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I said recently that trying to catch kingies on light line was only trick
fishing, and it is. But it's a good trick if you can do it and on occasions, if
I have good reason, I'll try it. One good reason that comes up annually is the
NZBGFC Nationals. It's conducted on the IGFA points score basis where the weight
of the fish multiplied by one hundred, then divided by the line breaking strain,
gives you the points scored. That means, to get the maximum points needed to win
the trophies in the kingie section, you have to go down to 4kg or 6kg breaking
strain. Beating a kingie that's three or four times line weight (which is what
you have to do), is bloody hard work and you're quite likely to be on a fish for
over two hours. Therefore, the first thing you need is top notch gear.
Rods These basically come in three actions; from 'fast', where most of the bend is in the top half, to 'slow' or 'soft', which bend at least two thirds of the way down and sometimes right to the butt. The third, 'medium' action, covers those in between. Each has its good points and what you choose depends mainly on your own preference and to some extent, the fishing method you use. If you are stray-lining baits, a softer rod probably suits best, the softer action giving better protection for mistakes on the 'idiot end'. For lure fishing, a faster action is preferable. Whatever your choice, make sure it's fitted with top quality low-friction guides; light line can't take much abrasion so rings need to be good. If it isn't fitted with a gimble notch butt, buy one and glue it on. That, and the accompanying gimbal belt, are investments your puku will love you for. Some manufacturers are pretty ambitious with the claims they write on rods. I have one that says it will handle 4-10kg line. It's a good 8 or l0kg rod but far to heavy for 4. Something rated 4-6kg is what you want. Rods of this weight should be between six and seven feet in length, with the slower actions probably needing more length than the fast. Reels The most important thing needed in a reel is a smooth drag - one which will stay constant over a long fight. Other than that, it can be anything you like as long as it holds an appropriate amount of the line class being used and will handle the stress you're going to give it. I note that Mark Feldman, who has probably done more light line fishing than most in this country, prefers fixed spool reels as he considers they cause less line abrasion on one and two kilo tackle. I don't use line that light much, but for anything over that poundage I like a leverdrag freespool reel, as I feel it allows me better control of the drag setting. If you use a stardrag type reel, a good trick is to paint one spoke of the star. Then, when you set the drag, carefully note where the painted spoke sits. You can then return it to that position and obtain a very similar drag pressure. Make sure the spool is full of line to within about 3mm of the lip. Light line doesn't take up much room so you may have to use backing. If you do, put the line on the reel first, then top up with backing to the correct level. Next, put the backing onto a spare spool and do the smae with the mainline on another. Place the backing back on, then the line. Make sure they go on tight. Wet a piece of cotton cloth with fresh water and grip the line as firmly as you can when loading ¿ the spool. Make sure you do not tie the line to the backing, as IGFA rules state that the heaviest part of the line, other than the leader, determines the line class. Once you have put the backing on, put a piece of tape over the end then tie the line round the whole lot. Sure, the line-on, line-off again thing is a hassle, but an electric drill can make it less of a chore. Remember, correct preparation (as well as some other things I will get to later) is the key to success. Drag Pressure One of the first things I learned when trying to catch kingies on thin line, was that the quarter of the line weight drag I use on heavier gear wasn't enough. That realisation came to me at the start of the æsecond hour on a 23kg fish on 8kg line. I now set my drags at half line weight on the strike button, then back the lever off to a third and mark where that is on the reel. That way I can go up to half or back to a third - whichever I think is appropriate at the time.
Line This is the only thing that connects you to that fish of a lifetime, so it's got to be good. I can't tell you which breed is the best other than to say that it must always be an IGFA rated line. The theory of an IGFA rating is that the line is designed to break at, or slightly below, the stated weight, meaning the line should not over-test for record purposes. An IGFA rating isn't a money-back guarantee but a record fish will usually give you a fight that will weaken any line somewhat, so over-testing shouldn't be a problem. Light line is cheap so don't try to get too much use out of it. After you fight a good fish, strip off the stressed line and chuck it away - but not into the sea. After fighting the next, reverse the line and start again. If you start with a 500m spool you can afford to dump 100m from each end and still have enough for what you need. 300m of 4 or 6kg line in the water will come close to breaking under its own weight, so you don't want that much out. You may want to top up the backing when you reverse the mainline, but you can usually get away with leaving it as is. I prefer to dump the top 100m every day, even if I haven't had a good fish on. It's no fun seeing a big fish disappearing into the depths because the line popped just before the leader came into reach.
