14/10 - Eastern Suburbs Kings

[davester28]

After being inspired by various reports and having been given the good oil by my local Drummoyne tackle store owner (who told us of kingies to a metre being caught), my mate AG and I decided to hit the Eastern suburbs in pursuit of the mighty yellowtail kingfish. I was especially keen to test out a schmick new soft plastics reel I had purchased from Japan, having decided to take advantage of the strong Aussie dollar. I was also keen to land my first kingfish on a hard-bodied stickbait, having read about their effectiveness in various print media.

AG picked me up at The Spit at the ungodly hour of 5:40 am in his 6.5m HysuCat dive boat. We punched out the Heads into the sunrise. Lovely time of day, which I don't get to experience often, being a late riser. Saw a pod of dolphins near North Head, and a whale breach somewhere off the Eastern Suburbs. Ah, the serenity.

Found the first working school at about 6:15, just off Coogee Beach. Approached carefully and fired out the white 6 inch Slug-go. Third cast and I was onto a feisty fish which slugged it out in the deep. Luckily, the new little Morethan Branzino was more than a match for it and after about a 5 minute tug-of-war, the kingy was hauled on board. He was approximately 70 cm (AG's dodgy tape measure only went to 65 and there were a couple of inches of tail left over) and in great condition but we speared him back into the water to grow to a metre.

Unfortunately, before we could have another go, the school sounded. It popped up intermittently every few minutes for 30 seconds or so but the direction of travel was unpredictable and we couldn't get ahead of it. After a while, it sounded for good.

A change of tactics was required, so we decided to troll a little Rapala while looking for decent structure and bait. At this point, we noticed another boat about 100 m away hook up. I fired off a speculative cast, allowing the weighted Slug-go to sink to the bottom before ripping it back up as quickly as I could turn the handle. Halfway to the boat, I let the lure sink again and was hit on the drop. This fish also fought well, seeking structure at the bottom, but after a couple of minutes another just legal king was landed and released. Next cast and I was on again, using the exact same retrieve style - another rat in the 60s was released. A couple of casts later, another hook up and another rat ... this was getting monotonous! At this point, remembered my camera and managed to get a couple of snaps of AG landing yet another rat, also on a white 6 inch Slug-go. Then the bite shut down.

Motored around for another few minutes, seeking the fish without success. AG had to be home by 9:00 am, so we pulled the plug at 8:00. A session just shy of two hours with 5 fish landed. Unfortunately, did not land that elusive metre plus hoodlum and did not get the chance to try out my hard-bodied stickbait combo. Still, a short sweet session, and a lot of fun!

Tackle

• Big soft plastics combo: Shimano T-Curve Power Spin (5 - 10 kg); Daiwa Morethan Branzino 3000 spooled with Varivas Casting Braid PE 2 and Nitlon Fluoro leader 30lb; 6 inch Slug-go (Albino and Ice Shad) on 1/4 ounce 4/0 Owner worm style jighead
  
• Topwater stickbait combo: Daiwa Saltiga Dorado M-over 80S (10 kg); Twin Power 5000HG (Japanese domestic market model) spooled with YGK Jigman Braid PE 2.5, Nitlon Fluoro leader, 14 cm Daiwa Saltiga Dorado Slider with trebles replaced with Owner singles
  

Techniques

• Flat out retrieve on the surface with unweighted 6 inch Slug-gos.
  
• Cast a weighted Slug-go as far as possible and let it sink to the bottom. Then a flat out retrieve, and let it drop again approx half way back to the boat. Most hits were on the drop.
  
• Let the Slug-go drop again near the boat, then jig it back up the same way you would a metal jig.
  

AG landing his fish - we forgot the landing net!

AG and his fish - mind the eye, mate!

[ElwoodBlues]

Nice report there mate

sounds like you are fishing with some very nice gear. And thanks for sharing your techiques

[sanger]

Nice work, five kings in a session that only lasted a few hours is far better than i have ever done even if they weren't all keepers, who cares!!!!!!!

Edited October 15, 2007 by fishlexic

[Penguin]

Nice Kingy report, and nice pics, sounds like it was a fun morn

penguin

[abiasin]

great work out there on the kings mate, i love fishing sluggos especially when the kings start smashing them on the surface.

[gretsch]

Top catch Dave.. I see the Branzino works?

[Kiwi Dan]

Dave cracker report mate, you didnt feel like taking one home for a feed?

Thanks for sharing your techniques, that was great.

[davester28]

Thanks for all your comments, everyone.

ElwoodBlues - Most of my gear is purchased overseas. With the strong Aussie dollar, it's the only way I can afford the really good stuff.

Fishlexic - Yeah, nice short session. Just under 2 hours for 5 kings - I'll take that anytime!

KiwiDan - Nah, mate. I'm mainly a C&R fisho. Also I'm not a huge fan of kingies on the plate (still have a couple of fillets in the freezer from a trip in April!). Much prefer to catch them again in future ... when they're a bit bigger.

[Mondo Rock]

Excellent report - really great to read a fisho who's prepared to give lots of info about what they're using and how they're getting success with it. It's particularly interesting for me as a Coogee local to see the shoreline in the background and hear about techniques that are working in the area. Top stuff David.

As an aside though you should tell your mate that he's about one big kingie away from snapping his rod if he continues to grip it halfway along the length while trying to land a fish. A couple of badly timed runs would have seen him break it even on the fish he caught.

I know because it's happened to me!!!

Edited October 17, 2007 by Mondo

[davester28]

Excellent report - really great to read a fisho who's prepared to give lots of info about what they're using and how they're getting success with it. It's particularly interesting for me as a Coogee local to see the shoreline in the background and hear about techniques that are working in the area. Top stuff David.

As an aside though you should tell your mate that he's about one big kingie away from snapping his rod if he continues to grip it halfway along the length while trying to land a fish. A couple of badly timed runs would have seen him break it even on the fish he caught.

I know because it's happened to me!!!

Thanks for the kind words, Mondo.

Yeah, I told him to watch the rod. He wasn't too concerned, though - it was a relatively inexpensive rod and I'm not sure if it's even made of graphite.