m3rush Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Just thought I'd send in a report from Saturday morning in Botany. I think this might be my first post actually. Hope you all like it. This was going to be a fairly quick trip, as we had promised to be back in by 10am (got to keep the wives happy), so it didn't leave us long at all... We launched at Tom Ugly’s around 5am and went to get some bait. The Yakkas were so small, that I had trouble getting them hooked on the tiny bait hooks I had. We ended up with about a dozen lollipop yakkas (around 10cm) and one squid and headed over to Mono Pt. Trent caught the squid, and wanted to save him til we found something on the sounder, so I was first on the downrigger with a yakka. We pull up at Mono in the middle of 5 other boats (all anchored) - didn't look like anyone else was downrigging. I hooked a tiny 10 cm yakka on to my new outfit that I've been dying to test on a REAL fish. It's a Certate Custom HD 3500 with 30Lb braid and 40lb trace on a cheap (but good) 7ft Relix rod, rated at 15-30lb. Sitting in about 35ft of water and the yakka behind the boat, I clamp the line on to the downrigger, drop it down to 30ft, adjust the drag a little... nice and tight.... Satisfied that everything is set to go, I turned around to sit back down I hear that beautiful noise I've been waiting for - the Certate screaming and braid screaming through the guides. Sure enough, the rod buckled over in the holder - got to love it! I'm thinking, "Holy Crap! This is gonna be a good day!!" Literally less than a minute from the time I dropped the bait down! Awesome fight. And I can tell you, the drag on those Certate Custom HD's is bloody amazing! The rod creaked a bit, which is scary with a light graphite, but those Relix rods do the trick - the end result was an 84cm Kingfish tailed on to the boat by the skipper - nice work Trent! Should have seen the faces on the other boats! You should have been downrigging guys!! After this, Trent had his squid taken almost instantly, but no hook up. All the baits were only lasting a few passes. Finally, Trent hooked up with a mighty scream of his reel. Unfortunately, The hoodlum on the end went straight into the reef an busted him off. $#*&!!!!! While he rigs up, I go back on the downrigger. Lose my yakka pretty quickly, but no hook-up. Trent is now back on the downrigger with another little yakka. Another couple of minutes later, there is the familiar sound of the screaming reel! Maybe 60 seconds of fight before he once again finds the reef. Double $#*&!!!!! Trent is now getting the sh!ts big time. I'm still not sure if they were MASSIVE hoodlums, or just the mug angler on the other end To be honest, I was getting pretty nervous about getting reefed myself after Trent had suffered this fate twice in a row! Once again, he rigs up while I go back on the downrigger. He certainly seemed to be the favourite with the fish because I was getting nothing since my first one. I lose my yakka again, then Trent is back on. Lucky for him, he got smashed a third time. This time he wasn't going to let him escape (could see it in his eyes- hahaha). He came up at a respectable 75cm. I'm Glad he finally got one - I was starting to feel greedy We took a few pics and threw him back. After Trent's landing 1 out of 3 hook-ups, I finally got on a second time, determined not to get reefed like Trent had shown me . With the drag tight, this little 70cm model didn't stand a chance. He put up a great fight though - lots of rod creaking... Thought he was bigger than he was actually. I threw him back after a few pics as the 84cm was already squeezed into the icebox. All in all, the best day we have had chasing Kings in Botany, and we were back in by 10am! Seems crazy to leave while they were still firing, but we had given our word to the wives! Besides, it felt great to quit while we were ahead. Chasing Kings in Botany is a bit hit and miss. We've been learning as we go for the last two summers and it finally seems like we're getting somewhere. When you target Kings, you're pretty much limiting your catch to Kings or nothing, so I couldn't tell you the number if times we come in empty-handed. But, it's days like this that make it all worthwhile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trentski Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 It sure was a good day out. You just better be careful about calling the skipper a "mug angler" or might be stuck at home making up frozen berley bombs next time I go out. I am sure that the first one that reefed me was the mother of your 84cm model anyway. Feel free to argue that point but I'm sure I'll win the argument purely out of the fact that I am the holder of the boat keys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3rush Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 It sure was a good day out. You just better be careful about calling the skipper a "mug angler" or might be stuck at home making up frozen berley bombs next time I go out. I am sure that the first one that reefed me was the mother of your 84cm model anyway. Feel free to argue that point but I'm sure I'll win the argument purely out of the fact that I am the holder of the boat keys Yes, of course. You are absolutely right! I'll be more considerate next time and leave some for you Seriously though, brilliant skippering on all accounts getting us on to all those fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylo Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Thx for the report mate - nice fish too !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Great first report m3rush. Good photos too. Those short action packed sessions make up for the slow days. A bit of bad luck for you Trent, but I'm sure things will even out eventually. Still, getting busted off is not as bad as getting zero! Well done boys. Look forward to the next report. Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Great effort lads.. Welcome to Fishraider! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trentski Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 A bit of bad luck for you Trent, but I'm sure things will even out eventually. Still, getting busted off is not as bad as getting zero! Yeah, I'd rather have one find the reef than me drag a yakka around all day for zip. Kind of comes with the territory with kingfishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3rush Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Yeah, I'd rather have one find the reef than me drag a yakka around all day for zip. Kind of comes with the territory with kingfishing. Don't you mean "two" find the reef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOOB Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Great effort guys. Good to see the Kings in the bay are getting bigger. Hopefully it won't be too long before we have to wrestle 10 kg plus models. GOOB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielsan Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 bloody beautiful fish mate. and on top of all that, no head damage when you got home! well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastie86 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 What a great day boys Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR@ZY OS@M@ Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 well done guys,good work on landing a 84cm king,esp for bb. you just gotta love days like that when the kings are hot on the bite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA911 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Nice work!!! with bustoffs. your very keen running the bomb only 5 foot from the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3rush Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Nice work!!! with bustoffs. your very keen running the bomb only 5 foot from the bottom. You're right, it would be a bit game, but 35ft is pretty much the shallowest part of our run. It drops pretty quickly to around 45-50ft for most of the pass, so we are pretty safe... although we have suffered a few bumps on occasion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scon Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 nice kingys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
top breamer Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 well done boys great to see botany bay producing some great fish ps i like that relix rod you got how much are they and where can i get one from ?? cheers Top breamer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3rush Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 well done boys great to see botany bay producing some great fish ps i like that relix rod you got how much are they and where can i get one from ?? cheers Top breamer Thanks Top Breamer. I'm not sure where you can pick up a Relix rod here. I picked it up earlier this year on a trip to Malaysia. Cost me a grand total of $30 AUD!! It has a great action, but it looks the business right?! I thought I couldn't go wrong for $30, and I needed a rod for a charter we were doing over there. In the end, the charter was rained out, but that's another story. Still, came home with a bunch of new gear, but that Relix rod was certainly the biggest bargain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big-Banana Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Nice work!!! with bustoffs. your very keen running the bomb only 5 foot from the bottom. Sound the area, know the area your fishing and be confident that you know where the bottom rises up. I fish 2 or 3 ft off the bottom maximum, if I'm really confident and theres no weed I'll drop it right on the sea bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage73 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 hey m3rush. Well done on the kingies. I was out on sunday morning in the bay and got roasted twice down rigging for kings. Will be back out their on saturday. WELL DONE on a top catch Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big b Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 nice work mate! ive always fished sydney harbour for kings but there seems to be better reports on botany.. do u think there is more around there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA911 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Sound the area, know the area your fishing and be confident that you know where the bottom rises up. I fish 2 or 3 ft off the bottom maximum, if I'm really confident and theres no weed I'll drop it right on the sea bed. Will give it a run but sounds $$$$$$$$$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big-Banana Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Will give it a run but sounds $$$$$$$$$$ Know the area you're fishing mate, big King or lose a bomb? I haven't lost a bomb, YET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3rush Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 --> QUOTE(big b @ May 13 2008, 02:28 PM) 238558[/snapback] nice work mate! ive always fished sydney harbour for kings but there seems to be better reports on botany.. do u think there is more around there? Hi Big B, I'd like to think there are more around as BB is my local. It's a bit hit and miss, but we only manage to get out about once a month. Still, I've managed to land 4 this year: 60cm, 80cm, 70cm and 84cm being my PB. I'd always heard you get bigger ones in Sydney Harbour. I've only been out in Middle Harbour 3 times chasing them with no luck, so I can't really comment from personal experience. It's a bit of a hike for us to get up there from down south. I certainly plan to hit Middle Harbour more next summer, but BB is at least paying dividends for us now. Know the area you're fishing mate, big King or lose a bomb? I haven't lost a bomb, YET! I agree. However, we had 4 hookups on Saturday that were all in mid-water... about 20ft off the bottom. Do you find you get more hits with the bomb as low as you can go? I suppose I do notice follows on the sounder coming right from the bottom... hmmmm... I'd be interested to hear what some of you seasoned BB King hunters think about downrigging strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) Hi there m3rush, I fished that part of Botany bay yday, we were not downrigging though, and i can tell everyone that the Kings are still there. Well done on your catch penguin Edited May 13, 2008 by penguin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishhunter76 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Those two kingies are monsters for botany. Congrates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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