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First topwater kingie from the rocks!

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (2) Likes(2)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: First topwater kingie from the rocks!
    Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 12:39pm
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Titanium
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Finally, after a number of fruitless and frustrating trips, just after dawn today I managed to land my first land-based top water kingie from my local rocks. Even though it wasn't quite legal, I'm stoked.

Thanks Makka and LBD for the tip a few months ago about the GT Icecreams from Busted Fishing in Oz. With a steady retrieve it really looked like a fleeing piper just and got nailed near the shore in a big swirl.

It's a low tide, first light, spot where kingies cruise the weedline after plentiful baitfish, but despite knowing they are there and get caught occasionally, I've had no luck until this morning. I saw at least two kingies swirling in the bay, making bow waves in the calm shallows, which gave my casting a real purpose! 

It managed to take me around a rocky outcrop, but I backed off a bit and after some nervous minutes with the line vibrating nastily, eventually it swam free. Good fun on 30lb braid on my cheapie Jungle Stix rod.
Next mission is to get a nice keeper from the bay before summer is gone, but i think I'll use my heavier gear from now on.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote NICKed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 1:05pm
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Awesome effort and persistence!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote laidbackdood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 6:54pm
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Cool....Good to know the kings like em......i sent a big one to a mate on here a few years ago but hes never cast it the lazy prick.........Good on you.
what size is that ice cream?.........They are not very long for their weight...a 5 or 6 oz would cast like a bomb........
add a shout short assist off the end....not the long assist......it will add a bit more length to the lure and maybe attract a bigger specimen...........
If you get the bigger one in 5 or 6 oz......I will see if i have a good assist shout in my box and post it to you...just make sure your rod can handle that sort of weight on the cast....happy birthdayLOL
Here is a pic.......the top one is 4oz....probably what you have....the bottom one is 6 oz.....
the bottom one has a long assist on it but a short assist above for comparison.....
I would suggest the 6 oz if your rod can handle....further distance...maybe a bit longer(check photo).......I have that short one there....you can have but i will check what i have in the locker...if you want longer for the 4 oz...Perosnally id go that shorter one on the 6 oz.....that makes a longer and bigger lure...easy to post to you.Wink..PS..loving that camo grip.

Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Espresso Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 8:24pm
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nice work
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 8:44pm
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LBD, good to hear from you. I was actually only using a 1.5oz one on that 10-15kg 8'4" Shimano Jungle Stix. It casts a mile. The kingie was only about 73cm, so the lure looks bigger than it would in the mouth of a 15kg fish.
But i also bought some 3oz versions that i'd like to try up north.
They came already rigged with an assist hook on kevlar, looks like a small Mustad Hoodlum or similar.

I think that the smaller versions of the lure nicely mimic the piper we have in the harbour/estuary shallows - in fact, when a kingie was hunting with a big bow wave in front of me this morning, a piper went skittering across the water exactly like the lure does.

No doubt bigger Icecreams would suit the GTs and big kings off shore, or up in Northland/Coromandel.
At this spot in Auckland suburbia, it's only about 2m deep over sand at low tide. I once had an Albright knot fly apart after rattling through the guides a few times and waded out to get my Williamson popper that I could see floating about 50m out! It came up to my nose.
I have now perfected the FG knot and have confidence in it.

