NSW 30/06 Kings at the Spit

[SharkNett]

Met Spongy at Balmoral at 6am. Got set up, waited till there was enough light and headed off into a fantastic winter morning. Not too cold and hardly a breath of wind. Spongy managed one yakka near the island but things were pretty quiet so eventually we gave up, deployed lures and headed up toward The Spit. As we passed the first point I managed a pike around 25cm. I know how much kings and jew love them so into the bait tube and continued on.
Got up to the first point at Seaforth and got a bit worrind when I realised i had attached the bait tube at the wrong end and had the pike swimming backward. Fortunately it survived so baits were deployed. Paddled/peddled up around the corner without a touch and very little on the sounder so turned around and headed back toward the bridge. As we got back to the start of the troll run Spongy's only live bait disapeared along with the hook so a quick discussion and we decided to chuck plastics around Clontarf and try for a flattie. Never made it tho.
As we approached the bridge I saw a guy in a tinnie boat a king around 75-80 so decided on a few laps to see if the pike or an old squid head would get eaten.
Two laps in and my 30lb outfit got slammed into a serious curve. After I finally managed to wrestle the rod out of the holder and a bit of towing around I boated my first king on the yak at 76cm. Spongy got a 62cm unit on the squid head shortly after.
Spent the next hour or so trying in vain to find more livies but the only thing we could find were baby snapper in the thousands. Good for the future but not a lot of help today.
So all up not a bad day. Great company, conditions, feed and a yak first.
For those wanting more detail, the tinnie was getting lots of hits on dowrigged live squid. Not sure where he got them tho.
Also waterways were hanging around and booked the tinnie (suspect more than 4 knots when he was heading down to start another troll run) so make sure you stay out of the no fishing zone if you have bait or lures out.

[2hats]

Great report mate & well done with your first king

[kayakone]

Good one SharkNett.

So many guys catch 'rats'...you must be very pleased with the legal kingy.

Can't imagine what you would have scored if you'd had fresh squid or livies.



trevor

[bunsen]

That's a good king for a starter!
Big bait = big fish.

On average, the kings that get caught in winter seem to be bigger than the hordes of summer rats.

[keza]

Always great to hear someone bag a legal, they seem few and far between these days.
I have have heard of a few good size kings in middle harbour recently.

[Dodge]

SN well done on breaking your legal king virginity, and hope its the first of many from this point.

[Wrassemagnet]

Nice one! Just curious about how you rigged up the pike - bridle, downrigger, unweighted?

[Bertros]

Not bad for a first SharkNett. Well done indeed!
What sort of gear did you pick him up on?

[SharkNett]

Thanks for all the replies. Caught plenty of kings before but was great to get my my first on the yak.
Was taken on 30lb braid braid fished over a 12lb rod I built about 20 years ago mounted with a 4000 Daiwa Caldia Kix.
Like to keep my rigs simple so just use a 60lb trace with 6/0 big red hook that goes in the mouth of the bait and out between the nostrils. Other end is a large loop I feed thru a couple of large sinkers clip into a decent snap swivel.

[paulthetaffy]

Good work boys. I've heard a few reports now of kings beig taken throughout middle harbour so might be worth a more concerted crack at them. Might try that this weekend if I get a leave pass

[nanook]

Yes ,Sunday early for me hopefully the yakkas are around the marina!!

[paulthetaffy]

I think I'm going to give middle harbour a crack Saturday morning. Will be trying to get some livies first at Balmoral (wharf) around 6am and then launching from Clontarf at around 7 (or later if the yakkas don't show up until it's light as usual). If nothing's taking the livies I'll be mooring up at Seaforth, setting a burley trail, and freelining pillie cubes. All that is pending how many beers I consume tonight though See you in the morning if anyone's going out there too!

[spongy]

Cant do tomorrow, as having a night out tonight.
May have a crack on Sunday though
Let us know how you go.