namesay Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 G'day everyone. By now I guess most of you know my new Noble has arrived. It has a small name tag in the stern. I call it the Blue Frog . Anyway, I went out fishing today with my number 2 son and my wife. She hasn't been in the boat before so it was her first time out. THe last few days has seen lots and lots of rain here in Sydney and I was a bit apprenhensive about catching anything..especially squid. I planned to fish the harbour as the motor hasn't been run in yet and this trip will also be the first for my new Lowrance GPS. This summer has been terrible with fluctuating water temps and winds upon winds. Also the plague of rat kingies either makes you want to laugh or cry. These rats are fun and lately we have been literally getting cricket scores on them but sometimes you want those big muthas! I don't know what it is with my but when she comes fishing with me, she brings everything AND the kitchen sink!!! She has made the cabin of the Noble into a lounge room I got to the ramp to be greeted with water that resembled coffee. Didn't look good. As I motored past the spit bridge the colour of the water changed a bit and the quality of the water improved the further we got out. First task was to get squid. After a fresh, the squid can be really tricky and so it was today. I spent literally hours chasing these fellas down. Eventually I got enough for bait. It was dificult to concentrate on the squid as there was surface activity everywhere. Kings, salmon, frigates, tailer were all chopping up on the surface. BUt these guys were more interested in small bait. I must have made about 100 casts before I hooked up a rat king. It was frustating to have a whole school follow your lure only to turn their noses at it. I even had one of the live squid out and the kings completely ignored it! A few guys on the fly did better so I left those fish to the people who were equipped to catch them and looked elsewhere. Last Sunday when testing my new sounder, I found what looked to be a wreck or some reef in an area otherwise made up of clean sand. As no body was fishing it I left it alone . I wanted to bring my GPS to give it a thorough working. Well today I went to that spot using landmarks and sounded around. Marked this spot as waypoint 002. Sure enough there were fish there! BIG FISH! I put out the first bait on the downrigger. I didn't have to wait for long before it went off. Literally seconds later my 50lb fluorocarbon trace was shredded like coleslaw!!! Kings 1 Kelvin 0. I upped my leader to 80lb and trolled again. This time everything came up solid and this fish really had me working. The slow thumps up the line meant that it was a BIG fish. It tried to make it back to where it came from. I locked up the drag on the torsa and held on to the spool with my thumbs. Slowly but surely the fish turned. It was then a matter of patience and the fish was boated. It was about 110cm!!! I unhooked him and asked the fishing committee on my boat ( my wife and son ) about what to do with the fish. They both wanted to release it as these large fish taste absolutely awful. I went to get my camera to get a photo but before I could say cheese, the committee members did a Rex Hunt and were patting themselves on the back for releasing such a large fish. I was specchless for a couple of moments but broke into laughter...what else can you do? Anyway I got the next bait out and trolled the same area. ONce again the larger kings were seen on the sounder and the rod goes off! Once again the slow tail beats meant that it was a BIG fish. ONce again it was locked drags and patience. When the fish finally surfaced, it was bigger than the previous fish!!! I then hear a little voice in my ear..."daddy can I catch this fish?" How can I refuse especially as this fish was clearly beat. I gave the rod to my 4 year old and he was doing the pumping and winding. Well this fish wasn't quite beat and had something left. It took one last dive under the boat. My son couldn't handle the run and the braid touches the side of the boat....WIth a crack the 50lb braid parts! Well the little fella was almost in tears so I consoled him and put out another bait. Immediately we get another hit. This time the fish was only small ( about 65cm ) and the little guy brought him in. It brought the smiles back. Unfortunately by this time I had run out of bait. So off to get some more squid. Once again I was side tracked by all the surface action but they refused all our offerings. With some patience and agony I got another 4 squid. I came back to where all the action was previously and the kings were still there. My wife was on strike and she didn't have to wait long. The rod folded down and she was on. She was being bounced around the boat by the fish and the heavy drag but she held on for dear life. Bit of pumping and winding and some deft boat positioning had the kingie in the net. Since it was "her" fish she decided to keep it. It went 91 cm. I downrigged another squid. Once again my wife was on strike. She didn't have to wait too long as soon as we were over the mark, the rod buckled. She was getting the hang of it now saying how easy it was until the kingie decided he wanted to run!!!. At one stage I had to hold her as she was literally being pulled into the water! The steady pressure of 50lb braid wore the fish down and it was landed. It was a pretty good fish going over the 90cm mark again. I had 1 squid left and this time it was going to be a team effort with my son. Anyway the bait takes off and we are on! We had a tag team effort and the fish was landed real quick. I wanted to release this fish but it was bleeding heavily from the gills...had taken both hooks. So it was dispatched! Was just shy of 90cm. By now it was midday and my crew were tired and hungry. Despite my bringing a supermarket, both were still starving and wanted lunch. I decided to pull the plug and headed for home....ignoring all the surface activity on the way back to the ramp!!!!!!! All in all we kept 3 fish The Noble is stinking like kingfish!! Everyone in the family has now caught a fish on it and she is proving to be a devastingly effective kingie platform. Now I am going to try for a shot at the flatties.....Tony has given me a good start . But it is hard to ignore these hoods . Might be back for some hoodlum action. Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbietola Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 kelvin, you are the king master! great report and great fish well done .....again cheers craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dicko1 Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Awesome effort there!! Those are all top quality fish hey! Good to see your new boat has been producing the goods for you, it looks to be a fantastic setup! Also good to see the whole family enjoys a bit of a fish! Congratulations, keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulg Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Great report .... well done..... i think the kingies should run for cover when they see you coming ! lol.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettm-c Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 sounds like a dream day out kelvin! big fish, big smiles and a nice new big boat, good luck on the flatties but with that new noble you've got you should be out chasing the beakies! no doubt come winter the yellow tail stories will be swapped for yellow fin stories cheers brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ophet Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Another quality report Kelvin, and congrats to your wife on nailing her first King. Embarassingly for me, her first King is bigger then my PB I have yet to crack the 90cm mark, only a matter of time though Shame about not being able to get snaps of the Hoods. It would be such a great feeling to release such a beautiful fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wettingaline Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 nice work guys , I read most of your fishing reports and it sounds like you have your squid and kingfish down to an art, great work, hopefully we see some good reports from other raiders on the bigger kingys now cheers Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted February 14, 2007 Author Share Posted February 14, 2007 sounds like a dream day out kelvin! big fish, big smiles and a nice new big boat, good luck on the flatties but with that new noble you've got you should be out chasing the beakies! no doubt come winter the yellow tail stories will be swapped for yellow fin stories cheers brett All in due time Brett. She still hasn't run in her engine and the fuel tank sensor is out of action. It was the first day that the GPS was operational as well so one step at a time. I still love these kingies. I think in a few more seasons I'll have these kings worked out. Nothing like the balls to the wall fight of a hood. Trying to extract these beasts from structure is why I keep on coming back. Cheers Kelvin Another quality report Kelvin, and congrats to your wife on nailing her first King. Embarassingly for me, her first King is bigger then my PB I have yet to crack the 90cm mark, only a matter of time though Shame about not being able to get snaps of the Hoods. It would be such a great feeling to release such a beautiful fish. SHe has caught a few fish in the past. Her biggest is over a meter. I think her first king was with a charter operator and went 62cm. Funny how she thinks SHE caught them!!! Not mentioning who caught the bait, rigged the lines, hooked the fish...etc! Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingsRule Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Some awsome kings there mate 110cm is a cracker! Can i ask what area the surface action was happening? Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted February 14, 2007 Author Share Posted February 14, 2007 Some awsome kings there mate 110cm is a cracker! Can i ask what area the surface action was happening? Rob The surface wsa really boiling today despite the dirty water. The action was from about the wedding cake to the harbour bridge. You couldn't help but notice all the birds and the splashes. The salmon were typcially schooling up as well as the rat kings. The kings funnily enough refused my soft plastics and even the live squid I tossed at them. They seemed to want only the minute small bait that was around. I even saw a school of garfish swimming around the kings and they weren't molested! Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrykrocker Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Some awsome kings there mate 110cm is a cracker! Can i ask what area the surface action was happening? Rob where hasn't the surface activity been happening is the question! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deano35 Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Kelvin, Do you have anything else in your fridge other than Kingfish. You should start your own charter, there would be plenty of people that would be willing to pay money to see you work your magic, me included. I sit back, green with envy whilst I read your reports. CHeers Deano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrykrocker Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Truly awesome report kelvin! I hope when I'm a father I'm as understanding as you...I really would have liked a flick of the big'un before the release! haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_steve Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 KELVIN wat a champ u nailed it yet again and big congrats to your wife and son im sure they hada blast with these BIG kingies.. the noble sure as hell has picked up frm the old 1... great stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted February 14, 2007 Author Share Posted February 14, 2007 Truly awesome report kelvin! I hope when I'm a father I'm as understanding as you...I really would have liked a flick of the big'un before the release! haha Hey Danny there are PLENTY of fish in the sea but I only have 2 sons! Have a look at the smile on my little son in the photo. Priceless!!!! My number 2 son is the artistic one. My oldest is the macho one. 2 very different characters. They BOTH LOVE fishing. They have been watching all the DVD's on fishing and the catch and release "mentality is permanently imprinted on their minds. It is funny when I have the 2 boys with me they both fight eachother to release the fish. There is a fist fight sometimes!!!! I was brought up in the catch, kill and grill school but in the last decade or so I have released more fish than I have kept. Atleast I know he is still out there. Better than being busted off. I am still a bit cheesed off at being busted off TWICE today!! I need some counselling...don't you do that Danny??? Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishrunner Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Great report once again Kelvin good size harbour kings to yourself and the family congrats to all cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurespinner Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 kelvin i bow down to you!! seriously tho thats another awesome effort!! god im jealous only in my wildest dreams.... well done kelvin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gengiz Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 arnt hoodlums bigger than that they look like rats no offense ,could be the photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namesay Posted February 14, 2007 Author Share Posted February 14, 2007 I guess everyone has a different definition of a hoodlum. For me a fish over 1 meter is good enough to be considered a hood..in Sydney. In other parts of the world that would be laughed at. IN SA a king isn't a serious fish unless it is over 25kg and in NZ they have consistently the biggest kingies int he world. 40kgs+ Other people would use weight as a basis for their definition. Be it 10kg,15kg..etc. The word hoodlum has no defined boundaries - a bit like a piece of string. Yes the fish in the photos weren't 100cm. If you read the report carefully you'll know the reasons why. CHeers Kelvin By the way , I am finding that the size of the fish are growing year by year. Since the kingfish trap ban, our populations have steadily grown. About a decade ago it was futile going for kingfish as there weren't any around!!!! The large numbers of small kingfish is a great sign. Compared to last year, the fish are definitely bigger on the whole. I don't know about other raiders out there but I find there are lots of fish in the 80-95cm range but the fish above that size are more difficult to find. This probably reflects the time when the kingfish traps were banned. Like impoundment barra, it seems like we have to upgrade our tackle year by year to keep up with the growing kingies......just hope that the traps stay banned and the harbour is left for us rec fishers. May have to change my definition of "Hoodlum"in a few years! Hopfully we can return to the good ole days. Cheers Kelvin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george.s Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Top report Kelvin you done well mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Nice report Kelvin, Might have some competition from the wife in the future. She has a bigger smile than you usually have. Sounds like the sounder is already on its way to paying for itself. Well done on the Kings, it was only time before the 100cm+ was hooked and nice thats its on the new boat. Cheers Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Nice fish there again Kelvin penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Well done Kelvin, great results again...your gonna have to tell me where your new found wreck is mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSHISWET Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Great catch mate. I just cannot believe that our beautiful harbour holds fish like this. Your reports are very detailed and we fellow raiders appreciate the time and effort you put into these. Seeing is one thing but putting everything into practice is another. All this down rigging is new to me , I have never tried it. Do you really need a sounder to do this type of fishing? At what speed do you travel whilst down rigging? How does it work, what type of line do you use and can anybody do it? What part of the harbour do you find holds these big fish? Thanks Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luringbream Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Awesome stuff mate!!! Locked drag on hoodlums!!! Sounds great! DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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