Auckland Yakkers

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Titanium
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I don't think I've taken the kayak out for about 6 weeks,  the only thing keeping me semi-sane is the squidding has been pretty consistent off the rocks.

And a LOT of bourbon.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jun 2021 at 10:55am
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Good onya T. You fellas still able to produce a feed in these trying times deserve every calorie you can pull from the ocean...and a soothing beverage to wash it down.

Am wondering something about the drainage on the Stealth kayaks. I gather the footwells have scupper/venturi arrangements. But the seat doesn't. How much water/urine are Stealth owners sitting in?

Is the bottom of the footwells under the waterline? If so, are your feet sitting in water when stationary and the venturi isn't sucking it out and it back-fills?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Bullet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jun 2021 at 3:55pm
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Had a chuckle about the wet seat. Been there 😂
Haven’t been for a fish for ages too.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jun 2021 at 5:24pm
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the longer the day the more staying hydrated is going to be important. Trouble is, where does it all go? I don't mind sitting in my own piss for a few hours if that's what it takes to own an efficient craft like the Stealths but 6-8 hrs might get a little whiffy.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jun 2021 at 7:59pm
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Ha. Ya see, M, that's what's wrong with the world today. People can't be arsed with conflict and the clash of ideas and designs and as such we miss valuable opportunities for 'moderating' crap ideas and learning what's good for which scenarios.

People don't seem to value that opportunity as highly as I'd like these days and we end up with a vanilla society and fundamentalists with ideas and beliefs that were never adequately moderated by society early enough in their gestation. And we are breeding softcocks who insist upon building rainbow coloured walls of skittles guarded by unicorns on fluffy white clouds and whom can't cope with conflict or scrutiny or rejection or being challenged in any way.

We as a society are far worse off for it, me thinks. Besides, we all know, as I have proven it over many years, the NZ-made Phoenix is by far the choice of every serious kingi-hunting yakker this side of the devoid-of-colour stump. But for the moonshot I'm happy to admit it's gonna wear me out before I find anything resembling a marlin.

Regarding the visit, good idea, thanks. But it better include a whole day on the water with different yaks to get a feel for the best for me, if any or it's just wasting my time and Ryan's. Besides, as someone who tends to capsize his yak many times each Summer, I'm going to take at least a few hours just getting used to paddling a toothpick so will need a bit longer than a normal demo-day paddle about to get a good feel for the yaks as a fishing platform. Ideally I need to be towed around by a kingi to work a few things out.

*edit* I've got a benchmark paddle out to Langs and back that will be a superb test of the efficiency and give me a baseline to project how much further I can range on a Stealth while still being safe (I get very unco when tired), so perhaps a demo day without the chance to keep one for a few days isn't gonna fly all that great now that I think about it some more.

For all I know, I might get back from the Langs beach run on a demo Stealth and have to admit it's my fitness that is the weak link and a Stealth isn't going to compensate enough for that so I may as well stay with Kermit (my green Phoenix weapon) for all the good a Stealth will do for my feeble self, and plan instead on hitching a boat ride home, along with the marlin I land ;-)
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jun 2021 at 11:41am
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It's interesting trying to put each person's opinions on the merits of each kayak or features into context. I've never paddled a Viking and it may be they are efficient enough and way more stable which could be a big plus for the moonshot, and they are NZ-made which really spins my wheels, but, and this is a deal breaker for me, they promote bixpy's and I'm utterly, fundamentally and completely anally opposed to anything other than human power on a kayak. It's a bit out-there and I don't begrudge anyone who wants it for them but I'd rather buy a $4k true-kit inflatable 4m with small outboard than put a motor on any kayak I own. I personally would never be able to do it. So, I can't support a business that made a conscious call to promote that option. We had a good thread on it on KFNZ and there was nothing in it that came close to persuading me otherwise.

