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That fishing spot was Karumba. Mark

I just returned from the Southern Gulf of Carpentaria from an extraordinary Barramundi river trip.I went with a gun Barra fisherman and we landed multiple Barra in the 80-90 cm class.We also landed 3 wild Barra over a metre.The biggest Barra that I landed was 104 cm-a big girl! I used fly on occasion because John is not a flyfisherman,and I did not want to interfere with his fishing in the boat. One occasion that I did use the fly resulted in me landing 15 Barra to 88 cm.I probably would have hooked up the very big Barra if I had more time on fly-maybe next time! I also hooked up some Theadfin Salmon on fly-they go hard and are good eating. A wild place with plenty of Crocs-this one went 18+ ft. Mark

Leo, There are few things better than a Kingie take when you are strippiing back the fly.The line stops abruptly-then your problems really start! Mark.

The kings are around-you just have to find them and try to get them to bite! Having said that I fooled a few on fly on Friday and Saturday.I had some 80+cm specimens around the boat on both days,but at this time of year they are very timid on most methods of catching them. One of the kings. Mark

I've found that kings on the surface, are hookable, but if they come up to the boat from down deep,and a hook up hasn't occured they are very wary.Dan & Greg is this your experience?These are smart fish! That was the spot in skinny water over that reef last year-good memories. Mark

Dan & Greg, I've been out lately but the fishing has slowed-plenty of kings but it takes a big effort to snare them. Their minds must be elsewhere ie breeding? I landed a couple on fly today.I'm waiting for a repeat of the big kings we bagged next to each other last April! How are you blokes going with the kings? It is good to catch up with you guys because that is normally where the fish are! Incidently we have lost a lot of good kingfishing after the Quarantine Buoy was not replaced.We need to lobby to get it back. Mark

No,these came from the Harbour.I found a good school at Nth Head but I could'nt tempt them.The drift was very fast. Mark

I went out today and found loads of kings down deep.But they are wary and difficult to hook. Having said that, I Ianded 2 on fly,and one big bustof -not a bad day Mark

Jason, I was out yesterday,and went to Longy and back to South head for 4 kings in total on fly-it was hard work! I would have loved to have had a cast at your kingies at north head.I'll get out on Wednesday and I'll try to sound out those kings at north head. Cheers Mark

Stewy, I used a 11 wt rod outside and a 9 wt for the Mac Tuna.Great fun on light gear. I limit myself to 25 lb leader for the kings-and it is always touch and go when a big kingie hooks up in bad country! For kings I use clouser flies, and surf candies for the smaller fish such as the Macs Mark PS Donna and yourself did very well on the News that I saw recently.

Mac Tuna

Bigger king

Went out wide today and landed 20+ kings on fly.The biggest kings went 77;72 and 68 cms.I was also blown away by a big one.On the way back in I found finicky Mac Tuna schools and landed 2 on fly around 4 Kgs each.A good day! Mark

One of a few kings that I've been getting lately on fly. Mark

Dollie The family is about to dine on this one

Went out to the Fads solo yesterday,and picked up two dollies-dropped a bigger one at the boat. Went back in the Harbour and picked up kings and Mac Tuna-all on fly.The first run of the Mac Tuna is a blast. You can see the lack of space between the dorsal fins which distinguishes them from the Frigates.The Macs I saw were all around 3-4 kg Mark

This is a Mac I caught in the Harbour yesterday on fly.The Mac compared to the Frigate doesn't have a space between dorsal fins. Mark

Sam, NZ is fantastic for kings.Because of site rules I won't post the stickbait-but I'll tell you when I'm in the shop next. Mark

You certainly know that you have been in a fight after tangling with one of those beasts. Mark

Mick, Do some research,get some gear/lessons and go for it. Tom, Those salmon were big,and fought hard. Mark

More pics of kings and horse salmon from NZ

I just returned from New Zealand with a sore body from doing battle with those big kings. I hooked up many on fly in the shallows and down deep.I also was involved in some memorable bust offs and flyline losses to big kings in the shallows in bad country. But I landed a few. Also I used jigs,stickbaits and livies-some of the takes were explosive! The fish there seem to begin at 8 kg and go up to 30 kg. You certainly tangle with some big beasts over there. On the last day a school of 25 kg+ kingies were following a sun fish and the three of us cast stickbaits at them.we all hooked up simultaneously and it was mayhem.All the lines became tangled,and the others had heavy sticks,with 80 lb braid,and I had a lighter stick with 50 lb braid.The others were broken off and I was left standing and landed a 26 kg king! These are the breaks. Mark

I get the feeling the summer kings are back. Mark

Great fish-a true trophy fish. Mark

Dan and Greg, You guys are the king gurus as far as I'm concerned,but it goes to show how smart and tough these fish are.God know's why those bruisers would reject Greg's fresh bait at that spot. Ryan, I used an 11wt Sage rod and Galvan reel.I'm waiting for that reel to fail (I've been waiting a long time), so that I can bring my unused Tibor and Sage reels out of their boxes. Mark