Bradleys Head/Clifton gardens - Kingie Chaos

[Jo5hC]

Went out with a mate and our dads. Plan was to go to Bradleys head to get some squid then live bait it at Clifton gardens. The weather was looking pretty bad but we decided to go through with the plan anyways not expecting anything. Got to the amphitheatre at 6:30AM with no one there and we had a couple casts with the squid jig with no luck. We saw a large school of mullet swim past the rock platform that we were fishing from, which was a good sign. My mate's dad also caught a leatherjacket. A couple minutes later I saw a kingie swim from the shallows and out past the head. I quickly setup the heavy gear and was casting out a Nomad Riptide 15.5 SS to try and entice the king to come back. 5 minutes later the large school of mullet came past again but this time there was about 30 Kings chasing them. The kings all seemed quite big, around 70cm+. They went from one side of the rock platform around and into the shallows of the other platform where they corralled the mullet and were eating them. As they were going past, I tried dropping my stickbait on top of them and they showed quite a lot of interest, even getting a few bites but no hookups and they eventually kept chasing the mullet. My mate also tried sticking his net in the water and trying to net them as they were swimming past but they were too quick. They made about three laps and every time they showed interest but didn't fully commit. After the laps they seemed to have completely disappeared but I kept casting the stickbait. I had 2 casts where I saw kings following it but they did not want to commit. My dad managed to catch 2 breams, just under legal. The weather was getting worse so we decided to go to Clifton Gardens so that we would at least be sheltered from the wind. Clifton was very quiet and there weren't many fish around. My mate did catch a flounder which they kept with the leatherjacket. Someone on the top of the pier also hooked onto a large trevally which came off just as they were about to net it. When we were close to leaving, one of the rods with a dead bait went off. My mate grabbed it and it was fighting really weirdly and moving slowly. It was also unmovable so we came to the conclusion that it must have been a stingray. After trying to move it, the line eventually snapped. It was pretty crazy seeing the kings so close to us at Bradleys, but they were just out of reach. (Sorry no pictures btw)

-Josh

[Pickles]

Nice report @Jo5hC, Kingies can be very frustrating to get on the bite at times - keep persevering 

[Rebel]

Top report.

Well done.

[blaxland]

Yes I have Kings chase to the boat and wink at me but its exciting to just see them. I have heard a retrieve and pause will entice a bite but I've always been too excited. Thanks for the report Im now keen to get out with match the hatch lures.

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by blaxland