No happy ending....

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    Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 8:27am
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Guess ill start from the very beginning.

Wednesday afternoon the call was made to my boss asking very politely for thursday off, he hit the nail on the head asking if the fishing was going to be good! haha. (you know you have a good boss when you can get the day off by basically asking to go fishing)

So with the day off confirmed it was off to the garage to plan the day.
The world was my oyster, flat seas, little to no wind... Where to go? what to do? Try for a kingi off the bricks, off the kayak or do some exploring. After all the umming an arring i decided to scout out an area id never fished.

The plan was to head to whananaki area to search for some land based spots where i could another time land on from the kayak, then to lay a fat burley trail an try for that ever so elusive 20lbr, so gear all loaded up the night before, strayline rod an softbait rod loaded, setting the drags in the garage i noticed the penn reels drag had gotten a touch sticky so cals grease had it smooth again.

Bullet tuna an skipjack belly flaps for bait and 8kg burley bomb that reeks! last time i used one i almost dry retched! but they seem to really do the job.

Thursday morning 5am alarm goes off, dressed, take care of morning business and im off. arrived at launch spot to an awesome morning and easy launch conditions for a kayak

Scout done an found some choice land based spots for the future it was time to find a little current and some stucture an set a mean burley, fudge! wind against tide! ohwell ill drift fish out deeper as the water was a bit clear and it was going to be bright.

Paddled out to around 18m an put the drift chute out, baits were just getting hammered by small fish an i could see bait schools everywhere on the sounder an the odd baitfish being harassed on the surface by rats so thought maybe ill try for a small king for the smoker. 

All i really had that was up to the task was a penn squall 12 newly spooled with 20lb mono on a brand new fin nor troppo rod that id had my eye on for a while... all i had was 30lb fluoro trace tied to the mainline with a back to back uni... should do the job.

What a morning!


Hooked a blue koheru, choice! hooked through the nose as i had no balloon and i was drift fishing so it would make it easier if i had to relocate and moving slowly with him out there wouldnt kill him.
I didnt bring any baloons as i was snapper fishing! murphys law. No worries ive only got the drift chute in the water so i gave him 6 or so metres of line to swim around and do what he likes.

I picked up the softbait rod as i may aswell do some softbaiting while i drift around, cut the hook off then zzzzzzzzz clicker goes off on the mackerel then stops, in a not so orderly fashion i put the other rod in the holder behind me but nothing an the livebait didnt seem overly fussed down there so picked the softbait rod up again an zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz time to strike!

Strike time! hook set an holy shet theres some weight there, it didnt do any huge runs initially just a huge weight that i couldnt lift off the bottem, pulled the drift chute in and it just towed me around, every now and then id get it up a metre off the bottem and it would just go back, thought bugger its probably a shark as a kingi this size would have smoked me by now or maybe its a stingray but surely the livie was faster than that without a balloon slowing it... oh well ill see where this leads...

Hours went by, I know this as a mate commented on the photo of the bay id shared earlier on facebook about 5min after id hooked this thing, Id travelled some distance now but luckily it was south then back north not far from where id started.

I was starting to feel it! at one point i put the rod butt under my gut and rest the rod grip on my knee and had a drink of water and a rest. I managed to snap a couple pics and answer a ph call during my break!





These pics are a little blury from phone being inside its case.
Not sure why those top two photos come out drunk?

Another hour later and the fish was getting tired, i got him up to 10m, feeling like i was finally winning he simply took it all back, this went on for 20-30minutes with still no idea what it was!
Then all of a sudden it went from under the kayak to 30-40m ahead of me then shot to the surface, i thought it was going to jump.

It didnt, it did a huge half circle run across the surface an i saw a large dark shape, F$#k its a shark! ohwell ill get it close an cut the line. I thought i must have hooked it in its dorsel fin as it should have bitten me off by not and i hadnt felt any head shakes, nor had it done any huge runs.

Im then towed to an island to the north where it was showing 8m on the sounder so i add one more click on the drag as he was going to bust me on the rocks or i was going to leave him with as little line dangling off him as i could.

This helped a little, the mono was making all sorts of scary noises! Amazing how much pressure you can put on 20lb! i was finally getting him up, saw him at 4m on the sounder so i risked being unbalanced so i could have a look and F#$k me it was shiny silver! a monster king! I eased the drag back off.

wtf was i going to do once i got it up! it was so big i could get its head to bob on the surface then just the weight of it going back down it was strip line off the reel, then it was huge death circles on the way back up, i had it beat! but then the same, get it to the surface and it would just head back down to the bottem where all the rocks and weed were! Sphincter muscle was tight to say the least...

