Kingfish and Chill
With some incredible kingfish reports coming in last week it was easy to decide on the target species for Sunday's trip. Check this out! An amazing capture for Mark Wyllie. 1.36 metres, caught on a live pike at Long Reef:
Gave me a hell of a fight struck in close and towed me into the bommie twice. Both times I had to put the rod back into the holder and tow it out (this is a tad dangerous have to make sure it doesn’t get me sideways and flip me) Fortunately for me it then decided to go north about 1 km with me attached. After 10 minutes I had him in on my lap. Was way too big for my hatch. Dispatched him quickly and paddled in with the fish on my lap. The whole time my addrenalin was going forgot about sharks with my feet over side for balance. Only 2 weeks ago had a follow from a big fin. Anyway if I can add one note it was on your Fluoro. I think it’s either 80 or 100lb
Did I mention it was caught from a kayak?
That fish was taken in just four metres of water! But there are plenty on the deeper reefs too. Here’s Greg Joyes scoring big at Texas Reef off Terrigal, on Friday. Our 100 gram jigs turning the trick:
Gday Andrew. Fished off Broken Bay with my mate David Rothwell yesterday for 8 samson fish and 9 kings, most caught on your 100g jigs. Fish love 'em! All the best, Greg Joyes
Here’s the jigs that worked for Greg and Dave:
Last but certainly not least, Steve Cumins jigged some kings and ambos in deeper water off the Central Coast, using our heavier 250 gram jigs to get down to where the fish are holding:
G’day mate been getting a few alright fish on the 250g knife jigs, And a few on livies lately
Here’s the jigs that delivered results for Steve:
So on Sunday morning I was super fired up and so were my young keen crew. I picked the lads up at The Spit and was chuffed to find they had caught some fresh squid and cuttlefish while waiting! We all wanted a kingfish the size of Mark Wyllie’s so the obvious destination was where he caught his monster – Long Reef. But we got sidetracked on the way there:
The salmon were boat shy but super hungry, for our 10 gram jigs. You’ll remember that, last week, the jigs worked great because they were the exact same size as the bait fish they were eating? Same story on Sunday:
So deadly! And so cheap:
After some fun with the boiling school of salmon it was on to Long Reef. But when we got there, I just groaned. Thanks to a strong northerly current, the water was murky green and full of sediment. Looking around the other boats you could see how dead the vibe was. On Wednesday a client told me the fish had moved a couple of kilometres east, to deeper water. But on Sunday, we didn’t know that. After a crew discussion we decided our best option was to head back to the Harbour and try for some top water kingfish. That was a good move. Tony asks:
Hi Andrew, I was picking my boat up from Terrey Hills on Sunday and saw you driving past. I took my youngest daughter out for spin in Pittwater and then trolled a skirted bullet head and a red and white Rapala from Barrenjoey to just north of Avalon, and then back (2 or 3 hours). We didn't turn a reel, which was frustrating. I did show her those seals around Barrenjoey and she also saw 5 dolphins, so that made up for it some what. I see you've been hitting the harbour with some success on the Salmon recently, did you have any luck on Sunday?
In one crazy session we found ourselves outside the floating booms at the Garden Island Naval base, where they are dredging. Only problem – the fish were busting up *inside* the booms. Answer: cast across the plastic booms, hook up a fish, and drag it back over:
Being a Sunday there were stacks of boats chasing the kingfish bust ups. And, casting like crazy at every splash. But once again, it was the 10 gram jigs they wanted. And on six pound line, they gave a hell of a fight:
We had a ball on Sunday, even though we didn’t find the big ones we wanted. Quite sure that will happen soon. Thanks to Roman, Xavier and Oscar for being such an enthusiastic crew. Looking forward to doing it all again soon! Thanks for reading,
Andrew Hestelow
Managing Director
http://www.downriggershop.com
Tel. 0402075000
Also in Tackle News
Target: Kingfish
Two Sydney offshore sessions targeting kingfish with live yellowtail and heavy knife jigs, including fish to one metre, sharks and an amberjack.
Mackerel, Kingfish and Sharks
TUESDAY! Wanted to downrig small live bonito around Long Reef for a stud kingfish. Our purple trolling lures accepted the challenge:
