First run-in with a rat

[adamski]

Hey Raiders,

Headed down to Double Bay again today as it's been producing modestly for me the last couple of weeks. Arrived at the top of the tide and there was already an older Italian guy there who warned me I wouldn't get anything on SPs and told me to use prawns instead. It kind of made want to prove him wrong so I set up with a wasabi wriggler on a 1/8th and plugged away.

For the first few hours he was right- he kept getting pinkie after pinkie and I got nothing except a couple of chomps from tailor, but no fish. At about 10 or 11 the rain came on and he packed up with his net and stuff and went home. I stayed on til the run out, again getting no real reward.

Then at about midday something utterly pant-wetting happened. I was lifting the rod after the drop when this thing grabbed my lure and took off like a torpedo. I had my drag set reasonably loose, not much braid on at all and the fish almost took me down to the backing in a few runs. Eventually it slowed down and I managed to get it in a bit, but no- it took off on another run. Again, after letting out god knows how much line, I managed to fight it up and got it to the surface not once, not twice but three times. I couldn't bloody believe it- seeing the blue silver and the yellow tail- it must have been coming up for legal- how the hell had my knot not broken...

Problem was- I was on the end of the wharf and it was coming up for low tide- I had no way of getting the thing in. In my stupidity, I decided to tighten the drag and pray to all things holy that my line would hold as I lifted it up... Not a chance- Mr Kingie did not want to play ball and went on another run and with the newly-tightened drag the line broke at the knot. I was absolutely DEVASTATED. If only I hadn't decided to tighten the drag. If only the old guy with his net had hung around! If only I'd not been a cheap bast*rd and bought a net myself, If only I'd tied the lines with the FG or the GT I've been practising all week and not opted for the uni to uni because it was quicker, If only I'd had my camera ready so I might at least have some photo evidence that a complete amateur like me had hooked a bloody kingfish! If only... :(

Anyways, it took me about 15 minutes to tie on another jighead and plastic, my right arm was shaking that much. I realised as well that my braid scissors fell off during the fight and ended up in the drink. I did manage a pinkie and an undrsized tailor after that, but they just felt hollow after that experience.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I just had to get that out my system- still shaking now!

[NaClH2OK9]

Great write up Adamski. Well done on the experience.

Thats the trouble with fishing. So many what ifs.

I'm sure you'll relive the fight again and again.

Next time you'll play it a little different and land it.

[Novicefisherman]

Lessons learnt the hard way. I feel your pain. If only you had a net. I've had my fair share of fish lost just before lifting. Heart breaking. Nothing worst then gear failure or a knot breaking after spending countless hours out there only to hooked that fish and the knot breaks.I recommend the gt knot.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Novicefisherman

[Ryder]

Oh so close.

Don't beat yourself up too much.

I think you did very well, firstly to hookup and then to play it for a while.

Most of those fights on light gear are ended quickly.

The shakes will pass, and become a tremor, whenever you think about it. Haha.

Ryder

[adamski]

Thanks for the support guys, just makes me want to get back out there and have another bash! I suppose the good thing was it was on my old rod and I hadn't decided to bring the new gen black- would have probably ended snapping the tip or something.

[mitchie18092]

time to get myself down there I think... great little write up - thanks for sharing! next time you think of heading down there drop me a pm if you like - literally just around the corner - can show me how it's done!

[adamski]

time to get myself down there I think... great little write up - thanks for sharing! next time you think of heading down there drop me a pm if you like - literally just around the corner - can show me how it's done!

Definitely man! I've only been there with the plastics maybe 3 times but it seems like a great spot, especially on a calm day. There's sooooo much bait around there, no wonder it attracts bigger fish. Was thinking of trying something different and going for gar with a pencil float off the sea wall some time soon as I saw tons schooling around last time I was down.

[fragmeister]

Such a familiar story....

I can't tell you how many kings I lost last season when they latched on to a rig designed for something a little less like a freight train.

Good work to hook on on a SP and to get it to the net that you will have next time!

I think this will be a good season for kings so you will have plenty more opportunities,.

Cheers

Jim

Edited October 24, 2014 by fragmeister

[mike2153]

Would it make

You feel any better to know that if you tied a fg knot it wouldn't have made any difference you had no chance ever or

Hoisting it up, id call it a win on your behalf getting the fish that far to the wharf, even if

You had a net it would have been hard to net him.

