fragmeister Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Took to the harbour early Friday morning. Got up a little later that intended so I headed straight for Clifton Gardens to get some yakkas for bait. There were plenty there although they were all a bit too big for my liking. I checked out wedding cakes with the sounder but there were no signs of the Kings I was looking for. I headed over to the sticks and there were a few fish on the sounder but nothing like a few weeks ago. Water temperature was close to 23 degrees. There was a breeze from the NE and it was about half way to the top of the tide. I have a Minn Kota I-Pilot so I just motor up to the position I want , which is generally 20 to 30 meters on the up current side of the marker and press the Spot Lock button. I love this feature. I like to make sure that my position is such that if I do burley ( which I don't when I am targeting kings) the trail heads straight at the marker. Its interesting how close to the structure fish are and I find if the burley trail misses the target is is much slower to have an impact. It was just on dawn. I rigged up a live yakka on 15Kg Rod spooled with 20Kg braid and a 30 Kg leader terminated in a extra strong Hoodlum live bait hook. I tossed it close to the markers and waited. ... and waited and waited. Nothing much happened so I tossed a 7 inch jerkshad at the marker ( about a hundred times in various colours and with various retrieves) with no response. I pulled the livey in and took another spin around the marker. The sounder showed a lot of fish but fairly close to the bottom, not big enough for kings and not where you would expect to see them in the water column. There were a few larger shapes amongst them so I got back to my original position, put a fresh yakka back out (thinking at he was a little too big for the hook) and dropped a piece of squid down on a bream hook. A this point I noticed the yakka was looking a bit panicky. I am sure you live baiters know what I mean, the rod tip starts moving erratically and constantly rather than the occasional relatively steady pull . Well, just at this point something crashes the surface off to my left a few seconds later bends over my 15kg rig. I have the drag set very high so the kingies cant take me by surprise and head back into the structure. At the same time this squid bait goes off and I go from 30 minutes of dead silence to a double hookup. I pick up the live bait rig and there is reasonable weight on it but its not a kingfish.... its staying too high in the water and just doesn't have the muscle. After a relatively short battle I lifted him in the boat. It was a 50cm tailor. He was caught in through the mouth and up through the eye socket but I thought he would be ok so I released him. Grabed the other rod it was undersized trevally. He went back in the drink. After having tailor smash my live baits for the next half hour I changed to a pilchard on ganged hooks, caught and released a few more and then they went off the bite. The trevs didn't get any bigger but I must have caught 20 or so of them. I was burleying by this stage and a rat king came up the burley trail so I threw the livey back out again and after about 10 minutes it went off. I didn't give him any chance to wrap me around the structure and quickly got him to the surface. He spat the yakka out at the last minute but I wasn't that fussed as this was a very undersized king. The wind and chop were increasing so I headed off and tried a few other more sheltered spots. Saw some dolphins off Georges Head. That was pretty cool. Only kept 1 tailor (because it was badly gill hooked and would have died) for a feed which I put into my smoker when I got home. Pretty much the only way to cook tailor as far as I am concerned as they are a pretty ordinary fish. When I filleted that tailor I could see the remains of the yakka in his stomach. It makes and interesting pic. Had a great day exploring the habour and catching a few fish but judging by the catch we are most definitely heading into Winter. Cheers Jim Edited May 3, 2014 by fragmeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Stalker Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Good work Jim, even small kings are fun so I'm sure you had a fun time out. As for tailor being ordinary I'd have to disagree but I like fishy tasting fish. I like to bake them with some lime, coriander, garlic, ginger and a dash of soy. I also like making tempura fish cocktails out of them. They go pretty well I think. Luc. Edited May 3, 2014 by Trout Stalker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Thanks Mate. I think the "fishy" fish is the thing. I like a fish that you can eat with at the most salt, pepper and lemon juice. Having said that I wont let a fish go to waste so next time its baked tailor with asian herbs for me! Cheers Edited May 3, 2014 by fragmeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefisherman6784 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 great post mate nice fish to would of been fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linc Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Nice report mate, good to hear you had a good day, woulda loved to have been out there too instead of stuck in the office yesterday, now the weather is shocking so I'll be repairing a few rods this afternoon instead. I'd title that pic 'the last supper':) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shak4g63 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Good report......and cool disection pic...hey and doesnt that tailor look angry..???? Tight lines!, Shakeel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 great work on the harbour there mate should off been out around 2 months ago there were kings on every marker they were really liking jerk shads the are plenty of tailor around on the markers now. the tailor are great fun on light line cheers sydneyfisher12 Yes, It has been a great season for kings. I will target them all through the winter as they can be much bigger if not far and few between. Didn't find any of those frigates you were talking about though... saw a little surface action around Garden Island while I was finding a place out of the wind later in the day but I didn't hook up to identify. Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) Nice report mate, good to hear you had a good day, woulda loved to have been out there too instead of stuck in the office yesterday, now the weather is shocking so I'll be repairing a few rods this afternoon instead. I'd title that pic 'the last supper':) LOL.... The last supper, Aint that the truth Edited May 3, 2014 by fragmeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 Good report......and cool disection pic...hey and doesnt that tailor look angry..???? Tight lines!, Shakeel I reckon, Poor bugger didn't even get the time to digest his meal! Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DezM Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Great pic and thanks for the report. I also think tailor are underrated on the table. Sure not as good as kings, dory, snapper etc but not bad after 24hrs on ice/fridge and eaten fresh. Dez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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