kingiemaster

The BOM warnings are beginning to be a bit like the boy who cried wolf. I fished off the rocks today from 1030. No probs. two other fishos had been there since 7am at high tide and they said it was fine also. Plenty of blackies as well.

Went out in the boat on Sunday morning looking for Kings For various reasons, including birth of baby boy and a dislocated shoulder, this was only the second time I've been out this season. Got six or seven arrow squid in the tank by 7:30 and then went looking for Kings. Started with downrigging around the Spit. Spoke to some guys in yaks that had only caught a rat each so headed for the main harbour. Got a rat at the wedding cake under the noses of 3 other boats not turning a reel. Nothing at the other markers. Went to the carpark at Old Mans Hat and saw a client of charter boat bring a fish of about metre. Spoke to Greg (Dan and Greg) and he said he'd caught some but didn't elaborate. Saw another boat downrigging bring in a rat but otherwise quiet. Tried a few other spots before going back to the Spit for the last hour or so of the incoming. Got a couple of rats and one legal that went 72. Pulled the hooks on another that felt solid. All caught downrigging past EXACTLY the same spot each time. Using my hand as a thermometer the water seemed to be a couple of degrees warmer and nice a clear compared to only a couple of weeks ago when the water was cool and green and I couldn't find a King anywhere using exactly the same methods. Cheers KM

Leader has a crimped on HD snap swivel on the end of it so I can attach pre-rigged traces (with a sleaved crimped loop, no swivel) as required be it medium, heavy, twin hook rigs or lures. I’ve just started using a snap on ball sinker which works a treat. Before that I used snap on rig arrangement which tended to tangle. I use a rod length of leader as a shock leader, for abrasion resistance and something to grab onto when the fish comes boat side.

All squid caught around the Spit bridge, western side in 30 to 50 feet of water. And yes very green and murky.

Left Roseville ramp at 5am. Had at least 15 (arrow) squid in the tank by 7am. Water was still a bit murky and green so fluro jigs (mainly pink) were the go. Other boats weren’t having any problems catching them either. Hit the Harbour markers. First stop wedding cake. Lost two baits to the bottom somehow. Just couldn’t get the drift right. So moved onto the yellow marker. My mates girlfriend’s turn on the rod. Drop the bait and rod buckles over within seconds…. 5-10 minutes later we boated a lovely fat King. It was her 2nd time out on the boat and never caught a fish let alone a Kingfish. Went just under 90 cm but was very thick and fat weighing in at 7kg (according to my scales at least). Not bad for a first fish. Last time I heard she still had a silly grin on her face. Gear used 50lb braid, rod length of 50lb mono leader (bimini to slim beauty knot) with 80 FC trace and 7/0 circle hook. Sorry no pics for privacy reasons. First, last and only time I edited a photo I was banned for a month. Not sure if that applies to identity blurring ACA/TT style. Got a couple of rats and dropped a couple before it went quiet an hour before high. Used the rest of squid at few more spots but with no tidal movement all we could find were pickers. So we headed back and I was home by 10. Other boats we spoke to didn’t have any luck using yakka’s or frozen baits or lures. Nor it would seem could many boats snare any calamari squid at the usual harbour haunts. With the 9am high tide and southerly change due at midday I had a feeling it would be a good day if we could get out there by 7-7:30. I was right about the time and tide but not sure about the effect of the southerly change, at least not if you believe that a falling barometer (ahead of a change) triggers the fish. According to BOM, the Observatory Hill barometer readings started from a low of 1010 early in the morning and from then on just kept climbing steadily to as high as 1020 later that evening when the southerly was at full strength and we had storms all over the shop. I’m not suggesting the impending change doesn’t get them going but it’s obviously not detected by the barometer movements. Dave

The point is that they don't have to and in fact MUST cross stern if giving way to starboard its just a question of how close. Nor does it stop fisherman jumping up and down waving at the back of their boats when some with no idea crosses their stern (doing the right thing). If you have your lures more than 30 metres out the back then its unreasonable to expect the boat giving way to avoid your lines.

