My day had started at 4.30am with a nervy check of Swellmap to
make sure the earlier forecast of SW gusting 16kts hadn’t got worse. After a
shocking winter of windy weekends that prevented me getting out, I was relieved
that it hadn’t. I then had to take extra care to remember my towing and launching
routine. But as the Mercury 40 had me humming towards Kawau's North Channel ahead of a
brisk breeze, I was full of anticipation.
Unfortunately, the snapper hadn’t got the memo. After a
couple of hours’ effort casting softbaits along the sheltered coast near Fairchild Reef,
all I had landed was one possibly legal fish that went back. It was dawning on me that this might be one of
those frustrating days. Maybe all the weird coil-like jelly fish in the water were a bad sign?
Thankfully, things were about to get interesting. I was
winding in my bait on auto-pilot after yet another cast, and admiring the Z Man 5” 'Midnight Oil' Curly Tailz’s sinuous action in the clear water when something big, green, silver
and yellow materialised and engulfed it from the side. It took a couple of
seconds for my brain to recognise that a kingfish had taken pity on me and
nailed my softbait, and a couple more to recognise – as Mr Kingie decided to set
a course for Little Barrier and get there in a hurry – that in 12m of water
over foul, there may not be a happy ending.
My Stradic FK 4000 was rapidly being emptied of braid, so I
started up the motor and tried to close the distance. But I soon experienced
that sickening feeling of a tight, vibrating line that meant the fish had dived through some kelp.
But there was hope – I could still feel head shakes, the rod tip would buck alarmingly, and every so often the drag
would scream again. Rather than try to force the issue, I stayed patient, took the pressure off a
bit and my spirits surged when all of a sudden the fish zoomed off in earnest and we
were once again directly connected via a straight line. A big clump of waving kelp fronds floated up the line to the
surface and then came free. Maybe Tangaroa was going to smile on me today?
The wind was pushing us into deeper water and the fight
became a vertical battle of attrition, with inches of line won and lost again, and my Daiwa Slugger rod loaded
up. Anxious times. Finally, I could see a large silver shape loom out of the depths and an
exhausted kingfish made its last couple of circles beside the boat. I ducked down, grabbed my gaff – which had never been used in anger – and made my first
shot count.
What a moment. A gannet bobbing nearby looked a bit startled as I let out a victory "Yes!". I was shaking with adrenaline as I dispatched the
fish and gave it a measure – 94cm. There may be fatter and bigger kingfish, and
the hook up was something of a fluke, but to me the fish at my feet represented
a triumph: my first legal kingie on
a softbait, and a worthy foe on that gear. I remembered my ‘kingie bag’, dug it out, added some ice and
zipped up the fish to keep it in good condition.
Soon after, I added another softbait first for me – a nice john
dory which hoovered up a 7” Z Man ‘Bruised Banana’ Jerk Shad in 17m (and pulled no drag
whatsoever). The big snapper I'd come for had eluded me, but as I headed back to the beach at
noon with the sun and wind in my face, I did not care in the slightest. It had been a day that will live long in
the memory, and a great warm up for the Forum charter fishing trip with JW next Sunday (please let the weather be okay... please!!).
Garry 23041 wrote: I always blead my kingfish straight away, I wonder who else does? |
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