Still no kingie

[Kooks]

For the last 2 months I've been trying to catch a kingfish landbased as I don't have a boat. I've targeted the South Eastern part of the harbour. I've spent many a 5am catching my yakkas to lob out on a float. This Saturday morning (as usual) my poor little yakkas keep getting smashed by hungry bonnies. I landed a couple and a few not setting the hook. The bigger one (approx. 50cm) I thought was a kingie as he took a lot of line off me. But alas I still haven't got my kingie.

Q. So how do I get kingie to jump on over a bonnie.

If I were to use squid would a bonnie smash it anyway?

But on the positive side i have learnt how to fight and land the fish solo (without a net). I have also learnt to had a second dropper hook to my lives as I was previously getting plenty of hit with no hook up the first couple of times. So now my hook up rate is doubled.

I'm also loving my christmas purchase of my new Berkley IM6 graphite rod with 14pound briad. I'm a recent convert to braid. So hopefully all this practice has made me prepared for when one of the 80cm kingies I've seen cruise past decides to take a swipe.

What are my chances of landing a decent king on 14 pound braid and 40pound leader?

Edited February 7, 2011 by Kooks

[dsorongan]

"The bigger one (approx. 50cm) I thought was a kingie as he took a lot of line off me. But alas I still haven't got my kingie"

A king will pull a lot more line off you than at 50cm Bonnie. (just wait - you will be pleasantly surprised )

"Q. So how do I get kingie to jump on over a bonnie. "

A. fish where there are more kings than bonnies - heh heh

Only kidding. Maybe run your livie a little deeper and/or use a bigger live bait.

"If I were to use squid would a bonnie smash it anyway?"

Maybe, but probably better chance of enticing a take from a king as opposed to a yakka

"I have also learnt to had a second dropper hook to my lives as I was previously getting plenty of hit with no hook up the first couple of times"

Shouldn't need a stinger hook if fishing for kings. Remember kings have pretty good eye sight, and a stinger hook from a stationary livie may put them off (note use a second hook with dead squid)

"What are my chances of landing a decent king on 14 pound braid and 40pound leader?"

Not real good but not impossible. You should be Ok on a just legal king, but an 80cm fish will give you a good run for your money. Depends on where you are fishing and your skills. Just remember that your 14 lb braid and although likely to have a higher breaking strain, it will have bugger all abrasion resistance, so you need to take car if fishing land based.

Just keep at it and you will get there. It's all a learning experience

[bennoz]

Can you use bonnies as fresh bait - are they any good for live bait ?

[jimmy72]

i fished the rocks for years for kings.. hooked plenty landed few big ones , if you serious about avoiding the bonnies and are float / balloon fishing

1.use a small bonnie live ( cut 1/2 to 3/4 of his tail off), or a big pike, or best ever bait would be crickstump size garfish or maybe big live squid

2 use min 50lb line - i prefer mono, but i'm old school,

3. 80lb leader about 1.5 - 2m long, we also fish a 6m double with a plait

4. use an overhead like a tld with a free spool clicker setting

5 min 15kg rod - and make sure you clip down or you might loose it

6 use gimble or not see fathers day

7 get a big gaff

and you most likely still won't stop him

thats my 2c anyway

cheers grant

Edited February 7, 2011 by jimmy72

[LungFai]

Bonitos strips are beaut baits

As for the Bonnies and Squid....my best lure for bonies is a plastic squid on a 1.5 meter trace at the end of an upside down float...so yeah they will prob smash your squid also

14lb Braid heh i've hooked a monster King of the rocks on 12lb Bonito gear and the beast thought it was funny to wrap my line around 10 other blokes, tangle it up with a double knot finish before shaking his head and swimming away smiling. But it was hell fun

Regs

Trung

[stricko4]

Hi Kooks,

Firstly you may struggle to land a big kingy on 15/40lb set up but saying that I have landed a 94cm kingy on exactly that set up.

I think you are doing everything right but this summer bonnies are in plague proportions. Not a bad thing in itself but frustrating for someone like yourself who is cracking his neck to get your first LB kingy. Know that there is a good chance of kingys being included in those schools of bonnies. So hang in there. In the mean time while your livie is swimming around try thowing some big lures, poppers or big sp's around & see if you can entice a kingy to take one.

Paul

[Kooks]

Thanks guys for all your responses.

Great tips. I'll try for some squid next time but have some yakkas on back up as they are easy to catch.

As I'm usually fishing from a pier I plan to tire the fish out to sea before trying to get him close to the pylons. Do that sound like a plan?

[jay83091]

I was using 50 lb braid + 40 lb leader and the kingfish still managed to give me a good smack on the ground (My knee was bleeding) and took my line out for a considerable amount of time. I thought my biceps were gonna burst.

Most definitely need thicker than 14lb braid mate.

[The Poacher]

Kooks,

You will get a king, BUT, you will massively increase your chances if you

a) get a slightly heavier outfit. 30lb braid makes a huge difference, especially with 50lb leader.

fish more towards the heads. Kings come into the harbour as far as the wharves (Eg Clifton Gardens is a classic) , but they love a good headland and some water movement.

THey aren't that hard to catch, you just need to put the odds in your favour. Also, a 3kg bonito will run along the surface so you will always catch them, but a 3kg king will head straight for the bottom.

Good luck, let the Raiders now when you get one

The Poacher

[idolz]

I caught a few rats on 7KG line last week........got smoked on a few too!!!

[neilm]

Thanks guys for all your responses.

Great tips. I'll try for some squid next time but have some yakkas on back up as they are easy to catch.

As I'm usually fishing from a pier I plan to tire the fish out to sea before trying to get him close to the pylons. Do that sound like a plan?

I think it's likely that the fish will take you straight into the pylons as soon as you put any pressure on him. Kings don't usually swim away from structure, that's what makes them hard to get landbased. I believe, like all the others, that you need a tackle upgrade. I'd be using a minimum 30lb main line/50 or 80lb leader for land based kings.

[boy53]

Lot for great info from replies Wasn't mean to hijack the thread.

I have some question about float and depth. I always have this problem when I fish. How deep do you put down the bait or livie and how do you measure the depth? This is what I normally use and it doesn't work for me haha.

Main line(40lb) -> Plastic stopper -> 1 meter -> Float -> Sinker -> Swivel -> 1 meter of trace line (60lb) -> Hook. If I put stopper for like 1.5m then 1 meter trace, I find it very hard to cast out. When I cast it hard, yakkas always fly out solo lol.

I always use like 2-2.5 meters in depth to put down and bait. For some reason, I wont get a single hard pull or bait gone by the time I reel in lol and all the fish (Bonnies, Salmons, Tailors) I caught were on Lures.

[bennoz]

if your finding it hard to cast out a long rig like the one you described...without loosing the bait - try this

rest the rod against something where the line isnt impeeded.

open the bail / freespool

grab the float in one hand - yakka in the other

lob the lot out as far as you can

lol

[Kooks]

So my story continues.

I had a stressful day at work so I thought I could kill 2 birds with one stone by relaxing and getting some practice in trying to land some squid. So when the time comes I can at least catch one or 2 for my Kingie.

Go to my spot at about 10pm. I tried for about an hour but only got one hit from a squid which i dropped. I did however catch 5 octopus.

Do octopus live in the same areas as squid?