dodgem Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 hi all, went to new zealand with the last week. spent the first 3 days working in auckland and then went on to spending a few days in tauranga, bay of plenty. let me start by saying that the area is just beautiful. i had organised a charter from sydney to chase marlin and kings and left it upto the charter operator to decide on the day what would be best. the day had arrived and it was perfect no wind at all and a very slight swell rolling and with the talk of a big blue marlin being caught the day before i was exited to say the least. got picked up early morning and we set off. the guide decided that marlin would be a pretty good option and tried for 4 hours trolling lures without a touch.so we gave up and started collecting bait for kings. we set out two small trolling skirts and with the lures in the water for barely a minute they both went off with a couple of big kahwai (aust salmon) i was happy just to catch something and then i couldnt believe when he placed these into the bait tank, i thought he was kidding but he was serious. these were our live bait for kings, 2.5kg aussie salmon. so after we had the bait we headed to a few pinnicles out 50 odd miles to sea and started off by jigging 300g jigs to first locate if there were kings and what size. took a while to find them and they werent to keen on the jigs, but judging by the sounder we thought there was something bigger there, so down went the salmon. not even 30 sec later we were watching the rod as the salmon was getting inhaled by something big, it didnt do any big runs, it just had pressure and very slowly moving away. we gave it a good 30 sec to swollw the bait and then pushed upto strike and hit it. then there was just this ridiculous amount of weight and strength trying to rip the rod from my hands, not a blistering run but a mad tug of war,thank god for harnesses. not sure what the drag was set on but it was a penn 50w filled with heavy braid all i know is it was bloody high, im 100kg and i had trouble holding onto it. after a 10min battle up came the biggest bloody fish i have ever seen in person and to make it even better it was the fish i love the most. kingfish, and a whole 27 kg of it and 1.41m. thats mayor island in the background as you could tell i was over the moon. we sent down the other live bait only to have it snagged on the bottom and lost. so it was back to jigging and we came across a few smaller kings and also some baracouta which were also good fun. after all that action the day was over and i was glad cause i was out of steam. just thought i might add that bay of plenty is a stunning place to visit and if your thinking of going, do it, the actual underwater structure around this area is amazing, you can 40 miles out to sea and its 600ft deep the all of a sudden theres a reef that breaks the surface. go, you wont regret it at all cheers david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 dodgem, m8 what an awesome kingy, well done sounds like he nearly ripped you out of the boat, there are places that the kings get to around 100kg! Bay of Plenty great place stayed at the mount for 3weeks years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigholio Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 NZ's Nth Island is THE destination for big Kingis & Snaps that's for sure. great fish & what a way to unwind after work! Last time I fished Hauraki Gulf w/family over there we bagged out on yellow toothed old man Snapper then the Kingis moved in. We left with 3 busted rods & a seized reel, lol. Unlike you David we took stanley knives to a howitzer fight!! 27kg is a big fish even by Kiwi standards. Great effort & a lifetime of memories Jig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipernut Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Well done Dodgem That is a monster My father-in-law travels to NZ a few times a year for "buissness",and always brings back plenty of photos for me to drool over.It is looking more and more like i will have to travel over there some time in the near future. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyt Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 dave you made me jealous im going out tomorrow arvo for a session after work (your truck is lonely) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 ummmm.... a bit of an understatement I think. Nice one, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnAking Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Mate well done .. thats awesome i have to get to new zealand soon ... truly awesome catch .. congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katsuo Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Thats looks like a pretty small fish to me. Good one mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abiasin Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 that is one sick king mate, gotta be fotm winner, youve got my vote already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 (edited) well done mate, Bay of Plenty rocks. Should have chucked a hook in the big king and really held on. good on ya Edited March 6, 2008 by Kiwi Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Fantastic fishing, Dodgem!!! Isn't Tauranga gorgeous? Great holiday spot. We used to go there regularly when I lived in Auckland! Next time you are there, put the Coromandel on your list of places to visit too! The Eastern side (ocean side as against the western side being the Thames Harbour) of Whitianga & Whangamata (north of Tauranga) are good spots to wet a line, too! Also Whakatane area (south of Tauranga.) Well done Roberta Remember the Snapper video in NZ - that was using a huge salmon as live bait ....... we don't get them small enough over here to do that!!! I only ever caught 'small' kawhai over there .... only big ones over here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Duffell Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Thats the biggest king ive ever seen great work mate i caught a kingy the other week and it was just under half that size and i thought that fought hard!!! cheers, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inhlanzi Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 dodgem Wow - now that's a King! Well done and a very nice report Cheers inhlanzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_steve Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 mate wat a truely amazing result, BIG congrats to u mate, serioulsy a fish of a life time.. its HUUUUUUUUUGE !! well done again mate, cheers steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Holy Crap! All hands, east boys east......just drive till ya hit land man, DRIVE! Awesome Kingy mate, I can only dream of something like that to make you feel alive! Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmar560 Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Well done.... I haven't read the report but your pictures are worth a million words !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankp Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 (edited) Man that is a fish of a lifetime. Congratulations and im sure you wont forget that day any time soon. Edited March 6, 2008 by frankp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 unbelievable stuff and a very nice king. cant believe it took a 2.5kg salmon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElwoodBlues Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Jeez mate that is a monster of a king well done oh and the salmon look pretty nice aswell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robeebee Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 nice king in new zealand ? bit of an understatement that is a MONSTER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 That's a brilliant fish mate ... congrats! My regular fishing buddy (Dene) is over there at the moment chasing XOS Snapper on plastics. I don't think he was quite geared to tackle something like your monster Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 look at the size of them.... great effort.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wammo Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 The obvious question must be asked. Who was the charter operator???? No doubt half the site would love to have a good crack of getting over there as well. Great fish. By the way what did you do with him? Sushimi, steaks...? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Thats a beast......awesome fish mate..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 now thats what you call a kingfish!! Awesome looking fish!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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