NSW - Balmoral 05/10 - First King

[paulthetaffy]

Apologies for the long post but there's lots to tell!

Today was my first session with livies off the kayak in an attempt to catch my first yak kingy. I got to a very peacful Balmoral wharf just before 5 to gather some yakkas. 20 minutes later and with a dozen in the bucket I'm on the beach and setting up. Rounded middle head just on sunrise and into the swell. Seabreeze had it at 1.3m but it felt a lot bigger. Thankfully no wind though. Made my way towards the cave and dropped down the first livie. Towed it out to towards the channel marker and through a baitball, livie goes frantic, and BAM I'm on! Locked the drag up but line was still peeling off. Tried to pump it up off the bottom between runs but to no avail and eventually the hook pulled. Without a doubt my first yak king encounter!

Sent down another yakka and towed it around for maybe 10 mins and then it starts going frantic with I'm-about-to-be-eaten panick....heart stars racing waiting for the hit....BAM I'm on again! Same story as the first, drag locked, line whizzing off, but this time managed to pump it up between runs and get it off the bottom. Once it gets to mid water the runs get shorter and I start winning, and before long I'm slipping the net under my first yak king!! Look up to see I have a few spectators. Johnnie shouts his congratulations and boondock comes over to take a few pics for me (can you attach one at some point or PM them to me??). She goes 63cm and despite having to go back to grow a bit bigger, I'm elated. I can't see myself wanting to fish for anything other than kings now

I rig up another livie and that's when I notice that I'm suddenly feeling a bit ropey I try concentrating on land for a while but it's no good and end up burelying. But it does make me feel better so I carry on fishing! Next yakka gets the same treatment... panick panick, BAM but no hook up this time. Next one down results in a 50cm salmon. Nice little fight but no match for my heavy outfit. Salmon fish cakes a-go-go!!

Still feeling rubbish I decide I need to keep moving so send down another livie and off I go. Get 20 yards and it's time to burley again. Unfortunately this time I lean over the side just as I'm going down the back of a wave, tip a little too far, and the next thing I know I'm in the drink with the yak on my head Not the best time to be practicing my first deep water re-entry with full kit, but thankfully it flips back effortlessly and I'm back in on the first attempt. Pull in the rods and everything else that's leashed but watch my live bait bucket sink down to the depths

Something's telling me I've had enough fun for one day so I head back to Balmoral. Somehow the salmon has managed to unclip the dry bag it was in, slip out, and lodge itself somewhere in a deep dark corner of the hull - it takes me 5 minutes to get it out!!

Got to meet a bunch of the AKFF regulars this morning who were all nice guys and all had good advice to offer a newbie like me. Johnnie, thanks for the advice about never looking down but unfortunately it came too late today

See you all on the water next weekend for more kingy madness!!
Paul

[mehi]

Congrats on the first King, good to see you had your gear secure, you just dont
know when your going to take a swim

[boondock]

Well done again Paul... taking the time get some livies definately paying dividends at middle head at the minute! Swell was a hand full, especially in the pocket of MH where the backwash was making it quite soupy. So 1st King and 1st deep water re-entry - certainly an eventful morning mate . Here's the pic - >

PaultheTaffy Maiden Yak King

I'm still without a rudder on the stealth, so was a quick in & out for me, as conditions were not ideal without full control from the peddles - 2 nice tailor for me tea, and a couple released

Nice to see others on the water.. Johnny - 3 out 3 for Kings on the new yak? Spotted PaulB you'd be tussling with some tailor and Sbd - any joy gents?

[malhal]

Yeah mate looking down especially with polaroids on is a bad habit for me too. I very rarel get the bug but when I do feel a bit queezy it is from focusing on bait balls etc for extended periods of time.
Cheers Mal

[paulb]

Congratulations on you first kings Paul, they certainly are an addictive target. Sure was a lot more choppy today then a few days back, water also felt colder. No livies for me this morning, though I observed a very small shark harassing some garfish near the island, maybe that's why the livies were scarce... Had a slow start as the first hook-up was a tailor that made short work of my 30lb fluoro and jig head, on the other line the squid head that was destined for a kingie was stolen without me noticing.

