Why The Size Difference?

[Mondo Rock]

Hi Raiders

I've been wondering for a while now why it is that the very biggest kingfish caught seem to all come off the stones rather than boats. Given their legendary fighting status, and the fact that so many boat based Raiders seem to get regularly dusted by the hoodlums on structure, how is it that the shore based anglers are able to land these friggin torpedoes in amongst the wash and shallow reefy water?

Anyone got any theories?

[frankp]

because they sit there for 12 hours with the heaviest of heaviest gear waiting for a bite

bound to come across a good-un eventually

thats my theory

CFD

definetly what chris said.

rock anglers need to have as much advantage as possible while boat anglers want to win with gear as light as possible.

maybe for pride reasons.

[Frantic]

yep if you had the same gear from a boat and put it up on the rocks(line class and general rigging)

ha you last about 10 seconds .ive fished for kingies,jewies ,spaniards off the rocks and 30lb

mono is the lightest id ever gone but that didnt last long against some of the beasts up on the

midnorthcoast. Thats why they call it landbased gamefishing.24kg lines a bit better.the spots that

i fish a mainly deepwater right at your feet and pretty much sand and gravel bottom,and plenty of whitewater in close.but you have to walk 4km to get there.

craig

[Yeeros]

Its cause when we fish LBG we plonk the baits right on top of the big ones

Not that i have caught any monsters but it'll happen with my new tackle

I got busted up bad on the central coast on 40lb braid on an eggbeater, now i have 80lb on a tyrnos and i'm out for revenge!

I'm heading south though as the ledge i fish at Avoca is super crowded on weekends and i don't need the hassle.

Next day off though i'm gonna try for a rematch with this thing

[netic]

CFD is spot on

Land based XOS kings come because of the time spent

They use heavy gear with big big baits......and sometimes wait up to 3 days for the big one to come along....

If i was fishing with a Tiagra 50W in the harbour i would look like a fool......

But mainly its the time factor and the fact that boats cant get that close into the wash for long periods of time and as we all know big kings sit in wash that comes back of cliffs, islands, bommies etc

most of Sydney biggest kings are taken from rocks...

But take nothing away from these guys as it is extremely hard to land a big king from the rocks and they only land a small minority of what is actually hooked.....Big king rock fishing takes years of ex[erience to get it right and guys like rob barrett deserve much credit for there captures.

[Guest Reely]

Champ, no one is gonna catch a 20kg King downrigging a Squid or Yakka. The boys that fish the stones put out baits that people boast about as great captures such as 2kg Bonnies or Frigates. Snapper and Bream all over the Kilo mark! I have not seen many people on boats put out these fish once they have caught them. My mate got a 22kg fish the other day of one of the Sydney Ledges. He said the day before he had a live Bonnie out and two Kings in the 15kg to 20kg range come up and one grabbed it by the head and the other by the tail and pulled it apart in front of him. He missed the hook up but came back days later and got one finally. So if you want a big King, put not a big bait out, but a MASSIVE bait out! Squid and Yakkas just dont cut it! Unless they are over the kilo mark.

K.

Edited March 6, 2007 by Reely

[Guest lets go fishn]

spot on there.

onamission

[squidgie]

Big guys cruise right along ledges looking for an easy meal. No boat is going to get that close and try and sit there with a big livey waiting for a hood.

[southerly]

Hi All,

Trying to lock up on a big king off the rocks is a garanteed skunking just like in a boat around structure, unless you can get a gaff in before they wake up (say 10-20 seconds from hook up). LBG tactics for big kings is to go very light on them and coax them to go wide over the sand then slowly wear them down and bring them back, 30-45 mins on a 10-15kg king is common and more for bigger fish.Many more big kings are lost off the rocks than landed.

I have caught a few around 10-15kg on 8kg line using this method from Kiola on the south coast, the ovens and even flat rock at harbord. Big live pike are a gun big king bait off the rocks, though I rarley caught much on them offshore.

On reading some of the bust offs from the posts I could not help thinking that the same could be tried. Got a 10kg king from the southern dobroyd danger marked many years ago on 8kg by going softly and I hooked to right against the bouy.

In my commercial days I used to bust up on 100lb handlines any king over 15kg just by locking off, they have enourmous strength when green and pull way ablove their weight.

If you want a really big king give the Harbour a miss and try live baiting (with big baits as previously suggested) the Peak or other deep water reef systems such as Reef Wide or Esmerelda etc.

See you on the water,

Southerly

[Jewhunter]

Interesting theory southerly & I have no doubt that it works.

I remember many years ago watching a fishing video about catching Kings on Moreton Bay around the shipping channel markers & their massive chains. When the guys went hard at the fish they got dusted on the chains. They then tried motoring slowly away from the chains when a fish was hooked. 8 out of 10 times they could lead the fish gently into open water & then stick it to them. The success rate was astounding compared to what it was.

Thanks for the info.

Cheers,

Grant.