like you are a fitness machine !!! Jigging would only be a stretching exercise for you !!!

Aha, the old spot up the river near Bantry Bay hey !!! I think that may be the spot I call Spot Z Definitely out this weekend, depends on the weather as to whether we go outside or stay in the harbour... May see you at one of your secret spots..

Ha ha, G'day Ceph, yes that was me in the boat downrigging. We were actually in my brother's boat, stayed the night catching squid. Sorry for giving you stick about the Stella, couldn't resist - your fishing buddies seemed to see the funny side Seriously, you have to laugh about these things, otherwise it will eat you up inside !! I have had it happen to me, but luckily I managed to get the rig back !!! Hey, would your Spot X (where you caught the 14 kings on Saturday) be the same spot that you lost your Stella? I think I may have seen you there earlier in the day. Cheers, and see you around.

Nice report Oz, shame you guys could not break the Hood barrier. You are right though, although a 93cm is a fantastic fish, when targeting the Kings in such deep water and locations, you are expecting larger fish. And when you do hook the larger fish, landing it is another matter !!! Isn't that right Kelvin !!! I can't believe you are hurting so much after the session Oz !! With all the gym work you do, I thought this sort of stuff would be down your alley !!! You will find that after a few sessions, you will modify your stroke to be more efficient, otherwise you will need a back operation. Jigging is hard work, the rewards are well worth it. When you land that King of a life time, the hours of back breaking work will be forgotten.

Nice one guys, the smiles say it all. Very happy for you.

Well done guys, your BBQ on the boat is inspirational, we did the same thing on Saturday morning. Certainly makes the cold mornings more reasonable. Some nice fish there, and one massive surgeon. After gathering the squid on Friday night, we tried offshore for zilch and then picked up a couple of just legals inside MH.

Well done mate, good to see you getting onto some fish. Yes, the first one certainly looks like an Amberjack !!! I believe there is no size limit to the Amberjacks, so you could have kept him !!!!

A few kgs of nice Sushimi !!! Well done again mate, you are the champ of LBG fishing.

Well done Nath, great result. Looks like it was blowing a bit out there.

Congratulations Netic, you must be over the moon. Even better then hauling in big YFT? Just kidding mate, all the best to your family.

Nice report Stipo, very jealous of your annual trip up north with the boys. Shame you did not get as many fish this year, but I am sure you had a great time with the boys either way. BTW don't you hate seeing bigger fish caught right under your nose !!!! Better luck next year.