So, I've stayed in touch with other NZ manufacturers but they only have plans for a sleek efficient fishing kayak and nothing that's concrete. There is the thermo-formed barracuda that is quite appealing construction but I'm not convinced they've got the design right and are all that keen on the fishing niche given they haven't updated the design in a few years.

That really only leaves Stealth and that's not saying they aren't worthy. Far from it. It looks like such an awesome fishing kayak. If stable enough.

That's my take on matters and kayaks thus far anyway.

And pffft about the best kingi weapon. :-) Ya can't argue with results mate and my Pheonix weapon gets 'em. It just, like the eclipse and the okuma revenger, happens to also be bloody cheap. and it's keeping the $ in NZ.

I still rekon the guys behind it, ARM, should get with Stealth to make the latter's plastic fusion model here in NZ for NZ and Aus.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jun 2021 at 10:04pm
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Good to hear you got out on Friday KF, conditions were pretty poor the rest of the weekend.

I came up to Mangawhai on Friday but was a family trip with my Sister over from Aus, so not much time for fishing. 

My old man bought himself a drone setup which we took off Te Arai and caught a single kahawai. 

A quick flick at the anchor with sofbaits and another half hour softbait flick at the end of the coastal walk yielded no results. 

When I was in Mangawhai, I think found the chocolate fish you guys are competing for, surely this must be the one? 


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Got a camera on that drone K? Strikes would make for some great footage. Sometimes I've wondered if those really big commercial drones could offer a subscription service for game fishos over Summer, doing a sunrise grid search of the largest area they can cover looking for bait or game fish and texting the gps location to subscribers.

When the CFC kicked off I had planned to send  that exact species of fish (they are just 10 mins walk from home - dangerous) in both dark and milk chocolate to Shane for him and the young gun to devour. But to my great surprise he still hasn't won the comp yet. Just as well I didn't already buy the fish or they would have evaporated by now anyway.

That said, the neighbour and I did sneak out for a quick fish yesterday morning when the weather was nothing like it was forecast. But he didn't make it over the bar, got flipped out, bent paddle and that was the end of the session. He was  fine but I'm actually a bit OK with him getting the complacency knocked out of him. But, I swear the guy is cursed with the worst luck I've seen. Nobody else I know that spends over 30 hours out here chasing a Kingi doesn't land one. Well, except me when I'm fishing with him ;-)

To add insult to bent pride, a mate did the charter thing off Whangarei heads yesterday and sent me a few pics of a progressively filling bin of snapper and trevs and then, this morning, texted the near full bin with her 16lb donkey on top. She was kicking butt out there yesterday, while I was paddling back in having never even deployed a livie.

Did you see the score on the BIC lures? Your superBIC is doing very well. The holographic stuff has come loose and I might try without it and see if there is any drop in fish caught.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2021 at 10:13am
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No glass Stealths coming in until March/April next year at earliest. That somewhat unfortunate timing  tears the guts out of plan A. Kermit and I may have to get serious with the training and lay off the pies and chocolate fish this Winter.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2021 at 2:43pm
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No Camera on that one, it's a more basic option. 

Can still drop 6 hooks 500m out though which is pretty cool. 

I also want to rig it up to drop my softbaits off for a super super long retrieve which would be pretty epic. 

Yeah that bar did look like it would be an interesting crossing when I saw it on Saturday lol. Poor fella. 

I did see that! Sounds like the "superBIC" is going alright. A shame about the holographic stuff coming loose, I guess I didn't use enough superglue. 
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Saturday looks good, full moon though... I need to fix my sounder wire, broke the spade terminal thing off last time out. Maybe do it after work tomorrow.

Perfect squidding conditions for the next few evenings - I find them really aggressive as the moon fills up.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2021 at 9:21am
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K, for some reason I thought it was an airborne drone, not one of those fish seeker types. Yeah, 500m of ground to cover with a softbait could be a lot of fun. Can you guys impart any action with that much line out or just skip it along the bottom? Also, getting a drone to tow a livebait around would be fun, especially if it had a camera on it.