My top water gear is fairly modest, mate - it wouldn't handle anything over about 130g. 6oz would be way too much.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote makka Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 9:06pm
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Good to hear that you got onto one mate!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote laidbackdood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 10:35pm
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Tanmure.......the ice creams ive got came with what looks like a black magic hook on a piece of red assist cord........sound the same........i would go the 4 oz then.....you are still going to get a bigger cast and a bit longer lure...........
I can have a look through my arsenal and see if i have a smaller size for you but as you can see the one on my 4oz above looks the right sort of size.......you could get strikes from bigger fish on that small ice cream but if you went up one size and hang that shout of the back.....it would better imho.
i will see if i have something smaller too to suit the 3 oz one.....grunty cord and grunty hook.....nice secure hook up........i took the one that came with it off...straight away.....going to rust.
130grams = 4.58 ounces.
Once the idiots turn up..Im outta here...No time for Drama Queens.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote DenimViper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2017 at 11:19pm
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Shot Lester!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Muppet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 6:41am
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Well done Lester
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Foxtrot Oscar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 7:49am
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Congrats TK! Clap
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pompey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:09am
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Where cana couple of these ice creams?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pompey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:10am
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Try Again. Where can I buy a couple of the ice creams?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pjc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:12am
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Well done TK,hope for me yet if i ever get to go fishing(work Grrr)
Sex at 58.Lucky I live at 56
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote makka Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:21am
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Originally posted by pompey pompey wrote:

Where cana couple of these ice creams?


You can get them here mate

http://www.bustedfishing.com/#!/Lures/c/20775303/offset=0&sort=normal
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fissure Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:49am
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i have that same jungle stix rod and it can cast 5 oz no probs
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 10:31am
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Originally posted by pompey pompey wrote:

Try Again. Where can I buy a couple of the ice creams?

Makka's given you the link - they're a really reliable outlet. The NZ-made Tasline Elite White line was my main reason for going to the site, but Makka mentioned the Icecream, which I think is a Bokka invention. The 'Busted Lures' in 80g was his other recommendation, and i grabbed a couple in the 'Yakka' colour, which is the Aussie name for our jack mackerel, I think. 
They're kind of a plug, pretty simple but worth a try at that price. I haven't used them yet.

On 30lb braid, the 1.5oz Icecream is plenty, 3oz would go a mile and represents a slightly bigger piper. But in the particular situation I'm using them, distance off shore isn't really the issue - the kingies seem to hunt close, just off the weed line. At least the swirls I saw during the session were all within 10m of the edge.  I was mostly casting fairly parallel with the shore.
LBD's point was that bigger lure may = bigger fish, so I'll give the 3oz a go.

I tried casting the Icecream off the wharf at Kauri Pt (Tauranga) where there are plenty of piper, and I got a very serious follow, but no takers.
They are meant for calm-ish conditions, ideal for estuaries and harbours where piper are a key target for kingies in the shallows.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 10:33am
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Thanks for the thumbs up, guys. I'm still replaying in my mind the mental video of the kingie nailing the lure. Addictive stuff.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 1:13pm
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Originally posted by pjc pjc wrote:

Well done TK,hope for me yet if i ever get to go fishing(work Grrr)

Yip, never give up hope PJC!! There are plenty of guys on here who catch dozens of kingies a season (lucky ba$tards), but it's all about perspective. That little fella meant a hell of a lot to me, in the circumstances. 

I don't own a boat, and only limited access to one. My summer plans have been overshadowed by two bereavements, and I had another downer last weekend when a trip I'd booked with Tony Orton at Mangawhai way back in November got canned due to the worst weather we've had in months! 
I've done half a dozen dawn outings to that spot where i got my kingie yesterday, and gone home without a touch each time. But I figure that kind of harbour shallows fishing comes down to patience, and being ready when your number eventually comes up. 

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote NICKed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 2:22pm
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Originally posted by makka makka wrote:

Originally posted by pompey pompey wrote:

Where cana couple of these ice creams?


You can get them here mate

http://www.bustedfishing.com/#!/Lures/c/20775303/offset=0&sort=normal


The larger sizes all appear to be out of stock!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:05pm
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Originally posted by NICKed NICKed wrote:

Originally posted by makka makka wrote:

Originally posted by pompey pompey wrote:

Where cana couple of these ice creams?


You can get them here mate

http://www.bustedfishing.com/#!/Lures/c/20775303/offset=0&sort=normal


The larger sizes all appear to be out of stock!

These guys in Aussie have got them as well.

http://www.elitetackle.com.au/gt-ice-cream-needle-nose-surface-plug/

http://www.elitetackle.com.au/solid-colours-gt-ice-cream-needle-nose-4-oz/
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