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1.34 Meter Kayak Jewfish-Catch of a Lifetime!


kingfish101

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mrsswordfisherman
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"Fish of a lifetime!!!!"

kingfish101 was awarded the badge 'Superstar' and 50 points.

Most fishermen want to catch a 'monster', the fish of a lifetime, but since I retired 6 years ago it has become something of an obsession with me. First it was kingfish and then once I'd cracked the meter plus fish I graduated to jewfish.

Weather permitting I usually get in 2 full days of fishing a week, summer and winter, one day in the boat and one day in the kayak. With very few exceptions my best jewfish have been from the kayak.

Got to Berowra Waters boat ramp at 6.30 with the morning fog already beginning to clear. I couldn't catch any big tailor and the poddy mullet were playing hard to get and just swam around my home made bait trap without going in. Finally resorted to fishing with a quill float and a fine wire hook in Joe Craft's Bay and it was after 11 O'clock before I had 4 mullet between 20 and 25 cm in my bait tank. Already well behind programme and a 2 hour slog to get to the Hawkesbury past Bar Point. Not much time for fishing.

Slow drifted the likely spots with a heavy sinker and the live mullet close to the bottom on a double hook rig. The ebb was running hard from a big tide. By 2.30 I was considering calling it a day when just 5 meters off a jumble of rocks running down and into the water and in a depth of less than 5 meters I got the hit. The fish dragged the kayak 50 meters or so wide into open water and then changed its mind and headed back to the shallows. It wasn't until the very end that it would come off the bottom. I knew it was going to be big but I got a shock when I saw just how big it was. The gaff went in first shot and then another battle to lift it into the hatch. Not just the weight but also a tight fit. To complicate matters the trailing hook went into my knee past the barb and I had to cut the line and leave the hook protruding until I got myself organised and could cut off the eye and slide the shank through the skin.

Took some pictures and gutted and bled the fish at the Twin Beaches where the resident goanna made a real nuisance of himself trying to take a bite from my catch. The kayak well down by the stern for the long paddle back to the ramp with the sky darkening and the thunder and lightning beginning. Arrived at 6 O'clock just minutes before the storm arrived and the heavens opened.

What a memorable day!

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