Some days we have fish on almost every cast. $("#major3").html(" " + data[1].major1); Plenty of big kingfish are caught in these areas but the truth is, you are liable to catch a giant kingfish anywhere along the coast — … By Patrick Linehan | 1 February 2019. Dan grabbed his camera while I went for the gaff. April 2018 - Kyle Dunkle I was blown away mentally, physically and metaphorically! It should be ‘all hands on deck’ when a kingie is on the line. I met up with Greg in Whitianga late afternoon to begin my two days off. Please enable JavaScript to use this form. Bringing the fish to the gaff is a critical time, and teamwork and communication are crucial at this point, too. Fighting and landing fish My live-bait set is rated to 24kg (though I often use 37kg line for its extra abrasion resistance) and I also have a spinning set rated at 15-24kg, which is great for throwing poppers and stray-line baits at kings. Grabbing the gaff, I ran over as fast as I could; sure enough, Dan’s kingie was cruising left and right among the rocks in front of us, but had yet to take off on a run. $("#major1").html(" " + data[0].major1 ); We had a few piper left, but no berley net or cage, so I handed Dan my casting setup while cutting up some piper to chuck around. The ones we target along the rocks vary in size and catch amounts day to day, some good days we get over 50 fish and normally take home a few keepers. $(function(){ Historical hot (and sure to be crowded) spots include the Blind Pass Drop, Redington, Indian Rocks, Sand Key and Mandalay hard bottoms. $.ajax({ Catching a Kingfish is something that every person who fishes in Sydney eventually wants to do. I was now determined to hook up too, so began casting while Greg chucked out our last bits of piper. Big yellowtail kingfish, amberjacks, samson fish, large cod, sharks, pearl perch and big snapper are common. Lures to Suit You – Whether you spin from the rocks or or troll or cast from a boat you have the freedom to find trolling lures for kingfish, kingfish jigs, spinning lures and more from our all-encompassing online fishing tackle shop. After six months studying the New Zealand coastline, my goal of catching a . $("form#caldata").submit(); Catching piper can sometimes be harder than landing the kingfish, so here are a few tips to help catch these small fish: Use a light 2-3 kg leader with a size 12-14 trout hook. How To Catch: Schooling Kingfish (up to about 15kgs) can be berleyed up to the boat and then either bait cast to them or lures. Use a float and swivel, and cut slivers of bait that cover the bend in the hook and a part of the shank. Kingfish are apex predators that get their kicks out of bullying and feeding on live baitfish such as kahawai, piper and yellowtail mackerel, picking up on the vibrations that panicking and injured fish send out. { var month=mydate.getMonth(); } }); All information © 2021 The Fishing Website, Raymarine YachtSense modular digital switching, West Coast Freshwater Fishing Opportunities. Garfish and Tommies are also caught in summer and nice sized Mullet can be caught in autumn. I’m not trying to put you off, far from it: kingies add a new dimension to land-based fishing, turning it into an exhilarating adrenaline sport. You gotta reach out to them!” While Grey is fishing the Ship Bottom surf other kingfish and snapper surf reports have came in. For jig or lure fishers, speed seems to be the key to success. I especially enjoy the explosive takes, although landing one is always a challenge when land-based. Only Dan remained unsatisfied: it just hadn’t been his day. I nailed a nice kahawai on my stick-bait second or third cast, but then I had to head off early for work, leaving the boys with my gaff and setup. year+=1900; The time of the day is important too. 25 Nov 2020. Obviously outgunned, I took a long-term view of these fights and applied steady pressure. Greg managed to get it in close a couple of times, but his lighter drag let it head back out again, before finally coming in close enough for measuring in the water: around 70cm. type: "post", dateFormat:"dd-M-yy", $("#minor1").html(" " + data[0].minor1); }); All information © 2021 The Fishing Website, Raymarine YachtSense modular digital switching, West Coast Freshwater Fishing Opportunities. minDate:new Date(2007, 1 - 1, 1), This approach was spelled out to me clearly one afternoon at Rodholders ledge, when I accidentally hooked two kingfish over 6kg on a light spinning set whilst targeting kahawai. url: 'https://www.bitetimes.fishing/cgi-bin/fishing.cgi', Only then have you unlocked the door to kingfish success. I settled on a nice 4WD adventure for Dan and Greg down a nearby bush track, followed by a walk down to a quiet beach with some decent rocks to fish off. What a journey – but the pain was definitely worth it! The gaffman should be ready with gaff in hand, and all eyes should be on the fish, alert for things that could go