Finally i had my shot, gaff went in through the lip... Now what? id managed to get a 15kg king on the kayak previously but i could hadly move this beast. so i timed it with the swells, i put my legs over the side and slowly got its head on then used my leg to get the tail end over the side.

Wooho! im sure the houses in the bay could hear me yelling and high fiving myself, i was ecstatic. This baby was going on my wall! I didnt care what it cost it wasnt just a trophy, it was an adventure, a memory. 

I could hadly lay my legs beside it in my kayak, they were up on the edge. Ive gaffed a few kings around 25-30kg and they had nothing on this fish. It was easy 35kg an possibly nudging 40kg (amateur guess)

But all hell broke lose, it decided it wanted to live and started thrashing around like crazy managing to get half way off the side and that sort of weight on the side of a kayak will tip you so im leaning the other way when it manages to slip back over an that combined with me leaning the other way so do i, luckily the kayak stayed upright so i was back on it in no time but the rods gone, Its hard to describe the feeling of being on top of the world to this.

I picked my stuff up out of the water, drink bottle an jar with my tackle in it an thought hopefully it snaped the line an the rod fell in when i did so i paddled around for a little an in disbelief theres the kingfish near the bottem, i could see the silver.

I quickly put the anchor over so the kayak couldnt float off an striped off the lifejacket an clothes an in i go, 8m deep.
I must have gotten within 3-4m of the rod then the king freaked out again an the rod come out of where it was wedged and all i could do was watch this magnificent fish swim off with a rod trailing behind it.

I got back on the kayak an just sat there for a good 10min gathing myself for the paddle back and the drive home, i was sulking thats for sure but to be honnest i think the thing im most guttered about is the thought that the kingfish couldnt snap the line and its now dead.

I can only hope that it has broken the line and its still out there, it really deserves to live after that.
Lesson learnt, disengage drag and tie a rope to the fish and tow it to the nearest land where it can be taken care of. Hopefully this helps someone else be prepared.

Going by the times on my ph and facebook comment it all lasted just short of 4hrs in total. Two days later an my arms are still sore.

This will forever stick in my memory and be one of those fishy tales everyone thinks your talking shet about because its just a story, no pics, no proof and no one else saw it. Ouch
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kevin.S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 9:18am
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Awesome, the stuff that dreams are made of -or maybe nightmares. You really need to get some rod leashes on your kayak to make sure you don't loose any more rods.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote CanadianJohn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 9:28am
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remember this one for post of the year. awesome.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote MacSkipper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 9:41am
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Great story shame it didn't go your way but hey it cant always be easy.  Good points you make for others in kayaks, I am just arranging a buoy so I can slip the anchor if a hook up on a big fish...
Good fishing trip nothing breaks, great trip catch fish.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Capt Asparagus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 9:55am
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That kingi would have the line bust off in a couple of minutes, the rod would go to the bottom, line around the rocks, and bingo, bust off. It was just a slightly stressful tag and release is all.
Bad luck dude.
It is only my overwhelming natural humility that mars my perfection.

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Keven.s- i kind of see leashs as a hazard, the only thing i leash is my paddle. the last thing you want is to be tangled up in the water, plus that fish probably could have towed the kayak faster than i can swim.
one of those your damned if you do, damned if you dont things. Really guttered about the rod but ohwell... i love buying new gear!

MacSkipper- im not sure if your meaning for on your boat or a kayak? but on my kayak i have my rope on one of those big handlines with the handle in the middle. i put foam around the handle for added bouyancy. i make a loop in the anchor rope and attach it to the running rig rope by cable tie. that way if its a good fish i can just unclip the running rig or if im in a real hurry i can yank the running rig and snap the cable tie.
if your talking about your boat you could do the same sort of thing just experiment with bigger cable ties an how much it takes to break them.

Canadian john- cheers mate, it hurt writing this down haha
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Raging Bull Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 10:28am
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Bugger!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Grunta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 10:54am
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Great story and not quite the ending you'd planned but thanks for sharing the adventure. 

I hooked a horse of a snapper in my yak a few years ago along the Blackjack just along from Kuaotunu on a calm winter morning. The bloody thing reefed me in about 5m of crystal clear water after a torrid 15 minute battle in around rocks and weed.