Leaders I always use a double on light line. With a bit of practice it's quite easy to tie a Bimini Twist in 4kg. I prefer to keep the double length less than a metre, but long enough to be able to re-tie the knot to the leader a couple of times. I use staggered leaders on light line, starting with about a metre of 10kg which I tie with a Blood knot to the double. This and the Bimini Twist are the critical knots in the system and must be tied perfectly. If they don't look right, they aren't right, so you should practise them till they're perfect. The 10kg is then doubled and tied with another Blood knot to 37 kg, which is the main leader. By doubling the lighter line you end up with both sides of the knot roughly the same size. It must be remembered that the length of the leader (that's the 10 and 37kg combined), should not exceed 4.5m (including any hook or lure), and the leader and double combined must not exceed 6.1 metres. I prefer to leave them 15cm short in case something stretches, but other than that 15cm I keep them as long as allowed as we need all the advantages we can get. Make up your leaders and make plenty, because you will lose some, then store them individually in zip-top-type plastic bags and write on them what they are. I use 37kg trace joined to 15kg for 8 kg main line. When you tie the joining blood knot, each tag-end must come out the opposite side of the knot. If they both come out the same side it's weak, do it again.
Terminal Tackle So now we're ready to fit our chosen hardware. If you're using a fixed spool reel you may want to start with a good quality, ballbearing swivel to minimise line twist. If you have a free spool reel you shouldn't need a swivel as the line is going in the rubbish hole after the first day, or be lost to a good fish, so it won't last long enough to take on much twist. Keep the high quality tackle going right to the end; there's no place for blunt rusty hooks in this game. We use circle hooks for fishing baits, as most of the fish won't be the one we want, so that means releasing them - and we don't want them gut hooked for that. For lures, use single, chemically-sharpened hooks. I prefer a hook with a small barb which hopefully can easily be shed by any fish I break off. Just make sure whatever you use is strong enough for the job.
Know your adversary As with any sport, the more you can learn about your opponent the greater will be your advantage. Before we can catch any fish, the first thing we have to know is where to find them. I can't tell you where to find kingies in your area, other than to say that they will most likely be in the vicinity of rocks or reefs. This adds to the difficulty of landing a large specimen because there's only one place a kingie in trouble wants to be, and that's on the bottom. When you think about it, that's obviously the safest place. A big kingie has few predators other than people like me and makos. As makos are a pelagic fish, their eyes are designed for looking sideways, forwards and up. This means it is more difficult for them to see something on the bottom. The dark colour on a kingie's back acts as camouflage.
Know your fishing area If you're fishing over reefs get to know them well; what their boundaries are, where the pinnacles are and where the worst snags are situated. If you have a GPS plotter, this is easy. If not, use land marks so you know throughout any fight where you are in relation to the reef.
In the mind Some people attribute all sorts of human traits to kingies like 'cunning' and 'dirty fighters'. This supposes an ability to think which I don't believe they have. In my opinion they come with a built-in set of instincts, although I am inclined to think these instincts can be modified to some extent by habitat and experience. Yes, I know that's learning which is supposed to take some kind of thought - but maybe not. Be that as it may, their instincts are generally directed at continued survival. This can be broadly divided into avoiding danger, finding food and completing reproduction. We can forget the sex and concentrate on the other two. I don't intend to go into what to feed them, or how to present baits or lures. What we must do, however, is to overcome the natural caution kingfish possess to get them to take a bait, and this is most easily achieved when they are in a school situation. A lone kingie has plenty of time to assess a situation and can take its time to eat, as nothing is going to snatch the food from in front of its nose. That changes when a school is present; the rule then becomes 'first in best fed' but with a school you have the problem of how to separate the big ones from the small - which probably got big by having a well-developed sense of caution. Darwin, survival of the fittest and all that. I have found that the biggest fish are generally closer to the bottom, although this isn't always the case. Getting your bait or lure down deep is a start in the selection process.