Before I superglue the holographic stuff back in superBIC, I'll take it for a trip or two without it, just relying on the eyes and see how the performance compares now we have some baseline comparative results for it. I think it wasn't that is wasn't glued in well rather the eye of the hooks I use jammed in there to stop the hook rotating (haven't put a nick in the plastic yet to achieve the same thing) and then having to pull the hook out to retie it when I wanted to put the lure back on. It's that process that pulled it off.

The bar crossing wasn't that bad on Sunday, although I bet it was nasty Saturday. But the neighbour didn't listen to me about the waves and the need to boot-it through the danger zone. Because it wasn't so bad I just held station and watched him rather than catch up and repeat myself. Initially at least. This way he couldn't key off me and what I was doing and it hopefully forces him to have a really good look and get his timing right. He got sucked back about 15m when he couldn't get over a breaking wave and flipped and that was all it took to ruin the fishing trip. I think he's learned the lesson now. We had a good chat about it on the slow paddle in. There were many lessons and I'm sure we can all relate to learning so much from the times that things go wrong. I just wish I had someone to bounce events off at those times, when I was starting out and screwing up so often.  He's not one to panic, which is great, but I think he now understands it only takes one wave to ruin his trip and I think he'll be a better yak fisho for it.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2021 at 8:01pm
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K, have just bought some holographic nail polish dust, thinking I might try a thin coat of clear epoxy on the inside of the plastic of a new pen lure, with the dust sprinkled in the resin before it dries.
If the dust looks like it'll work then will do another pen lure but full of resin with the dust in it so the whole lure is a wee bit heavier than the plain pen lure and might pull through the water a bit differently. Not sure if that extra weight will be better or worse.


Oh, and has anyone ever fashioned or seen, some sort of line cutting blade or nook on the back side of a gaff hook? I'm thinking that might be a safer way to get as close to the hook as possible when cutting a shark off yak-side.

Maybe a stainless steel hose clamp screwed/clamped tight to the end of the gaff pole and the 'tag end' sharpened to line-cutting sharpness? Just have to keep it away from the leader when trying to gaff a keeper :-)
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fish Addict Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2021 at 10:33pm
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Originally posted by kingiFiddla kingiFiddla wrote:

... has anyone ever fashioned or seen, some sort of line cutting blade or nook on the back side of a gaff hook? I'm thinking that might be a safer way to get as close to the hook as possible when cutting a shark off yak-side.

Maybe a stainless steel hose clamp screwed/clamped tight to the end of the gaff pole and the 'tag end' sharpened to line-cutting sharpness? Just have to keep it away from the leader when trying to gaff a keeper :-)

You do come up with some interesting questions / ideas KF.  I like it.  I'd like to think I do much the same.  
I'm not convinced that having a gaff hook and a line cutting tool in close proximity to one another is such a great idea unless the cutting tool can be covered / clipped on or neutralised easily.  Now you could have a gaff hook at one end of the gaff and the cutting tool at the other, that would work.
Or find a Swiss army knife that comes with a gaff hook and attach that to the gaff pole ;-)  The mind boggles.  

Edit:  these may be of interest; or something similar attached to a gaff pole. 

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2021 at 3:50pm
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Nice one T. Am still keen for a Hatfields speculator in a few weeks if you are.

FA, cheers for that idea. I have a swiss army knife somewhere...

That said, there might be enough gaff shank diameter for me to carefully grind and file a hook of sorts into the back of it without compromising strength too much. Will add it to the Winter to-do list, which grows by the day almost.

That linecutterz idea is nifty, thanks for the link. Maybe the zipper one could be a good addition to the PFD
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote kingiFiddla Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jun 2021 at 11:42am
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With the ever-present threat of death by a thousand cold shoulders if I misappropriate any clear nail varnish...again, the glittery holographic powder is poised for a test application this weekend.
 

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