Abit of a late report due tp complete laziness....

Saturday.
Birds working everywhere all day.
Managed to spin up a few Bonnies but the ocean was terrible to be running around chasing them.
doing a Flatty drift with the sea anchor was even too quick but we did manage a few.
Had to be back at the ramp at 4.00 cause i had to go to my sisters bday in the city.
The same sister that ruined a comp weekend 2 months ago by deciding to give birth.....

Sunday conditions were better.
In the water at 4.30 with only a couple of hrs sleep.
Managed a few more Bonnies and searched for current to get some Reds but to no avail.
Did manage 4 Samsons, one going just under 2 kg.
Never eaten them before, but breadcrumbed a fillet and thought it was one of the best fish ive eaten!
Managed a few other bits and pieces but had to head in at 11.30
At the weigh in there were some thumper Snapper caught.
2 at over 5 kg each. They found good current.

No photos. I dont really bother unless theres quality, also the fish get skinned and filleted pretty quickly.
Wednesday was looking good.
Bloody hot day with Southerly change at 6 p.m.
I liked it...
At the ramp it was so hot that after launching my mate, i swam to the boat to cool down.
Thats my first swimsies for the season.
Water temp at 22.8 !!!
Birds everywhere with Salmon working them, but they didnt like what we were throwing them.
Didnt wanna waste time on them. We had a plan, and for the first time in 3 sessions we were going to execute it with perfect timing, late in the arvo.
We were after big Kings!
Took an hour getting bait and just saw the Southerly coming to us over the ocean and turning the water from a pond to a mess instantly!
We fought our way to the reef we learnt holds them and anchored up with heaps of bait hitting the sounder.
It was only a matter of time before the big boys rocked up!
Conditions were horrible and after an hour we said we should head in soon cause it was dusk and i wanted abit of light to fight through the mess back to the ramp.
We got a Trevally and a Mowie on the paternoster, but the livies werent touched.
Time to hit it.
Grabbed the rod with the livie and started to wind when when something snached it off the hook.
Looked at the sounder and instead of having bait all through the water column, for the first time it just had thick activity half way down.
Stuff going.
I got another livie ready to send down as my mate had the same experience as i did.
As soon as i flicked the bailarm half way down the livie was dancing like crazy for all or 5 seconds before getting hammered.
I was on for what i came for.
I was fishing heavy, 40 kg mono and drag set tight.
This thing was almost pulling me over the boat.
It was taking line so i locked the drag and the thing was still peeling line.
Fought it for about 5 min before the dirty bugger took me deep enough to bust me off right above the hook.
Smoked by something massive.
As i got busted off my mate sent his livie down to hell and and had the exact same thing happen.
He also had heavy gear but with his TLD he had it under control.
After about 15 min i netted him a King that went well over a metre.
High fives all round!
We both tried pulling line from my reel at where the drag was set and couldnt get a mm out of it.
The fish i had on pulled it out with ease.

Hopefully be the first of many big Kings this season!

Heres a photo of my mates fish.

I'm jealous Phil... Thumping King mate..

My apprentice had a similar fight to yours on Saturday, got dusted on 24kg, but got 2 nice ones in the end

Well done Phil...thats a thumper Kingie...

Wasn't Don the Sausage was it salty ???

Is Don is Big

Nice pic of the King & Queen by the way

Good report Salty,



What a fantastic looking King, great to hear that there are some good sized ones to be had by those in the know.

How do you rig your livies mate?



bAFOO

Thanks fellas, but as i said, it wasnt my fish.
My mate gets the wrap.
Il make sure mine is the next one....

I keep the rig pretty standard Bafoo.
Sinker down the mainline down to a swivel, 2 feet of trace down to the hook which has the livie pinned through the back.
I normally use a bid bean sinker. But sinker and trace vary depending on current and size of livie.

Ive caught a few Kings over the years without really targeting them.
This season me and my mate are really going to put the time into them.
As i get to understand them better and land them consistently il be decreasing my line strength till im getting them on dental floss!!!