Linc Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 The boat finally arrived from Vic this week so I had to take it out as soon as I had a chance. With the wind forecast to be a bit rough I wasn't sure where to go until Fellow Raider Don_ recommended trying Middle Harbour. Reunited at last! We launched and Tunks Park and cruised for a few mins before finding a nice drop off and anchored up to land one trevally (32cm) and drop another slightly bigger at the boat. Then the hoards of undersized pinky snapper came on the chew with the burley trail in full effect so we moved on into Sugarloaf bay. We couldn't find any bait fish but I think we may have been too late? (We weren't on the water till about 8am). Sugarloaf was just full of baby snapper, nothing else had a chance to get near the bait so I rigged up some 8lb leader and threw on a Zman Minnowz plastic and had a few small hits put probably just little snapper again. Next thing we knew, the water police were pulling up beside us for a safety check and told me I was missing a rego number until I told him it was still under vic rego. They then told us some very nice John Dory were being caught around the Spit bridge on livies (dammit, where are these livies?) We fished around the other side of the bridge with sabikis and caught more baby snapper and no yakkas - lots to learn in this area. Finally decided to head back to the ramp with one last stop on the way in about 18M of water we dropped the baits and again got attacked by baby snapper. So we decided to head off. I went to pull in the plastic which I'd just left dangling over the side and after one wind of the handle BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ my fireblood 4000 reel went off faster than I've ever seen it (This is no port phillip bay snapper!) Then the fear hit me, %$#& I've only got 8lb leader on and this thing was not stopping. I very hesitantly tightened the drag a little and he started to slow down, I was starting to gain on him and then BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Heart pumping I knew what this had to be my first Sydney king! 10 mins later we finally got sight of the fish and after 3 attempts to net him we got him in the boat. Woohoo!!! Now I know it's not a giant by any standards but my biggest Victorian Kingy was 33cm so this was a monster for me, and after flopping it onto the brag mat it measured in at 66cm a keeper!! I could taste that sashimi already. And landed it on 8lb line intended for a bream I was shaking all over. We went on to also catch 2 legal snapper (33 and 32cm), I think the kingy must have scared the babies away. A big thanks to Don_ for the great advice and Dredog who also suggested the area. What a beautiful part of the world so close to Australia's largest city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stickybeak Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Good story plus u caught some fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Kingies and big tailor do like eating little reddies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasksta Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Welcome to Sydney mate and its only the beginning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryO Posted September 14, 2013 Share Posted September 14, 2013 Well done and welcome to Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alluring Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Great report, and solid catch for the light tackle!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam bros Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 great read there mate and a kingy as a bonus well done and welcome to sydney cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Great stuff linc, you doubled your PB on that fish. Now the hard part, to double your new PB. You wouldn't want to be using 8lb then! Great write mate, well done. Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Stalker Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Nice lil king there, I would be chuffed catching it on 8lb. Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Thanks for the nice comments guys, I'm still stoked. Best sashimi ever too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quintrex480 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) Thanks for the nice comments guys, I'm still stoked. Best sashimi ever too! sashimi.jpg Well done on the kingy mate! awesome effort on 8lb line! and yes that sashimi looks pretty dam nice, I usually clear out the blood line (the dark red stuff). I find it tastes a bit bitter. Edited September 15, 2013 by quintrex480 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Well done on the kingy mate! awesome effort on 8lb line! and yes that sashimi looks pretty dam nice, I usually clear out the blood line (the dark red stuff). I find it a bit tastes a bit bitter. I did that to some of it but remembered having some Kingy sashimi in a sushi restaurant last week and they kept it on their, I think it adds to the appearance and didn't notice any strong taste, though if it were not eaten on the day of capture I'd imagine the dark part might get a bit fishy. They are a good fish to fillet and I was happy to see only a very thin strip of the red meat unlike Aussie salmon where you need to cut half an inch off to avoid it (though why am I comparing kingfish to Aussie salmon.. my poor deprived Victorian fishing history maybe) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adkel53 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 A great introduction to fishing in Sydney! A good way to remove the blood line is to cut along the fillet through the blood line then skin the two half fillets. By starting at the tail end on one and the head end on the other, and holding your SHARP filleting knife at an appropriate angle, you will be able to remove almost all of the red stuff and the skin in one motion. You might still need to trim a little of the red stuff off. You also remove those bones at the front of the fillet (pin bones) at the same time. What remains from each fish is four long. clean fillets ready to be sashimied or cooked. Try these methods on some of the kingies you are sure to catch in the future: 1. Mix up some olive oil and lemon juice (about 50:50) and season with salt and pepper. Cut the fillets into appropriate sized pieces, dip in the mix and bbq until just done. 2. You need: A bunch of coriander 3-4 garlic cloves Juice of 2 limes Large dollop of hot English mustard – say a heaped teaspoon full 2 tbspns extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Fillet and skin the fish, removing the red meat. Cut pieces so that they are not too thick (max 1 cm). Process coriander and garlic in a food processor and then stir in the olive oil, lime juice, mustard, salt and pepper (or simply put it all together in the food processor). Marinate the fish for 30-60 minutes in the mixture before cooking quickly on a hot bbq or in a hot pan. DO NOT OVERCOOK Note: Cooking the mustard removes its heat but leaves the flavour behind. Trust me! You could use this on any white fleshed fish or even chicken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Kel you're making my mouth water! Sounds delicious. Now how am I going to last another 2 weeks before heading out again? Thinking Pittwater for trip number 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieflash Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hey linc,very nice catch.That sashimi looks great.Tell me did you bleed the King straight away.They say the sooner the better especially for sashimi.Wait till ya get on to some decent Trevs,now thats my favourite sashimi. We should all team up and open a seafood restaraunt....call it "Catch of the day" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hey linc,very nice catch.That sashimi looks great.Tell me did you bleed the King straight away.They say the sooner the better especially for sashimi.Wait till ya get on to some decent Trevs,now thats my favourite sashimi. We should all team up and open a seafood restaraunt....call it "Catch of the day" Yep the second it came off the measuring tape I bled it out as I do with any fast swimming or oily types of fish. I do love trev sashimi to but have never caught them much over 40cm, it was nice to have a thick fillet to slice up for once Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Great report Linc. After I moved up from Melbourne I caught my first legal Kingy within eyesight of the Opera house and I was hooked! The harbour has some amazing fish and scenic locations. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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