Auckland Yakkers

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote BananaBoat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2021 at 8:21pm
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that would do me mister.... enjoy
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote shaneg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2021 at 11:02pm
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Those plates look great Dan, mouth watering.

Kingifiddla, the rod got it on is a blue water ugly stick rated pe 6-8 overhead jig stick. 
The reel is a penn fathom 25n stardrag with 80ld Diawa 4 carrier multi coloured braid.
Short under meter 120 lb trace between swivel and hook, 3 ounce snapper head sinker free running above swivel on a meter or so of 120 lb leader tied directly to braid with an FG knot. Hook was large size 9/0 or 10/0 gamakatsu octopus style.
Reel drag set reasonably firm with clicker on , just enough to stop big kahawai pulling too much if  any line while swimming. Once got hit , increased drag a bit but took it reasonably easy on fish, till we lead it out away from rocks. Then upped the drag once away from rocks.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 2:23pm
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Thanks Shane.
How long was the kahawai?
Deployed in current, over structure, or just in close to the rocks?

I like the softly, softly approach you took until closing all the exits. So, I guess not over immediate structure, just around rocks and some water to play with?

Had one perfect and three small livebaits today. The perfect sized one didn't get touched. The small ones accounted for two large kahawai, the second of which was over 55cm long, which would have been a doosey of a hail-Mary livebait so I decided against that option. The last of the small ones was perfect for snapper so I tried a place I was going to leave until Winter for my 20Lb goal, and it produced the goods with a >1m snapper and while I didn't have scales with me I'm confident this big unit was over 20lbs, so a new kayak PB for me :-)


So, I guess it was another day of no keepers - ha


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hard Yakker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 2:45pm
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Bloody hell KF what an awesome fish!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 3:04pm
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Cheers HY. I'm retiring from targeting big snapper and have to find another yak fishing goal for Winter now. That said, this was the only snapper I've caught that has put up a reasonable fight. Great fun on a kayak. But not as much fun as  most kingis (which didn't want to play today).
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Cheers. Yeah, marked my paddle and measured that at 1m when got home but that was with its tail bent up against my 1-pac, so a bit longer if flat. Didn't feel like 30lbs. That other one I got recently that was gut hooked I guestimated at 16lbs and it scaled 16.5. If I were to guess I'd say this one was 22-24lbs.

At the first flicker of sighting its shape I thought 'small shark' as my brain has never experienced a snapper that long before and it seemed inconceivable but once I saw colour I was "holy ****", backed the drag off and wondered how the F am I supposed to get that in the yak, and prayed it wasn't gut hooked, which it wasn't, thankfully.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Muppet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 5:57pm
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Mar 2021 at 6:42pm
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Having cracked that 20lb nut I'm done with them. It's not worth further risking any more gut hooked or non-viable snapper. It's a bit upsetting killing something that could be 40 years old or even older.

Nature is always going to throw up anomalies and outliers, so we just need to accept it is what it is and marvel at the variation. Short and heavy or long and light, is just natural variation.

I've been reading up a bit and they don't get much over 1m and could be 60 years old! I guess this one just did the length growth spurt first and hopefully in the next 10 years will put on some weight.

So, it's kings, tuna and marlin with only one of those realistic at the mo, and snapper as a by-catch. The scary thing is the amount of training I'd need to get done this Winter to have any shot at the tuna and marlin next Summer. Bit of a moonshot but worth a crack.


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Kingifiddla 
The king took a kahawai that would been six or seven pound in my old way of measuring. Was just off rocky point under workup in about 15-17 meters, likely on edge of foul but also alongside (50m away)from a very big reef that runs out. Bit of current and 2 hours before low tide.
Congrats on Snapper,  a meter long snapper is huge even for long fish, well done.
As to your goals re tuna and marlin, yellowfin tuna caught between Hen and Mokes last weekend. There marlin off Ocean beach now, probably less of a paddle. You’d score skippies off mangawhai now I’d say. Great to hear someone keen to push fishing boundaries in yak.

If we are off Oceans for marlin sometime in boat , we could maybe provide supporting role to your yak. Very realistic chance of taking marlin off kayak off there.
Other good place to try for gamefish in close is Matauri Bay.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hard Yakker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar 2021 at 5:13pm
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I caught a 58 cm Kahawai on my first cast this morning, breaking in my new  Adu Garcia 1-3kg rod in style. The rod has lots of whip but not much stick, so the mad Kahawai took off. I was trying out a new soft bait , Zman DarterZ Smoky Shad, they look a bit like anchovies I think, and they are very durable, I used the same one all day.
 It was a terrific day for paddling, there was no wind and the water was dead flat for hours. I paddled from Campbells to Torbay and back catching a little fish in each bay, but they were all under size, even the Trev off Browns Bay reef. I kept a bit of the Kahawai for sashimi and the rest will be smoked.

