krause Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Hi all, Took the kayak out to port kembla last friday for my first serious go at the kings since injuring my hand. Note from this point on, this report is a tutorial in how not to catch kingies. Got on the water at sun up, out to the end of the wall for livies. Lost my bait jig straight away so resorted to a squid i had. Strips out and instant hit. It spat the hook but was a salmon for sure. Then the wind picked up from the west (more than forecast) and i was pushed out to sea. Paddled around and had no luck, the westerly was inescapable so i decided to retire back to the ramp, but as i rounded the break wall the 10lb set up starts screaming. Im like "yer kingie". Anyway this thing is stripping line like any good king and going straight east. Im now powered by wind and fish with land becoming a distant memory. I throw out my new sea anchor to reduce the drift (thank f#$@ing #@$@ for its existence). But now i realise that the fish has taken my 2nd line with it. Balls.... so i endeavor to man both rods and begin the untangle whilst the fish is headed to NZ. The second line, somehow, was half hitched around the 10 lb. I managed to get the half hitch down the rod, over the reel but got it stuck on the rod leash. It was out of the road so i left it there. According to the gopro recording it was 20 minutes before i got my first look at my fish as it surfaced 50m out from the yak. Big and lightly colored, and i thought maybe giant jew by the look of its mouth (i know, i know wishful thinking). Back off it went.... Meanwhile im scooting along at 2km/h to the east and go straight over the biggest bait school ive seen on the sounder in a while. And with in it, biiiig arches, like the sort of fish you're out there for. And then, then i remember the 2nd line is still out, and that the 30lb braid with a big squid head on it is tied to the road leash, which is tied to the yak and the 10lb rod im holding. Odear.... so i endeavor to cut the leash to release the 30lb just in case. *cut* i look down to see the leash half cut and the 30lb gone. Enter swear words here. At least some behemoth fish wouldn't sink me. At the 30 minute mark i had the fish down to the leader, and lapping the kayak. I ID it, s#!$.... hammerhead shark about 2.5m long. Yer that wishful ID was about as far from accurate as you could get. I spent 5 minutes trying to cut the leader below the swivel, but when it started to dive i locked the gear and let it take the 8 meters of leader. Goodbye. At this point in buggered and depressed. I look at the breakwall, now 1.5km away, and as i think "this sucks" the wind kicks up to about 15kn. I quickly pull the reels and sounder apart and protect then in the hull and begin the long paddle home. 1.5km into the wind and chop, 1km across it. Needless to say i was wet and bloody drained when i got to the ramp. All in all, why did a big, useless (cool but useless) fish such as a hammer head take a squid strip being trolled in the top of the water collumn on the lighter set up of the two! Why! Sigh, always next time. In hindsight it went in a straight line for to long to be a king, but it had speed unlike any shark ive hooked before. It makes for a good story though haha. Thank goodness for the sea anchor i bought the day before. Cheers for the read, hopefully ive got a more kingfish relayed tale next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDory Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Krause was a great read til the hammer LOL that sucks JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfish angler Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Nice report some top stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginko Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Nice one! at least you remembered to pull in the sea anchor before heading back in. I wonder if hammerheads often feed at the surface: I had an experience with one that took squid off the surface. I'd had a yellow-tail out as bait for kingies, and notice it was getting munched on by a nice big calamari - I'd reeled in a bit to make sure it was a squid, and the yellow-tail/squid was now right at the surface. Before I could get a squid jig tied onto my other rod, a ~1.5m (?) hammerhead came up and over the squid and yellow-tail, and headed for the deep, taking my 30lb line about 2 meters before it snapped with a terrific recoil on the rod in the rod-holder. From the many times I've hooked them, I can say that they just go and go - very high stamina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Lolololololol, best report I've read in ages. Pulling in sharks off a kayak is mental. Hows the back? down there today , a few guys sporting some 80 odd cm kings in thier esky's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungfai76 Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 It's the hammerhead curse!! I can now safely go back into the water as you have taken the baton from me ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike89 Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Really cracking read, great report! I had no idea hammerheads were such a strong species! Must have been pretty mad having a shark almost the size of