With a pick up of the family off a flight from Aussie due in the afternoon, and a half-decent weather window on Thursday morning, I made a last-minute call to take some leave.
Before the day was out, I'd have my first kingie on a softbait!
Solo launch early saw me zooming up Waiheke Channel in a bit of southerly chop. It was lumpy stuff from the SE on the Coro side of the three guarding islands, but the FC465 doesn't mind that.
So i set about soft baiting the various points and bays around Ponui and Pakatoa.
It was slow going, but I picked up fish here and there until a cast to the side of one big underwater rock got nailed by a beauty, which went on scorching runs against drag which I'd set so I could barely pull line by hand.
Unfortunately, after a few hard straight line pulls and big head shakes the line went slack, leading to cursing from TTK fit for an army barrack.
The Lefty's Loop holding the jighead had been cut through - maybe the big moocher's teeth, or just wear and tear from bumping foul? Oh well, never know how big it was, but definitely the best I've hooked in that area. Damn.
But a little while later I picked up a nice kahawai which hit the softie about half a second after a small snapper i had been playing got off. The kahawai must have been following the hooked snap. Fun stuff.
I was just about to move spots when I got hit by something with a lot of zing, which looked like a very decent kahawai - until I could see beautiful yellow fin and tail tones in the sunlight. A 'mouse' sized kingie of 50+cm. First for me on a softbait. It had a mate with it as it got close to the boat. I told them to bring their dad next time!
All the fish were on the Z Man 5" grub in Motor Oil on 3/8oz jighead. Fast becoming a favourite in the shallows if it's sunny. They really light up in the sun. If it's overcast, the Nuked Pilchard paddle tail goes well.
With the current pretty slack, I decided to go for an explore, and I spotted some gannets out past Shag. A lot sitting, but some bombing in. No bottom sign that I could see, and no takers of my jigs and big softbaits other than a good sized kahawai on a fast retrieve near the surface. Wind v tide didn't help, in 45m.
In fact, I couldn't see any sign at various spots where I saw a change in contour and slowed down. Time to head for home with four nice snaps and a kahawai for sashimi in the bin, and it was like a millpond up the Tamaki Strait on the way home.
Beats working!!