a crew of stickbait experts out on SILVERADO fishing at white nailed a 50kg king yesterday! they usually release fish but stickbait with two treble hooks and fish had swallowed it right down into the gills so had to kill it, awesome how many 40kg plus kings have come from white island on stickbaits recently! congrats to the team on SILVERADO looks like stickbaiting is THE technique for targeting the 100 pounders out there! now just need a 10000sw stella,stickbait rod,braid,stickbaits arrgh........$$$$$$$$$.

FIFTY kilo! Was it weighed? Where is a picture, that is one awesome beast of a fish, just a few kgs off a world record!

Capt Asparagus wrote: FIFTY kilo! Was it weighed? Where is a picture, that is one awesome beast of a fish, just a few kgs off a world record!

Its still on the boat, day one of a 3day trip, asian anglers so whether any photos stay in nz or not? not really an unusual catch since the stickbaiting got going at white and i see ENCHANTER got a 49kg one down at ranfurly on a stickbait as well! The anglers usually using heavy braid so even when someone knocks over a 60kg fish it wont be an igfa record?

been 8 over 45kgs this summer so far! used to fish of the shore under the harbour bridge but neva got a 30lb snappa must need a boat up those ways aye?

whats the record? 53-4kg i was told today.

Could be this one?

Those are some seriously bent rods! Well done those men.

Nice fish, I just hate the way those guys hold their fish for photos... by leaning back so outrageously and shoving the fish towards the lens so much makes the fish look bigger, sure, but it also makes them look so fake.... the old rules with fishing pics are... no blood, and if you cant see the elbows, it is a fake pic.
If they had held those fish closer to their bodies, the whole thing would look more natural and therefore more believable, and I have to say, more admirable.
Hell, hold it close enough to a wide angle lens and lean backwards away from the fish enough, even a frikken mackeral could look like a monster.

The points you raise are...while I guess valid for the greater masses, not applicable to me coz I am a superhero and just so strong it is almost unbelievable. Nah nah, honest! :-)
Yes, I know holding up a big fish is hard and  leaning and swinging on it is easier, but there is that, the there is taking it to just a little bit of an extreme.... or are we really looking atan 8ft long bass in that pic? :-)
I'm not knocking wide angle lenses, small boats you need them of course. But... look at the pics above of the kings... the top king, the dude is definitely holding it well out to the camera as well as leaning his head back. The next set down, the guy in the red top has swung the head around towards to camera as well....you can see from his stance that his left arm is fully extended.
Hey, I ain't knocking the fish, they are horses, it is just when you tend to look at pics with a bit of a jaded eye, you start seeing a few too many of these little "cheats" for the camera. Good fish like these really do not need such treatment!
I mean hell, I wish I could get some beasts like those, but still.....

I love the 4th pic down with the guy peering over the king.....awesome.....Thats how a big  king should have his photo taken