your kayak towing you out to sea. Great stuff on getting the fish in, too bad about the kings but there is always next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Great read Krause. U certainly wouldn't have any trouble falling asleep after that mate. Cheers, BN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day's Fishin Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Hi Krause, great read. I have only just started with kayak fishing and hooking a hammerhead and then getting towed out to sea is one thing I am not looking forward too! As for hammerheads feeding in the top coloum of water, we have constantly had hammerheads feeding on burly trails behind our boat. On 1 occasion fishing from a mates 17ft easy rider of Ben Buckler a hammer head came up the burly trail and swam past the side of the boat and as it did it had 1 eye out of the water and looked all along the boat as it went past, ( this beast was longer than the boat) it then turned around and came back for a second look before disappearing into the deep. I will not be using a burly trail of the yak as that would be a nightmare! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 Cheers guys, and yes Lungfai ive relieved you of the curse. You're welcome i guess? Haha It was petty cool but obviously it's not uncommon to find them top-water. Ive heard reports from blokes down south of nice kings around the wall, alongside the standard rats. Hopefully next weekend is decent and i can give it another shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Great read. Without the drogue, how far out do you think the shark would have dragged you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Excellent and very interesting report. Thanks for sharing your experience. 2.5m Hammerhead on 10lb line looks rather challenging. How tight was the reel drag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 No idea how far i would have gone but at the point a pass the islands im cutting the line and choosing life haha. I had it pretty much as tight as i can run it without causing things to fail. In the kayak you get dragged along which almost acts as a second drag system (the force goes somewhere other than straight on the line) so it's hard to tell at times. Im running a 4000 stradic if that helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungfai76 Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 10kg or so drag on the stradic, 100kg or so Yak and load so drag of about 30kg plus the drogue so I'm guessing 50kg plus drag? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 ...what? Lmao sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 26 minutes ago, Lungfai76 said: 10kg or so drag on the stradic, 100kg or so Yak and load so drag of about 30kg plus the drogue so I'm guessing 50kg plus drag? Lungfai76, the line was only 10 lb which is <5kg (may be a bit higher if braid). Krause, thanks, I understand that reel drag setting is not so important here due to Yak dragging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 All good. 50kg of drag vs kingfish in the yak is basically water skiing haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungfai76 Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 (edited) 3 hours ago, savit said: Lungfai76, the line was only 10 lb which is <5kg (may be a bit higher if braid). Krause, thanks, I understand that reel drag setting is not so important here due to Yak dragging. Yeah I was quoting the max drag on a stradic not the line strength ? It's surprising how light you can go on a kayak......so long as you are willing to be dragged about ? Those guys who fish marlin/swordfish on yaks on 30lb line and 20kg drag getting towed 2km out, battling for 2-3 hours are bloody crazy......it's on my bucket list ? P.S please don't take my post as facts, I'm merely throwing numbers out there for fun....well except for the max drag on a stradic, everything else was hypothetical. It would be hard to have exact numbers as we need to calculate current, wind, hull, load, position of rod, condition of kayaker (did he eat), gravitation pull etc etc hehe Edited November 29, 2016 by Lungfai76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 5 minutes ago, Lungfai76 said: Yeah I was quoting the max drag on a stradic not the line strength ? It's surprising how light you can go on a kayak......so long as you are willing to be dragged about ? Those guys who fish marlin/swordfish on yaks on 30lb line and 20kg drag getting towed 2km out, battling for 2-3 hours are bloody crazy......it's on my bucket list I would like to experience one day the same . Though may be I will get a larger sea anchor first , or may be two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krause Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 The drag-ability (for lack of a better word) of a kayak doesn't really increase your drag or power, but it instead reduces the net power of the fish (in most situations) it's an advantage until the bastards head for structure.... >:( But yes i will forever keep my sea anchor with me from now on, just incase that list marlin takes the squid off the top water next time ahahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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