I was right on top of it and thought it was mine but it had one last dash around some rocks and then I watched as it gave a few flicks of it's massive tail and shook it's head busting the leader and swam away as if nothing much had happened.

Would've been an all time PB and had to be close to the magic 30  - the one's that get away aren't usually tiddlers. 

Better luck next time and I fixed those pics for you.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote hookerpuka Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 10:58am
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Wicked write up! I wondered if you would do one haha. And yup my god those big bombs stink eh? but they seem to do the job. Imma go see if theres a tired looking trophy king fish out there on tuesday :P hopefully it's still got a rod and reel attached haha

 Also agree with the leash, I only leash unused rods, there's plenty of fish up here kings sharks and others that could tow your yak off into the sunset and there's no way you could swim to keep up. rather lose the rod than the whole rig and be left swimming. 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote cirrus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 11:03am
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Oh wow. Here i am sitting reading this account on a Saturday morning, getting closer and closer to the edge of seat ,could feel the tension,every bit as the battle raged on out there. What an experience,man against fish, fish against man. Fish got away ,and you got away. You both won
Memory of a life time and the images of that day will always remain in your mind .Thanks for sharing.
Need another coffee after reading this.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote like_to_strike Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 11:04am
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Give you $50 bux and a back rub if you find it an give it a service haha
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote hookerpuka Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 11:13am
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Originally posted by like_to_strike like_to_strike wrote:

Give you $50 bux and a back rub if you find it an give it a service haha
Will the back rub be Nude :P bwahaha
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 11:23am
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Pity about the ending alright but every fisherman needs a good 'one that got away' story and your ones epic LTS!

It takes a few days but then you will get to see thew funny side. Great report. Liked.
Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Originally posted by hookerpuka hookerpuka wrote:

Originally posted by like_to_strike like_to_strike wrote:

Give you $50 bux and a back rub if you find it an give it a service haha
Will the back rub be Nude :P bwahaha


Find the rod and we will find out.... this story may have a happy ending after all....

Wait how did this escalate so quickly?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote like_to_strike Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 11:32am
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Originally posted by smudge smudge wrote:

Pity about the ending alright but every fisherman needs a good 'one that got away' story and your ones epic LTS!

It takes a few days but then you will get to see thew funny side. Great report. Liked.


I was a bit bitter but felt better after a hot bath an a few brews, now im glad to have had the experience.

Mrs put it into perspective, for the $300 odd the rod was worth i couldnt have payed to have an experience like this.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 11:37am
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Originally posted by like_to_strike like_to_strike wrote:

Originally posted by smudge smudge wrote:

Pity about the ending alright but every fisherman needs a good 'one that got away' story and your ones epic LTS!

It takes a few days but then you will get to see thew funny side. Great report. Liked.


I was a bit bitter but felt better after a hot bath an a few brews, now im glad to have had the experience.

Mrs put it into perspective, for the $300 odd the rod was worth i couldnt have payed to have an experience like this.


Absolutely true, as has been said an adventure you will never forget.
Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote skunk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 1:32pm
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Wow a truly epic battle there Like to strike !
It will keep you(and others ) returning for.more :-)
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Catchelot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 3:09pm
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Gutted for you Brett, awesome fight and storyClapOuch
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote MB Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 4:06pm
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Great story. It's the one you lose that keeps you fishing!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote like_to_strike Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Apr 2016 at 5:26pm
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Thanks guys im more driven than ever i think.

What happened is really starting to make me wonder about light tackle.
Why didnt it simply just take me into the rocks an bust me off? why no big runs? the 80cm model i caught the next day on 80lb gear put up more of a struggle. and its not like i was fishing over sand the whole time. the depths varied from 22m to 11m the whole time, rouch bottem 80% of the time.

Do you guys think that maybe its because i couldnt really put much pressure on him to worry him and eventually he just got tired after towing my ass around for 4hrs?

And having such a light trace he wasnt wary about eating the bait also allowing a more lively bait being able to swim around?

Obviously you couldnt do this off the rocks and maybe a boat could be a bit more difficult as its not so nimble an could freak the fish having to run the motor to keep on top of the fish?

Might be something to this if people can be assed with a long fight time and i guess if you hooked something smaller you would be putting enough pressure on to freak it out and it would bust you off, maybe not such a good idea.

Maybe it was just alot of right time right place right fish and alot of luck.
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