namesay Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 G'day raiders.Hven't written a report for a while..been too busy reeling in the fish You guys must think I am mad , my wife certainly thinks so but I went out fishing today for - you guessed it-our seriola friends . THe weather seems to be getting worse everytime I go out and today it really hit the fan. The forecast was for rain, more rain and for good measure gale force winds!! This didn't phase me as I needed to redeem myself after a fishless jigging trip on Sunday. I arrived at the ramp at a leisurely 6am to be the only person there. The wind was blowing from the south at a constant 30knots with gusts of 50...with rain. To say weather was shitty is an understatement! Anyhow the harbour resembled the north Atlantic . Even the Manly ferries were having a hard time. Trying to catch squid in this mess was going to be a bit tough. However, without any squid-no kings. I got out my yozuris and tried a few spots. Keeping the jig in the water was difficult from all the wind but somehow I scored 5 in a couple of hours. I was originally going to fish the main harbour or offshore but the weather changed my plans. I got back into the spit and into Middle Harbour - started my downrigger. I tried a few spots to see mountains of bait. Normally this is great news as it is not long before a kingie strike but today it was different. The squid just got picked at by who knows what? Prime culprits are tailer, bream, leatherjackets, squire..etc. The situation got ridiculous as I was completely baited a couple of times by pickers without me even knowing. I was trolling an empty hook!!!! Other times the pickers would tear out the squids head. I exhausted all my squid to these pickers!! From this To this I knew there had to be some kings around as the areas looked really good and the water temp was a kingie friendly 20+ degrees. I thought about using a lure or a jig but after Sunday's efforts, jigging has damaged me mentally!!! So in desperation, I reverted to an old but GOLD method of squid strips. I found a likely looking area to anchor up. The wind was blowing the boat everywhere but finally got the boat positioned over the structure. For those raiders who are new to kingies, when you are using squid strips, you really have to FLOOD the spot with strips. It is no good to have just one bait out. I got my Torsa and placed a strip on each hook. I also used my other outfits, a Shimano Twin power with 30lb braid and Daiwa Certate with 20lb braid. Both had twin hooks and 2 baits. 6 baits in the water will attract the kings far better than just 1 or 2. The action started once again with pickers. It was hard to hook one of these little fish with an 8/0 and I lost a few baits but finally I got a good hitfrom a king. I worked the fish to the boat pretty quickly and landed a fish of about 70cm. Seemed like this fish was alone so I moved to another spot. Once again I anchored and got out my baits. ONce again it was the pickers first then another good hit. This fish was a little better than the first. It was close to 80cm . By now I was out of bait, wet and hungry. Time to go home. It was good to catch a couple of kingies...I might even give jigging a go next week!! I know there are a lot of raiders who will be on holidays in the next week or so. Please go fishing and catch these pesky pickers!!!! Every bream, tailer, leatherjacket, snapper..etc caught and grilled is one less that will attack our hard won squid. ON this I can speak for all the kingie fishermen!!! Another good day on the kings. Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Heartbreaking to see hard-earnt squid get picked to pieces like that Good to see you still got a couple! Keep up the good work Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 (edited) Mate, I don't know anyone as devoted to a species of fish as you are. I don't think any one could question your success because you deserve every bit of it. You have a never give up and there must be another solution attitude to how you approach your fishing, always thinking. What I do question is how do you get so much time off to go fishing, now that’s a secret I want to learn or maybe you could have a talk to my wife and the company I work for. I love it when you fish Pittwater Kelvin, as that’s where I generally fish and if I am not out there your posts help ease the pain and give hope to those who need it, e.g. me! Kinda makes me feel I was out there. Oh, I forgot congratulations aaaaagain on those handsome kings, well done. Cheers Martin Edited December 20, 2006 by Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettm-c Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 good effort there Kelvin, Its true dedication to go out in this weather went out on tuesday in much the same conditions, its hard to even keep the boat straight when downrigging with the wind blowing you around! brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabz Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 good work on another succesful trip namesay and with those squid that got picked cant u just chop of the head and troll the boady dead or wont provide anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsydney Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Hi Kelvin Mate nice bag again. I too have just recovered physically and mental from a fishless day. Learnt alot, but did not get o aplly much of it, will give it a go at the FAD I think. Was going tomorrow but think it might b a tad ruff to fish one, will wait till Saturday I think, might have calmed a bit by then. Good fishing yet again, I am on leave so if u want some one to hold the boat while u get eh car I am up for it. JOn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squidboy Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 (edited) Good work kelvin. days like today I just stay home and wait for the better ones. I never caught a King on strips but I just imagine that the same 9/0 hook at the end will do the trick. has anyone figured out why Kings attack a squid strip over whole squid???? This is a question that has puzzled me for years!!!! Anyhow, congratulations Kelvin on the catch. Mark Edited December 20, 2006 by squidboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Well done on the kings mate especialy as the weather was so crappy penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ophet Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Ha ha, the poor Kings of MH now have to bear the brunt of your frustrations. It was not their fault that you decided to abandon them last weekend. Heaven knows what would have happened if you came home with a donut, the Kings would have been in real trouble on the weekend !!! Well done again, in such ordinary conditions. Getting 5 squid was a very good effort, and catching Kings, anchored with squid strips just confirms your versatility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Fishing with strips of squid is a FANTASTIC way of fishing for kings. I was first introduced to it over 20 years ago by an old dentist. I still remember when we caught over 100 kings in one day! all on squid strips and heads. I know that most of the "guides"in sydney harbour also use this technique and make a complete living from it. So you can say the technique has its merits. The first time I fished Middle harbour for kings with no no no we had 2 types of baits out. One was a whole live squid and the others were squid strips. They were strips no more than 10mm wide. We caught several kings that day and a couple of other pelagic species ( salmon, tailer and a bonito ). GUess what...ALL the fish were caught on the strips. The live squid kept on living very happily!!! Don't know how it works but it seems to me the kingfish become almost like foragers. Even in offshore conditions, squid heads and strips work brilliantly. I guess they just like squid especially the guts. The ink sac and the guts seem to be what attracts the fish but it has to be fresh. If it is more than say 5 hours old, then it loses its appeal. Perhaps a livie is too hard to chase down and the strips are like snacks to the kings...who knows?CHeers Kelvin good work on another succesful trip namesay and with those squid that got picked cant u just chop of the head and troll the boady dead or wont provide anything? In my experience if you just troll the mantle, you are wasting fuel!!! When downrigging, you need the tentacles for the squid to work. It is far better to strip the squid up and and troll the strips or anchor up/drift with the strips. The other way is to troll skirted lures with a strip of squid to sweeten it. This can be a dynamite technique especially on the smaller kings which school up in big numbers. You can run them on the surface or on a downrigger or even a sinker. By the way you'll find that a lot of the kings from now will be hitting surface lures and baits. A squid trolled on the surface will often outfish a squid on a downrigger especially early mornings. Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riggem Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 i understand where your coming from, for it has been happening to me as well. it gets real fustrating after working so hard catching squid and then it gets pek away by little snapper,bream ect. but never the less u maneged to get a couple well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Hi Kelvin Mate nice bag again. I too have just recovered physically and mental from a fishless day. Learnt alot, but did not get o aplly much of it, will give it a go at the FAD I think. Was going tomorrow but think it might b a tad ruff to fish one, will wait till Saturday I think, might have calmed a bit by then. Good fishing yet again, I am on leave so if u want some one to hold the boat while u get eh car I am up for it. JOn THe pschological scars from a fishless trip are hard to get over! When it is a charter it makes it 100 times worse!!! Combine that with jigging...which is the MOST demanding type of fishing imaginable and you have a receipe for total physical and mental breakdown. Lucky I wasn't hospitalised... Trust the japs to bring back jigging! Us aussies gave it up years ago and found other techniques like letting the yakka do all the work but NOOO. The Japanese like little forms of torture, like their weird game shows. Just imagine jigging out of Tokyo. There are NO fish to catch! But they go out and jig anyway. Lucky they have good gear. It will be good to have a deckie or 2. How are you at catching squid and winding in downriggers? Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 i understand where your coming from, for it has been happening to me as well. it gets real fustrating after working so hard catching squid and then it gets pek away by little snapper,bream ect. but never the less u maneged to get a couple well done. The situation with the pickers is getting really SERIOUS. Lately things are really bad. Don't know why but perhaps we need a few more predators to weed out the pickers. I have stopped fishing certain spots as the baits just get eaten by the pickers. I think I may try some yakkas or even catch a few gars cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR@ZY OS@M@ Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 another day out fishing and yet again hooking up onto kings,well done mate, better then your last trip. good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Mate, I don't know anyone as devoted to a species of fish as you are. I don't think any one could question