Continued trolling plastics and a squid strip with little interest apart from a solitary salmon. Tried small strips of salted bonito on a little jig head, which got lots of small snapper, but only one that was legal, also a just legal trevally. Another sambo on a small squid strip and switched to jigging on my heavier gear, eventually downsizing to a 3" silver jig that looks like a bit like a small garfish. About 10 minutes later the jig gets hit hard by a decent sized sambo near the surface and whilst fighting him in the first few seconds, the squid strip gets taken on my 10lb outfit - nothing like a double hook-up near boats. Both landed, the larger one must have been approaching 60cm. Didn't keep any fish today as I still have left overs from earlier in the week. The only other excitement left was the wash created by an oversized whale watching boat cruising at a good rate of knots in the gap between the headland and the boats, followed shortly thereafter by a deep hulled power boat doing the same thing in the opposite direction.

It was a good turn out of yaks today and great to catch up with some familiar faces again.

[Clarkos]

Nice work Paul. Hopefully the first of many...

[kas]

Well done Paul, a morning of 1st's that I am sure you wont forget. Who knows what may have been you you managed to hold onto the last of those livies?

Didn't keep any fish today as I still have left overs from earlier in the week.

Why does that not surprise me

[johnny]

congratulations Paul on a terrific baptism..can't get better than a few fish,a spew n a roll...dipped out out unfortunately Boondock..concentrating on them livies that baffle me...uncoooperative fish and fewer today......great to see a top turn out...had a lovely bacon roll with avayak n sbd after...good to see marty75 get a sick note to leave home n join us..n justin...n paulb etc.n found a freshly killed baby brown/python/red belly black..cept he was mid brown..some markings round lips..luckily daredevil karnage managed to manhandle the savage beast...tell us your livie rig/bait/secrets taffypaul as i'm hopeless

[sbd]

Nice morning out there, loaded up pretty quickly with half a dozen tiny yakkas, after Gary surgically removed a 6 hook sabiki from me when I attempted to dance with it before launch. Dropped a salmon on a CD7 as soon as I rounded the head, then put out a livey to try my luck. Managed to get 3 livies eaten with no hookup, I'm suspecting salmon rather than kings for most of them though. Paul the salmon machine was busily engaged filling my fish bag however, donating a pair of sambos (50 & 54cm) & a silver trev. By about 0930, it was apparent that kings were few & far between, so we opted for the breakfast option. More by luck than judgement I picked up a fat salmon (56cm) on the troll on the way back in, so a fine dinner of thai fishcakes & trevally sashimi was had, with a few (dozen) extra fishcakes for a starter tonight.

Good to meet the new guys, welcome to your new king obsession paulthetaffy.

[Southerly]

Well done on your first king and an epic trip, yet another kingy tragic.
David

[keza]

well done on the kingy.
commiserations to the family, as they just lost you

[Southerly]

Just sopke to a stink boater (yes I am in the office sadly), they are sitting there this minute and pulled a metery king a few minutes ago then had to finish the call due to another hook up - NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paulthetaffy]

Couldn't sleep last night for thinking about getting out there again - hearing of 1m kings out there now is not helping! ) Don't think I'll be out there this weekend either as it's the Pirtek challenge... unless the target fish is tailor/salmon/kings of course!

Johnny, I got my yakkas fishing from the wharf and just carried them over in an aerated bucket. Before sunrise they're easy to catch from there. I use a single size 12 hook on thin mono, a tiny split shot 10" above the hook, and tiny pieces of frozen pillie. I find this setup (on a rod not handline) much easier to fish than a sabiki. Often you don't even need to burley but I usually throw in a small handful of breadcrumbs and the pillie carcass just to get them going. Once it starts to get light they're usually much more difficult to catch there, but you should be well on your way out to middle head by then

I learned a few things yesterday though:

1) never forget to take travelcalm if there's any sort of swell. I've never been sick off a boat after taking them so I was silly to think I'd be fine on the yak
2) don't lean over the side if you're already rolling down a wave
3) you can't have enough leashes - EVERYTHING must be leashed or secured
4) don't panic if you're flipped - it's easier to get back in than you think
5) kings are unexpectedly brutal and even rats will test your gear
6) I need a new reel with better drag
7) my wife is not going to understand why I was lying when I said "no hon, of course I wont be getting up at this unearthly hour every week when I go fishing"

[simond11]

Hey Paul...so sorry to hear you have been bitten by the kingie bug. Mate...there is no cure for it. Top fish and a good lesson learnt.
Hope you keep pulling those kingies in. See you on the water.
Cheers