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Nice day to be out there Dave HY. 
Wife spotted you coming down Beach Rd with your yak in dark past our place about 6.30am.  She had got up to make me my morning cup of tea.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Hard Yakker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar 2021 at 7:00pm
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I saw the light on in your place Shane, but didn’t know it was the charming Mrs G making you tea.
Day break is a great time to be flicking soft baits...drinking tea is not bad either.
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Thanks for that intel' Muppet. Doesn't look too far out on the charts but if the wind gets up on the paddle back in after a 3 hr fight with a tuna, when the arms are already jelly, it could get interesting.

I've read Kerry Flowers' trip report about and seen the vid of, his marlin  some time ago and if someone like him says the paddle back was the hardest he's ever done, boy oh boy have I got some training to do. Longest day so far is a few clicks under 30kms and I could barely speak let alone move and was a couch lizard the next day. Scary thing is how unco' I get when tired and the risks of making bad decisions when tired increase immensely.

As much as I love Kermit, a Stealth kayak is in the plans and I think it or something along those lines is essential for my plans. Hopefully will get one long before next Summer. I got real close to saving the $ a few weeks ago but the fishing fund sprung a leak.

Shane, thanks very much for that info. That's not a small livie but it's not a small kingi either ;-) The only time bigger livies I've tried have been struck, it's been sharks or one mystery, top-water missile that tail slapped my loaded braid 3m from the hook, after peeling over 100m on the first run and showing no signs of tiring or slowing while pulling me at the fastest pace my kayak has ever been dragged, leaving me shellshocked, shaking, and hanging out to feel that sort of fight again.

Also a big, big thank you for your offer of any help or support if we are in the same water at the same times. It means a heap to me as I'm an absolute greenhorn when into the tuna and marlin categories.

There is so much to learn and I'm only just starting to realise how ignorant I am and if you or anyone else reading this has any info or can offer any assistance or willing to put up with what will start as a trickle and likely become a torrent of questions, it would be so bloody awesome for me.

So much to learn and somehow figure out how to adapt to a relatively tiny fishing platform with 3" of freeboard powered by whatever I had for dinner the night before or manage to get in me during the day. Essentially I'm just trying to somehow find and then attach my float to a big fish, survive the first 10 mins, and then make it through the next however many hours and still have my wits about me when **** gets real and it's getting close to being leadered.

I don't think I could do it without a support boat. Especially if the fight drags into many hours and into the night. Also, one thing that worries me is if I actually do manage the pipe dream of leadering a marlin, it's almost a 100% certainty it's going to be knackered - there's not much chance of bringing a marlin yak-side green. I'm going to need a boat to attempt to revive it or get really creative if trying to do that solo and stay upright.

So many what-if scenarios to think about and prepare for. what if I can't find a livie, can't get through the sharks, get spooled, get towed too far from land, an unforecast weather change happens during a fight, a big fish dives and stays there, sharks turn up when the fish is getting near the yak, fish drowns and can't be released, etc, etc.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar 2021 at 7:22pm
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That's a nice KY, HY. They sure put up a good fight for their size. Do you guys bleed them? Some say yeah, others say nah. It sure can be sporting on light gear. I got a harling rod a wee while ago and showed a dude around these waters while lending him my livebaiting rod, so rigged the harling rod for livebaiting and caught this on it.



Broke the anti-reverse on the tiny reel I had on it during the fight but it was an awesome time. Had to go gentle and remarkably to me at the time, the fish responded in kind, but oh so hard to lift it with the little whippy rod.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote shaneg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Mar 2021 at 8:53pm
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Kingifidlla I am most happy catching gurnard from kayak in winter,  but love watching some of the videos of guys getting gamefish in yaks overseas , Hawaii yellow fin, South America marlin and big rooster fish. 
With our marlin you would want a support boat to do it sanely.  Even if choose to paddle out out under your own steam, you will likely need assistance or be grateful for ride back with yak if tired, or arms completely cramped after playing fish.  I can recall couple of instances in my boat after playing marlin solo I have had severe forearm cramps. Marlin will likely need taking and require a boat to store fish,  as will be worn out and not in condition to release. Saw a released marlin that didn’t make it last year, was in a great whites mouth... it seemed happy (appeared to be smiling) having secured a big feed that I suspect it would have unlikely caught otherwise for man’s intervention. So likely helpful to have boat to oversee fish being secured. Larger gaffs etc, if required.

Other than that very doable for younger fitter angler than myself with positive attitude and right techniques. 
Clearly you would be livebaiting, there maybe quite a few sharks between marlin bites. Some will be large makos, hammers, if really unlucky a big thresher might take bait.. These will all be a very hard to fight in a yak. You’d likely wish to end fight quickly by breaking off (difficult from yak) with medium to heavy tackle, or cut them off which isn’t the environmentally best option. With big sharks a likely catch, it would also be handy to have boat nearby to assist releasing.

Just some initial thoughts.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Telecaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2021 at 8:12am
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Anyone else taking Thursday off work? I might head north if the forecast holds, looking like ~10 knots of NW.
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