The body If you live near an aquarium, go have a look at the fish. Don't just drool over them, observe how they move, what they do to move up or down, turn around. If you haven't got that luxury, look at fish wherever you can; even on the deck after you've caught one. Notice how they bend and relate that to the way they must move. You will see a fish easily bends to the side but not up or down. During normal forward swimming, when it wants to turn right or left, it will turn its head to point in the required direction then straighten its tail onto the new course. To move up or down, the pectoral and ventral fins act like plane's wing flaps to give a nose up or down attitude. This means a fish in normal swimming can turn quicker on a horizontal plane than on a vertical. Then there is the panic crash dive - which we're about to induce by sticking a hook in the lip. This is achieved by turning on the side, pointing the head down and going for it. Ever seen it happen? ... a flash of silver then gone.
The hard work This begins once you've hooked the fish. It doesn't know about line or hooks and has no fear of boats as it used to hide under such things when little. All the kingfish knows is that something has got it by the face and its looking for the safest place; and there's nothing you can do about it. Kingies can break heavy line, so stopping even a small one on 4 or 6kg line is not an option. Your fish will stop eventually, when it wants to. You have good gear and a solid leader to absorb any abrasion, so if the drag is set correctly and you've kept that twitchy thumb out of the way, you should still be connected when it comes to a halt.
Clear workspace When you know you've hooked the fish you want, the rest of the crew should first clear the cockpit of all the rods, tackle boxes or anything else likely to get in the way. Next, get out the gaffs, tag pole, gloves and whatever else you may need and put them in prearranged places so everyone knows where things are. One of the down-sides of light line fishing is that you can only fight one fish at a time so the rest of the crew have to sit around watching through a sometimes long, slow fight. But it will be their turn next. Basic rules of playing a fish, any fish, any time, any place, now apply. Once you have set a hook in a fish never jerk or tug on the line, smoothness is imperative, particularly with light gear. There are three things you can do by jerking the line: one is pull the hook; two is break something; and three is stir the fish up. None of these is desirable. The next rule is, never allow slack line. Attempt to keep the same bend in the rod all through the fight. Slack line can allow the hook to drop out or the fish to get its head down and go back to the bottom. You have more than likely hooked this fish over a rocky reef, possibly with some weed on it it's shallow enough. In order to keep your line out of the rocks, the safest place to be is directly above the fish. Staying there requires good communication between the angler and the boat driver - the main line only has to touch a rock and it's all over.
Your kingie After its initial run, the kingfish is now near the bottom with your puny 2kg of pressure trying to lift against its considerable power. You are, however, having some effect. As it's unlikely to be able to swim forwards fast enough to use its planing pectoral fins to keep it down, it must get in a position to counteract the pull of the line and stay on the bottom. As I see it, there are two ways they can do this: by lying on the side and keeping the head bent down; or by adopting a head-down, tail-up attitude. I must admit to having never seen just how they stay down, but however it's done, the fact that you are forcing the fish to do something it doesn't want to do, means you are in some sort of control. When the fish has stopped, get the drag up to half and keep the pressure on. When it runs again, drop back to a third drag and relax till it stops. Maintain this pattern right through. When the rod tip starts to straighten, get some line back, when the fish makes a determined run, let it go. Techniques I've tried most everything I can think of, or have read about, and always come back to staying directly over the fish. As you have the ability to move the boat around, there is also an element of being able to lead the fish, but this is not as easily achieved with a bottom-hugging kingie as it would be with a marlin or yellowfin for instance, which is more likely to stay in mid-water. I have tried drifting away from the fish in an attempt to plane it up, only to touch the angled line on a rock and have to start again. Trying to lead them away from an obstacle with minimal pressure has been even less successful, as without as much pressure as I can exert, they do what they like and are quickly gone.
