SgtBundy Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 My Dad upgraded his hobie outback a while back and recently I got some roofracks so I could take loan of his older yak. I did a short session at Narrabeen to get used to it and hit McCarrs creek and scotland island last week without a touch. This morning I was going to try Clontarf and have a crack around the harbour. Launched around 6am and potted around looking for others who were going to be there off a FB group, but didnt find them. Still a nice pre dawn start. Tried around with plastics after seeing some mullet jumping but no hits. Moved around the north of Chinamans beach and hooked on to a reasonable flathead, my first proper kayak catch. Didnt measure, even if it was legal it didnt seem big enough to warrant killing for a feed. As I moved around the front of Chinamans I saw a squid chase my plastic so I switched to a jig and pulled him straight away. Tried for more but couldnt find any and I lacked a live tank anyway. I moved out to the middle and sent out the squid live on my 8kg rod and kept prospecting with plastics, pulling another small flattie. Around this time the boat, paddle board and kayak traffic was picking up so I thought I might bypass Balmoral and take a line over towards the navy base, trailing the squid. I had heard the base held kings so I thought heading that way might find some, also because I wanted to see how much effort there was in crossing that open water. With nothing showing up on that side I crossed back to castle rock beach and threw some plastics there, still keeping the squid in tow. When I checked it thr head was gone but the hood was intact. I set that out again towards the channel and set about with plastics again. I noticed some taps on the squid bait, but it seemed to subtle to be a take. Then some more taps. Next the rod woke up in a serious way and I scrambled to grab it while putting away the plastics rod. At first I thought it might have been a decent flathead because of the initial run and not much fight. As it came into view I thought that was confirmed for a second then it took off. Damn that sound is awesome. 8-10kg rod, 20lb line and a fin nor lethal 40 with moderate drag and it was singing. This was not a flathead and it did not want to be near the kayak. It took off 2 or 3 times everytime I got it back. I got it near the yak and got the net in the water but it took off again. Finally I managed to coordinate rod and net and was letting off a few cheers... After one accidental release I had it back again to measure. After 3 attempts as best I could with a brag mat in a kayak with a non compliant kingfish I called it for just on 65cm. My first legal kingie. I took the hook out and went to dispatch him but he disagreed and slipped back over the side. Damn - oh well, it was a great fight and a cool feeling to finally get stuck into one. I tried again for more squid back at chinamans but had no luck. Crossed back to Clontarf but when a dinghy motored over my line and cut it I called it a day. It was time to head back for other duties anyway. A brilliant day on the water and good to be able to be mobile while fishing to try different things. More lessons learnt too about how to handle things in the yak. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 (edited) Well done!What a great report and first outing in the harbour in the yak!Looks like it all came together for you!CheersJm Edited February 14, 2016 by fragmeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horseman Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Sounds like a great morning. If you are looking for some company on the yak I have a Hobie PA12 and would be happy to have a crack at the kingies. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen_f Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Hey mate saw your post on both groups! Good job on the king!! To prevent slipping try use lip grips which are tethered to your yak, that way itll never slip back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 Well done! What a great report and first outing in the harbour in the yak! Looks like it all came together for you! Cheers Jm Thanks Frag. It was a total surprise for that rod to take off - I had been towing that squid around for about 3 hours at that point and it was near 11:00. I would have thought I had more of a chance earlier but there you go. Still doing little happy dances for that fight. Sounds like a great morning. If you are looking for some company on the yak I have a Hobie PA12 and would be happy to have a crack at the kingies. Cheers! Yeah, I think next time I will leave the flatties alone and try for squid first to throw at kings, thats too much fun to ignore. I need to sort out a live tank though. Today I just sort of kept the squid in the landing net until I was ready to use it. I thought about putting it in the keeper bag but I didn't think it would hold it. I wouldn't mind seeing a PA-12 in action too. The outback is a good, but I think the flatter deck of the PAs would suit my bulk more. The 2015 outback my Dad has is definitely an improvement on the 2010 in that regard and for storage. Happy to meet up but I am a little adhoc in my planning though - never quite sure when I get time to head out, normally Sunday mornings are reliable depending on family commitments. Hey mate saw your post on both groups! Good job on the king!! To prevent slipping try use lip grips which are tethered to your yak, that way itll never slip back Thanks. I had a keeper net and in hindsight I should have secured it in that first before I tried to kill it. I thought about lip grips too - I already have a way of making my own leashes so a tethered one would be easy enough. Part of the learning process - its been a while since I had a decent fish so I am always in a bit of a fluster for handling them when I do land one, more so in a yak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W4z Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Sounds like a great morning mate! Lots of action. Must be nice getting out on the kayak with being able to move around so much easier than landbased Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharknett Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Sounds like a decent session. Just remember with kings they can shrink a couple of centimeters when dead so if you take one just on legal, you could end up with a fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 It was probably good he got away, it may have been an optimistic measure but not one I could have been sure of until I was off the kayak. I plan to find a fix for that anyway. Still - a lot of fun on the fight Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Hey Sarge, great read. Well done, I'm glad you cracked it. I love it when the drag starts singing. I'm sure you'll refine your technique and there will be more to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 Yeah - as soon as that line was peeling off I was grinning like an idiot - so much fun. Now working out how to rig a DIY live bait tank to take out next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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