wrong. When targeting kingies, one thing you discover quickly is that once a fish is hooked there is greater potential for things to go wrong compared to other species – and things can go wrong FAST! I wandered off to lick my wounds, pondering all the ‘what ifs’ and wishing I could turn back the clock just one minute. }); Live baits for Kingfish are best and include live squid, yakkas, pike, sweep, garfish and no kingfish can resist a live slimie mackerel! A very early start can pay dividends before they become a tad gun-shy. You may have fished a local rock ledge for years, but chances are that if all you have done is cast out dead baits to fish on the bottom, you may never have even seen one. } The conditions couldn’t have been better. Success – the author with 20 kg of landbased kingfish. As one of my longtime fishing comrades from university days, Greg had seen photos of me with kingfish, and hoped I could do the same for him over his short stay here. It sounds like a rustic fish market, but it's not. $("#major1").html(" " + data[0].major1 ); This will allow the balloon to be blown away from the rocks while stopping the bait from swimming back down. I recently lost a big kingfish while wharf fishing. Here is his story. Your leader strength, hook size, etc. In many areas, livebaiting is the best method to consistently catch our distinguished inshore gamefish. There are a few high points on this reef where the bigger fish are almost impossible to stop. var montharray=new Array("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"); So, with Greg about to move on for Northland for the remainder of his stay, the pressure was on for the final morning. In my defence I’m pretty sure that fish was big, but the point was that I was completely unprepared for what happened that morning. { I also like the technique’s simplicity: it’s quick and easy to do, so even if you only have a couple hours in the morning or evening, you can still enjoy success. Read more. Casting stick-baits for kingfish from the rocks is one of my favourite ways to fish. var date=(daym+"-"+montharray[month]+"-"+year); Weight transfers into my back and thighs, but line keeps flying off my reel at a constant rate, perhaps even faster. The reason is that little fish hang around structures under water. The latter aspect was particularly important in this instance: I work full-time as a chef most evenings, so only have limited opportunities. The new Stabicraft 2250 Ultracab WT is the ultimate tourer The new Stabicraft 2250 Ultracab WT is the ultimate tourer. This fish is heading down, and I know I must stop it before it finds the rocks, so immediately send the drag to ‘sunset’ (maximum drag of 10kg). ).datepicker("getDate"); $("#major2").html(" "+ data[0].major2); This, however, made Greg more determined than ever to see some action around his lure. Yellowfin bream, trevally, drummer, luderick, tarwhine, salmon, snapper and squid are predominately what I class as bread and butter fish. Off the rocks, I use a Shakespeare Ugly Stik Gold, 8-12kg, a 3.6m rod mounted with a 6500 Pflueger Salt threadline spooled with 10 and 15kg Fireline. Grant Dix... more >, The remoteness of the Mainland's West Coast has ensured its rivers and lakes have remained both productive and pristine, offering plenty of ... more >, Mainland angler Dylan Booth shares some of his best memories from fishing his local water – the Taieri River.... more >, Sam Mossman reviews the FC 465 CC, and has no complaints. Our efforts started slowly with a nearby spot failing to fire before it got dark. If your fishing background is surfcasting (as mine is), rock fishing for kings will represent a big step up for you physically, and there is far less room for error. // The type of request. $('#loadingmessage').show(); // show the loading message. Perhaps it is because the smaller fish are less inclined to attack them. Kingfish can be caught inshore or offshore. When kingies first came into my consciousness via glossy magazine covers and TV shows, I used to think “Yeah, yeah, but how can I really hope to catch one of those off the rocks?” However, the reality is that kingies are still relatively abundant, and if you put in the effort, you can give yourself every chance of catching one – they really are there! var daym=mydate.getDate(); $('#tbodyid').html(''); // Clear #tbodyid div I also like the technique’s simplicity: it’s quick and easy to do, so even if you only have a couple hours in the morning or evening, you can still enjoy success. We had a bit of fish to take back though. Kingfish belong to a large and worldwide family of fishes that include trevallies, jacks and jack mackerels. Daiwa SLX50/Sl50SH) and one spooled with 24kg (e.g. Or lure fishers, speed seems to be blown away from the rocks for near enough 20. Meat fish tournaments in the South East United States own view, but I feel ready and be! 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