Guest Big-Banana Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 (edited) Hey all, After last weekends events and a few unforgettable bustoffs by big Kings, I made plans to return this weekend and try and square the ledger. I felt that if I didn't turn it around this weekend, I'd be all out of ideas how to stop the buggers and go back to Bream. Had a workmate who was keen for a fish seeing as his missus is overseas for a few months and he's obviously trying to sneak in as much time on water as possible. Made plans to meet at Tunks Park at 4:15am, he asked me if I wanted him to bring anything, I said nothing, except your 24kg game fishing outfit. There was no way I'd let a repeat of last weekend happen. Prepped the boat on Saturday night, made plenty of rigs, tied my double and after a few goes, had it looking like it should and set my drags to as much as my line would allow. Took all my squid gear and all my 50 and 80lb braid outfits. Boat was full you could say it resembled a tackle shop more than anything. A few hours of sleep and up at 3:00am, quick brekky, hook the boat up and I'm away. Had a good run down the M7, M2 and I arrived at Tunks Park at the same time as my mate. Love it when deckies aren't late. Launched at planned time of 4:15am, straight to the Spit where we snagged one nice squid quickly. Picked up anchor and headed off to Balmoral. Put in a big effort to get livies and got around 6 Yakkas, a bit small for my liking, for Kings anyways, but they'd be good backup if we couldn't get anymore squid. Just as I was packing up, my mate chucked out a 2.5 Yozuri, asked me a question saying if the jig has to be on the bottom, I replied by you just found out, a good squid around 1kg came over the side. Saw Rekless out there, I'll say g'day next time. You guys looked a bit too busy to talk Off to Squid spot 1 which was getting smashed by the swell, headed to Squid spot 2 which was much more protected and got a ripper small cuttle. Live cuttlefish are the best kingy bait you can get IMO, and it'd show in a little while. Gave in the squid as we wanted to fish the tide change at around 7:30am. Shot off to our King spots and likely looking haunts, got the downriggers ready and started our troll. It didn't take long for the live squid to go off, unfortunately my snell pulled through... I was pretty pissed off as I'd practiced and practiced and tested it only to have it fail when it really mattered. Felt like a solid king too... Reset the gear, the live cuttle went out and we waited... And we didn't have to wait long either... The TLD50 screamed as I pushed the drag past strike immediately. He still pulled drag like I had the reel in free spool, thumbed the spool as he looked like he'd bust me off. Put plenty of pressure on this fish and had it's head finally turned as it tried to make itself back into the rockbar again. We cleared the gear and motored into cleaner water. Get the gaff! No gaff! Just my luck We had it to the boat around 4 or 5 times but couldn't get it into a good enough position to net the thing. I don't know how many times it rubbed us against the bottom of the hull, against the bottom, against the downrigger cables. Somehow the line held and we finally nailed him. High fives all around and finally a solid king in the boat. Nothing but stoked Put a lot of hours to finally hook and hand a hood. It was a top effort to get him seeing where and how we hooked him. Straight onto the brag mat, he came in at 95cm. But boy was he solid, fattest king I've ever seen. We guessed around 8 or 9kgs. What a fish to start the day, all around 5 minutes after we commenced. It was going to be some day. Continued our troll over the next 3 or 4 hours using Yakkas, strips and squid heads. Nailed two more kings and missed a few strikes. We weren't too chuffed, and instead of fishing the next tide change, we headed in nice and early to clean the fish, gear and boat. What a magic day on the water with a good mate and a few fish to boot. I wouldn't have been anywhere else in the world Off the water at around 12pm and put the boat on the trailer without a hitch. Back at home, we chucked him on the lie detector, pulled down to 9.5kgs cleaned and gutted. Can't wait for next time. Now for one over 100cm in the harbour... You might be able to catch bigger kings offshore, but nothing beats hooking and catching kings in our harbour. Gotta be the only place in the world you can do something like this. Edited May 5, 2008 by Big-Banana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cflife Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 verry nice that sure is 1 fat king - good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Great report and a superb Kingy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Great session mate, and suitably rewarded. That kingy looks like it swallowed a football! Niiiiiice Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big_steve Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 well done mate, very nice fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Great report Big-Banana. Very well written. Fantastic photos too, and the fish ... excellent! That's a thumper king! 9.5kg cleaned and gutted! Unreal!!! Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 well done mate awesome catch, i need to get out there!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inhlanzi Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Well done there Big-Banana Good report too. I have been lucky enough to get a couple of those size lately and it is hard to describe how ferocious and cunning they are. Well done on landing him with all those obstacles in the way. We had a big bustoff on Sunday and my mates fishin near us also had one. Here is a tip - check the braid / line that you caught that fish on and make sure you get rid of all the bits that have come into contact with reef, boat, downrigger lines etc. It's common sense but some real good fish have been lost lately due to this. Line and knot failure seems to be the common feature with all the bust offs lately. I bet he tasted fantastic. Those fat ones have a special taste! I also can't wait for the meter plus ... they are there cheers inhlanzi PS try a big live slimey or a frigate and see what happens!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Hey all, After last weekends events and a few unforgettable bustoffs by big Kings, I made plans to return this weekend and try and square the ledger. I felt that if I didn't turn it around this weekend, I'd be all out of ideas how to stop the buggers and go back to Bream. Had a workmate who was keen for a fish seeing as his missus is overseas for a few months and he's obviously trying to sneak in as much time on water as possible. Made plans to meet at Tunks Park at 4:15am, he asked me if I wanted him to bring anything, I said nothing, except your 24kg game fishing outfit. There was no way I'd let a repeat of last weekend happen. Prepped the boat on Saturday night, made plenty of rigs, tied my double and after a few goes, had it looking like it should and set my drags to as much as my line would allow. Took all my squid gear and all my 50 and 80lb braid outfits. Boat was full you could say it resembled a tackle shop more than anything. A few hours of sleep and up at 3:00am, quick brekky, hook the boat up and I'm away. Had a good run down the M7, M2 and I arrived at Tunks Park at the same time as my mate. Love it when deckies aren't late. Launched at planned time of 4:15am, straight to the Spit where we snagged one nice squid quickly. Picked up anchor and headed off to Balmoral. Put in a big effort to get livies and got around 6 Yakkas, a bit small for my liking, for Kings anyways, but they'd be good backup if we couldn't get anymore squid. Just as I was packing up, my mate chucked out a 2.5 Yozuri, asked me a question saying if the jig has to be on the bottom, I replied by you just found out, a good squid around 1kg came over the side. Saw Rekless out there, I'll say g'day next time. You guys looked a bit too busy to talk Off to Squid spot 1 which was getting smashed by the swell, headed to Squid spot 2 which was much more protected and got a ripper small cuttle. Live cuttlefish are the best kingy bait you can get IMO, and it'd show in a little while. Gave in the squid as we wanted to fish the tide change at around 7:30am. Shot off to our King spots and likely looking haunts, got the downriggers ready and started our troll. It didn't take long for the live squid to go off, unfortunately my snell pulled through... I was pretty pissed off as I'd practiced and practiced and tested it only to have it fail when it really mattered. Felt like a solid king too... Reset the gear, the live cuttle went out and we waited... And we didn't have to wait long either... The TLD50 screamed as I pushed the drag past strike immediately. He still pulled drag like I had the reel in free spool, thumbed the spool as he looked like he'd bust me off. Put plenty of pressure on this fish and had it's head finally turned as it tried to make itself back into the rockbar again. We cleared the gear and motored into cleaner water. Get the gaff! No gaff! Just my luck We had it to the boat around 4 or 5 times but couldn't get it into a good enough position to net the thing. I don't know how many times it rubbed us against the bottom of the hull, against the bottom, against the downrigger cables. Somehow the line held and we finally nailed him. High fives all around and finally a solid king in the boat. Nothing but stoked Put a lot of hours to finally hook and hand a hood. It was a top effort to get him seeing where and how we hooked him. Straight onto the brag mat, he came in at 95cm. But boy was he solid, fattest king I've ever seen. We guessed around 8 or 9kgs. What a fish to start the day, all around 5 minutes after we commenced. It was going to be some day. Continued our troll over the next 3 or 4 hours using Yakkas, strips and squid heads. Nailed two more kings and missed a few strikes. We weren't too chuffed, and instead of fishing the next tide change, we headed in nice and early to clean the fish, gear and boat. What a magic day on the water with a good mate and a few fish to boot. I wouldn't have been anywhere else in the world Off the water at around 12pm and put the boat on the trailer without a hitch. Back at home, we chucked him on the lie detector, pulled down to 9.5kgs cleaned and gutted. Can't wait for next time. Now for one over 100cm in the harbour... You might be able to catch bigger kings offshore, but nothing beats hooking and catching kings in our harbour. Gotta be the only place in the world you can do something like this. Bloody excellent kingfish Anthony and I know your dad is jealous like I am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA911 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Ausome fish there!!!! Its going to take a something special to stop me from gettin out there on saturday. Also had bustoffs on saturday but on yakkas and garfish. Looked like a top day out. Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boban Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Great report Anthony. Excellent fish too. You are doing well lately mate. Next week again? Cheers Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big-Banana Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Thanks for the kind words guys, you can bet I'll bet out there next week nice and early trying to nail a big squid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Anthony, very well done mate, thats a very nice King.......good work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelxr6 Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 mate congrats on the fish..and 1 awsome report.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR@ZY OS@M@ Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 a couple of nice kings there mate,well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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