your success because you deserve every bit of it. You have a never give up and there must be another solution attitude to how you approach your fishing, always thinking. What I do question is how do you get so much time off to go fishing, now that’s a secret I want to learn or maybe you could have a talk to my wife and the company I work for. I love it when you fish Pittwater Kelvin, as that’s where I generally fish and if I am not out there your posts help ease the pain and give hope to those who need it, e.g. me! Kinda makes me feel I was out there. Oh, I forgot congratulations aaaaagain on those handsome kings, well done. Cheers Martin I have come to the conclusion that life is too short. I love my work but I also love my fishing/golf/family so in the last few years I have decided to cut my hours. I used to work 60-70 hours a week but now I am down to 40 hours. In my line of work every hour is worth many $100's so I have sacrificed a SH#t load of money. Still work long days but have a few off. But soon you realise money isn't everything....it helps but I think I have made enough to keep Mr Howard and Costello happy. As for the wife situation, I take her out with me whenever she has time. Pretty soon she doesn't have time....have to go shopping, have lunch with her friends, go to the hairdresser..etc. any excuse NOT to go fishing! A bit of reverse psychology works wonders.....and a platinum AMEX card to soothe any hard feelings helps with the domestic situation CHeers Kelvin another day out fishing and yet again hooking up onto kings,well done mate, better then your last trip. good work AMEN!!! CHeers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_steve Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 well done kelvin couple of nice kings there, u braved the shitty conditions well pat on the back for u mate cheers steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johblow Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 In my line of work every hour is worth many $100's so I have sacrificed a SH#t load of money. Oh my heart bleeds Kelvin!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrias Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 wow 100/hour wat kind of job do u have??? can u hook me up anyway congrats on those king.....i neve even hook one yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 (edited) Well done Kelvin, great to see you get 2 nice kings even though peckers ripped away at your squid. These peckers are becoming a real issue of late and i have been brain storning like crazy to figure out how to stop them....Funny thing is i may have stumbled onto a way accidently last weekend.....out of 12 Squid last week only 1 got pecked at.... Did you get the squid spray??? Edited December 20, 2006 by netic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 top work Kelvin, really admire your persistance. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luringbream Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Fishing with strips of squid is a FANTASTIC way of fishing for kings. I was first introduced to it over 20 years ago by an old dentist. I still remember when we caught over 100 kings in one day! Well done on the kingies mate! Yea its a pretty effective method of catching kings, i almost exclusively caught all my kings on squid strips before i got onto this sight and started reading about using live squid. I have found though, that when using squid strips i am more likely to get alot more rats than i would if using live squid. In saying that, i have caught some real thumpers in the past on squid strips! I think the peckers are jackets, in previous years they've destroyed alot of baits around this time of year. It'd take a very long while for bream or snapper to tear the squid apart like that, but tailor i can understand. It will be good to have a deckie or 2. How are you at catching squid and winding in downriggers? Cheers Kelvin If your ever after a deckie during the week, im free for the next 3 months and would be more than willing. DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 The peckers are actually a mix of fish, we caught a 25cm bream on my rigger on the weekend that was pecking away at it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Got the squid spray this morning. Dying to try it out!!!DO you know Japanese? By the way these pickers can be anything. I have seen recently yakkas attacking my squid!! Also slimies, bream, squire...etc!!! ...even toads. They nip at the tentacles and slowly work their way from there. Pick out the eyes as well. Cheers kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy C Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 (edited) Hey Kelvin they are two nice looking kings... Well done I read your post about trimming the lead on the cheapie squid jigs - was wondering what the easiest way is to go about trimming the lead? Did you just file it down? I liked your idea and agree that they look a lot more natural when they don't nose dive. Cheers for the tip mate. Edited December 21, 2006 by MallacootaPete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 I use a pair of side cutters that I use to cut braid. They are cheap about $4. Just trim the lead a little at a time. Throwing the jig out in the water to see how it sits after every little trim. Then trim a bit more and so on. THis is a great way to really get those cheap jigs to work as well as the eccy ones. Works well in still water like pittwater and parts of syd harbour. You may find that in current or deeper water the extra lead is a boon but for most shallow water i.e.bait catching, the jig must suspend for it to be effective. CHeers kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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