Once again if you are drifting you must give way to sailing vessels regardless of what speed they are doing. I don't know of many sailing boats that come even close to those speeds. Most would be lucky to more than 15 knots or 30 km/h downwind. SOME skiffs (16s and 18s), sail boards, Moths (hydrofoil keel) and the current America's Cup cats are about the only sailing vessels I know of that can do those kinds of speeds in enclosed waters. In fact most sailing vessels would struggle to do more than 10 knots so can in fact come as close as they like to anchored boats or overtaking a drifting vessel, fishing or otherwise. That doesn't mean they should but sailing is not an exact science and it can be very hard to manoeuvre a decent sized yacht in enclosed waters especially if the wind is variable and very light or very strong. Just like fishing things don't always go to plan when sailing and sometimes things go wrong. This could prevent a sailing vessel being able to "tack" over or even steer properly. So if your drifting you might just have to get out of the way unfortunately. If they are indeed doing more than 10 knots as they pass you (anchored) then yes they should do so at no less than 30 metres.

Drifting and giving way As all ready stated drifting is still considered being underway and you must give way to all vessels to your starboard/right and any or all vessels under sail. In a t bone situation (where the drifting vessels is perpendicular to the vessel approaching from starboard) this could mean that the drifting boat has to go astern to allow the starboard passing vessel to cross their bow. Conversely an approaching boat coming towards a drifting vessel's port or left side must give way to the drifting vessel by going to starboard (and therefore crossing the stern) . If doing more than 10 knots the passing/giving way vessel must give the drifting vessel at least 30 metres of room but if doing less than 10 knots, eg in the 4 knot zone through the Spit, you could in theory go as close as you like, SO long as you are not exceeding any 4 or 8 knot speed limits. This opens up a can of worms as in this instance the passing vessel (including sailing vessels) can cut across the drifting boats stern as close as they like cutting across any lines out the back. The same is true of giving way to a starboard boat that is trolling lures at the back.

This refers to commercial fishing vessels not rec fishers. Those signals are specific shapes and lights depending on the fishing activity. However, I think it would be a great idea if a trolling flag or something similar was introduced so that boats giving way to starboard can choose not to give way by crossing the bow of a trolling boat or gave them say 60 metres across the stern. As it stands there nothing stopping the giving way to starboard boat from crossing a the stern of trolling rec fisher as close as they like if doing less than 10 knots or at least 30 metres if doing more than 10 knots whic still may not be enough for some people that like to have the lures more than 30 metres out the back.

Ok so I did some more research, which I probably should have done before I posted, but hey its nice to shoot from the hip sometimes. . The general uninformed/unproven consensus is that fish feel the effects of the pressure through the swim bladders which in turn effects their behavior but water pressure changes dramatically with every foot of depth negating this. That’s when I came across an article, which coincidently shares the same title as mine, ‘under pressure’, by no no no which starts off along the same lines as mine debunking the belief that barometric pressure has an effect on fish and fishing. However, his has far more science and goes onto theorise that crap weather results in murky water and ultimately lower oxygen levels, especially in fresh water as plants photosynthesise less, whilst in saltwater foul weather stirs up low oxygenated cold currents. Much of this makes sense. But its’ far from conclusive. Despite the science in the article his theory still contradicts some common science around oxygen levels namely that hot temperatures, especially in fish tanks, reduces oxygen levels, not increases it. So why would you look for the warmer water were oxygen levels are likely to be lower in a low barometric/poor weather day? I also found a lot varying opinions from around the world about when it is good or bad to fish depending on the barometer including falling barometer no good (Rex Hunt) whilst others say it’s the BEST time to fish. After some further digging I found a range of possible explanations as to why weather, not so much the barometer, effect different species of fish in different ways. In conclusion, whatever the real science is, I think weather plays a bigger role in fish behavior than the actual barometric pressure itself, for any number of reasons. Simplistically you could rely on the following - Falling barometer/low/storm from any direction/southerly change approaching COULD be a really good time to fish. Or at least it wouldn’t hurt to go out and give it a go if you can but don’t get it wrong and get caught in the storm!!! - High barometer ?? Might play a role in higher water temps (too high) and therefore lower oxygen levels. But if the weathers nice why not just go for a fish in morning before gets too hot and then go for swim afterwards. Nothing to lose. - If the weather is plain awful, whether the barometer is low/med/high, whatever, do you really want go fishing anyway? - Rising barometer/low retreating/weather improving etc COULD be a good time to fish as they come back on the bite. Also a nice time to fish. So once again nothing to lose. So I’m not about to follow the barometric pressure online nor buy a barometer as I think by the time the barometer falls it’s probably too late. I will however consider going for a fish, or indeed step it up a gear if I’m already out there, for Kings or Jews or bass if there is an impending southerly change or storm front coming from the west etc.