The boat Your vessel must maintain a position over the fish. There's only one way to achieve this, and that's to turn the stern into the wind and slip the motor in and out of reverse to hold your position. A safety warning - particularly for boats with transom cut-outs; be very careful not to take a wave over the stern. Sinking always spoils the day's fishing. At this stage, communication between the angler and driver becomes even more important. Try to keep the line where the driver can see it so he has an appreciation of where the fish is and what it's doing. It's simple to move the boat back by giving it more revs, forward by taking it out of gear, and to port or starboard with the helm. Some inboard boats may find they have problems, but if you are driving one of these you should know its capabilities and make allowances. Where the boat goes now is of little consequence (unless, of course, you're close to breaking seas or protruding rocks), and following the fish via the line is all that matters. Some big fish we have tangled with have taken us over three miles from the hook-up point. What I then try to do is lead the fish. This is achieved by moving the boat till the line angle is between 20 and 30 degrees to the vertical, then moving back to perpendicular. This continually changes the angle of pull, keeping the fish off balance, so it starts to follow me. By moving it around, I can isolate it from the safety aspect of the school and hopefully get it away from the worst of the rocks.
The Pressure The drag pressure will eventually start to bring the fish up, but after losing contact with the bottom, it will make further runs to get back down. As it tires, these runs will get shorter and you will start to get a bit of line back. It can be difficult to know if you are gaining or not; a small piece of paper or even a hair, if you still have some, slipped under the line will indicate how much you've gained. Once your kingie is on its way up, it will be on its side trying to get its head down, and the weight you are putting on will be forcing it to swim in circles. As the length of line between you and the fish shortens, it is unable to stretch as much, and you will notice the slow tail beat (indicating a big fish) transmitting up through the line to the rod. This is a critical part of the battle as the state of the sea now comes into play to a much greater extent. The kingie is holding at a fairly steady depth while the boat is rising and failing on the surface. With a long length of line out, the stretch of the line absorbs the movement of the boat on swells and chop, but with that stretch gone, you must physically compensate for these movements by raising and lowering the rod in time with the boat movement. This is where a soft rod is an advantage, because it will have more give than a fast action, but it still comes down to your skill in working the rod; no easy task as your concentration level is likely to be down after a long fight. I know at this point I have to keep telling myself to concentrate. I find it best to try to move the boat a little away from the fish as it circles up near the surface, as at some point it will be going under the boat and all it needs is a touch of the line on the hull and it's all over.
Finale As you are set up with a wind-on leader, there may be no need for anyone to grab the leader, just keep working till the fish is within gaffing or tagging range. If you do grab the trace, the basics still apply: steady pressure and no sharp tugs. That hook has been in for a long time and has likely worn a hole; gently is the only way and don't do anything to stir the fish up. I give you my assurance that you don't want to experience the sick feeling you get from losing a prize-winning fish by a mistake at the trace. Gaffing is simple and straight forward; take your time and get it right, first shot.
Our way Well that's how we do it. You may prefer using different knots or have found a better way, but this works for us. Look after kingies: release all but the one or two you need. They are truly a game fish in every sense of the word and a worthy adversary. To steal a slogan from the US Billfish Foundation 'They are too valuable a fish to catch only once'. Bert Lee runs Tolaga Bay East Cape Charters just south of East Cape. From spring to late autumn the off-shore reefs in that area hold large schools of kingies. In February Bert takes a week of to fish the Nationals, for the last three years he and his team have concentrated on kingies as the most consistently available game fish in the area. Last year Bert's Osprey team won the Wales trophy for the kingie section, with Bert winning the 4kg and 6kg line classes, as well as being senior champion. Other members of the team also did well. Peter Stevenson won the 10kg line class and Dion Miiner the 15kg. Bert's son, Robert, was the junior champion. Osprey has been one of the top three boats in the country for number of kingies tagged for the last three years. Bert can be contacted on 06 862 6715.
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