Good work, as far as in concerned you caught your first kingie!

[Witha]

Incredible Adam! That's absolutely cracker work and you shouldn't feel too shattered mate! The fact that you hooked,.fought, and damn near landed a kingy is more important than grabbing a photo. Stunner effort bud. I'll have to join you

[thefisherman6784]

Wow devastating Adam

Always hurts to lose a king, especially a first and that close

Bad luck mate

Ben (kingfisher84) told me you ended up with a itchy twitchy

The one thing I'm going to tell you, you can put A LOT of pressure on rods than you think

I've had by gen black on a nice king locked drag around the motor literally wrapped around the motor, nothing happened, just a good kingy fight

Gonna have to try there one day

Well done mate to tempt it but man, losing it would hurt

Cheers Gianni

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[adamski]

Gents, we should definitely have a session down there- you guys would absolutely annihilate it!

[Goanna54]

Mate, I know exactly how you feel. I was alone at the end of Bayview park jetty a couple of weeks ago after lizards. After fishing one side for a while I swapped sides but left the net behind. As Murphy's law dictates I hooked a monster (she would have been at least 70cm) and got her to the edge of the wharf. There I was with my mind spinning, wishing I had Inspector Gadget arms and no-one within cooee I stupidly thought maybe, just maybe I could lift her onto the boards for a photo (4 lb braid, 6 lb fluoro leader) The inevitable happened: quick thrash and gone! The net is now always in my backpack or at my feet but I still kick myself.

Next time you'll land the beast and the regret will fade.

Good luck!!

[grandad]

Hi Adam

Great read, felt as though I was there with you. We can all be smart after the event, but it is called learning and we never stop, the smart ones amongst us learn quicker than the others, these are the ones that catch more fish, you now know where you went wrong, don’t do it again, taking short cuts leads to disaster. In consolation all of us have been there done that, all part of the learning curve. Hope your next report has pictures of the one that didn’t get away.

Grandad

[fragmeister]

Hey Adam,

Your experience prompted my to do a few tests on reel drags.

Take a look at this post , it may be of interest.

Cheers

Jim

[adamski]

Cheers for the reply, Jim. It seems like rods can be fairly deceptive- can't believe that's only 3/4s of a kilo. I've heard of people tying the end of their line to a litre or 2 litre bottle of coke to check how much drag their using, is there an easier way to tell apart from guesswork?

[fragmeister]

Cheers for the reply, Jim. It seems like rods can be fairly deceptive- can't believe that's only 3/4s of a kilo. I've heard of people tying the end of their line to a litre or 2 litre bottle of coke to check how much drag their using, is there an easier way to tell apart from guesswork?

I am always looking for ways to reduce the number of kings that bust me off. I fish mid week, usually alone so it can be hard to use the usual techniques like a mate who drives you away from structure when you hook up.

Last season I was so frustrated by bigger kings wrapping me around the structure that I started to pay a lot more attention to drag settings and trying to get a feel for how much drag I was setting.

I went to heavier braid and leaders and tried to bludgeon them into submission but I pulled more hooks and even broke a heavy duty live bait hook one day! Was not happy.

In the thick of it its hard to take the time to accurately measure the drag so my strategy is to just get a good feel for it by testing the rigs on a scale at home but the plastic milk bottle filled with water ( or more of them) would be a pretty good standard weight.

I guess the uncertainty is what fishing is all about but we all try and load the equation in our favour.

Cheers

Jim

Edited October 25, 2014 by fragmeister

[Krispy !]

Bad luck matr always important to double and triple check knots. I always do it cause I really get pissed of if I lose a fish due to gear failure. I dont mind as much if it busts me off. At least you saw the king mate better luck next time

[Krispy !]

Also champ if you do the knots right and test them before hand it puts your mind at ease when fighting the fish. Dont be scared of locking up on a king and giving it some stick.

[NaClH2OK9]

Following what fragmiester is talking about. I bought some digital scales after getting smashed by something last year. I've tested the actual breaking strain of my braid and flouro rigs so know what the limit is. All reels are obviously stored with the drag slack but when I'm getting ready to go I get the scales out and set the drag just a little below the breaking point. It gives me a lot more confidence when fighting a fish.