Yowie Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) Fished near Deer Park early this morning. A couple of hits from small tailor, but no hook-up, then went a bit quiet. Pulled up a couple of small yakkas, so kept them alive. The yakkas disappeared, then my bait line took off. Knew it was another king, as the bastards having been busting off my yakka line lately, but not this one. After a long fight, and a tangle with another line, it was in the net. 61cm on a 6 pound handline, size 10 longshank hook and a tiny piece of bait. The line is wound onto a small cork reel, and the cork was bouncing around in the boat as the kingie took off. A few reddies were about. all just under size, so I hooked up one of the yakkas and sent it out. I was packing up as it was the bottom of the tide, pulled out the other lines and was looking at the livey thinking about pulling it up, when it took off. The kingie took a lot of line on the first run, headed towards the rocky shore line, then turned and headed the other way. During the fight, it felt like the hooks let go as the line went momentarily slack then it was on again. The photo shows where the hooks ended up, and once in the boat, the hooks were only just holding on. These hooks have pulled out of a couple of fish over the last few weeks, so won't be using them again. From memory they are a circle pattern. A quick photo and I sent it back. I don't normally target kingies, but there have been a few about. This is my best kingie by a little bit, so happy with the result. 15 pound mono on an Okuma reel and a 7 foot 'cheapie' rod that cost me $15- on special at Rays Outdoors. The reel cost 10 times the price of the rod. Pumped a few nippers and waded the flats for 1 flattie of 38cm, a flounder of 28 and a whiting of 28. Kept those for a feed. Edited February 10, 2015 by yowie
Krispy ! Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 That 80cm one is solid for the hacking, ive been getting hammered by the 55-60cm ones . Just a question did you have the livey on the bottom?
hookerbruce Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 kings go hard. Both are good captures the smaller one on a small hook and light handline and the bigger one on 15lb line. A good size for the Hacking. It's always nice to take home a meal. bruce
Yowie Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 That 80cm one is solid for the hacking, ive been getting hammered by the 55-60cm ones . Just a question did you have the livey on the bottom? No sinker, so the liveys swim wherever they go. This one had been swimming mid depth for a while, then headed towards the bottom when it was hit.
Yowie Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 kings go hard. Both are good captures the smaller one on a small hook and light handline and the bigger one on 15lb line. A good size for the Hacking. It's always nice to take home a meal. bruce The 2 kingies livened up the morning. Though one was bigger and heavier than the other, both were entertaining. Usually do not land many on the yellowtail line, most bust off after a short time.
fragmeister Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 61 cm king on a handline.... thats a great effort!
Yowie Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 61 cm king on a handline.... thats a great effort! Have caught many kings on handlines, but this is the biggest on a bait line with a little hook. Did not want to apply too much pressure in case the line broke. Don't think that many of the younger fishos use handlines these days, especially with the increased use of braid. Nothing like a kingie or jewie taking line at speed while your fingers are smoking (a few times over the years have had to dip the fingers in the water to cool them after a big run - actual burn marks on the dry fingers from the friction with the line )
fragmeister Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) Well I certainly remember hand lining in my younger days but I don't recall catching a fish of that size on a yellowtail rig... although I do remember losing "something" on plenty of occasions when catching yakkas off the wharf at the Lilli Pilli baths. .. no prize for guessing what they were! Cheers Jim Edited February 12, 2015 by fragmeister
GoingFishing Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Great catch yowie ! And u still went home with a feed . I find the smaller the yakka the more likely the catch do u agree ?
Yowie Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 Great catch yowie ! And u still went home with a feed . I find the smaller the yakka the more likely the catch do u agree ? A couple of weeks ago, the medium sized yakkas were getting taken by kingies around the 50 to 55 mark, a bit hard to hook up though. The smaller yakkas are better, but sometimes you cannot hook them because the bigger yakkas get to the bait first.
Robinsoi Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Brilliant stuff Yowie and nice report too!! Very well done as usual and thanks for sharing. Keep up the great work. All the best Ian
OldMateJon Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 Well done mate, looks like a fantastic effort for the weekend in my books! Can't wait to get back out there! :) Jon
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