Under pressure... Like many of you I’ve read and heard firsthand about barometric pressure and it's effect on fish and fishing. Rising barometer turns the fish on, steady barometer or high barometer keeps them biting, a falling barometer turns them on whilst a low or already falling barometer turns them right off. Unlike the myth that apps run in the background on your iPhone and drain your battery there must be some truth to it or people wouldn't go on about it all the time, especially when it comes to Bass, Barra and Jewfish. A little Summer bass Thing is I really don’t have any evidence of this or indeed evidence that barometer reflects the weather at the time. One Sunday Back in Feb 2011 the Kingfishing in the harbour was red hot. We had a very hot night (I slept on the boat) followed by a very hot and humid morning ahead of a Southerly change in the afternoon. That morning I lost a very big Kingfish at the wedding cake after a five minute battle. I’ll never know how big but I’m sure it would have been the biggest I’ve ever connected to. I also caught rats and lost another good fish. Other boats were catching fish as well. One boat in particular seemed to be doing a lot of yahooing. Later at the ramp I saw what the yahooing was all about. It was Cephalopod with two big fat kings over a metre with bellies full of yakka’s and some cuttlefish. Ceph said he knew it was going to be a good morning with a falling barometer ahead of the change. I eagerly nodded in agreement, “yes , yes, it was ahead of the change that got them firing”. It all made sense. But I never really followed this up to confirm so I’ll never know what the barometer was really doing that day without delving in to the bowel’s of BOM. What’s made me think twice is that I have been following barometer movements more closely since. With few exceptions the barometer readings never reflect what I expected. Last week is a perfect example. On Friday the barometer was quite low most of the morning despite the hot dry Westerlies and the temp heading towards all time records. Admittedly the barometer dipped abruptly and briefly on the change, only to RISE as the southerly and wet weather settled in for the weekend. It then stayed high at over 1015 all weekend. I would have expected the complete opposite. High, sudden drop and then steady low over the weekend. Yesterday the barometer fell as the weather cleared! Presumably fish can only gauge or sense barometric pressure in their immediate vicinity and therefore can only detect immediate changes ie falling or rising barometer. And as far as I know fish don’t read the paper, watch TV or have access to the internet. So presumably they cannot predict or forecast weather as such, only that it might be about to change, or indeed has changed, and behave accordingly (ie feed or stop feeding). But if I am right and local barometric pressure does not necessarily relate to the actual weather then how does the weather really impact fish feeding behavior? If at ALL! And how do you use the barometer if it does? Lets put it this way. If you only had an hour to two to fish last Friday when would you have fished? Based on the barometer readings for the day it would have been very very difficult to have picked the two hours before that sudden and brief barometer change. In fact I sometimes wonder, from my own experience of keeping relatively consistent, accurate and complete fishing diaries of the past 5 or 6 years, whether water temperature, moon phases, weather and barometric pressure really impact fish feeding behavior as much we like to think. Is it just a great way of making excuses for not catching fish? "everything was perfect but the barometer just kept going down", or a way of talking yourself up when you do ? "yes, yes I planned this, picked my tides, tied me knots, got me bait, water temp was 19.56, twas three days before the full, cast me lines in, waited and then I read the barometer and saw it was about to fall and then zzzzz the port rod went off " The heat is on..... Of course tropical currents and temperature breaks in gamefishing makes sense and are well proven. As are water temperature ranges or changes triggering the breeding of many species of fish, trout being the most well documented. And my Rainbow fish always got frisky when the temp rose, and during lightening incidentally. But do Kingfish really care what the water temp is? We catch them all year around after all. They might prefer it to be 20 degrees but it doesn’t kill them if its 14 degrees. Yet so many people carry on about it like it’s all that matters eg “can’t wait for the water temp to rise for the Kings to turn up/turn on” without any real justification other than that they’re not catching any. I dont think its the Kings following the warm water necessarily. Schools of summer Kings probably just follow the food. If the food likes the warmer water (eg Whitebait, Slimies, Bonito) then the Kings won’t be far behind. Slimies from the belly of a Summer king. Longtime Kingie legend, Kelvin, recently posted a report of Kings he had caught over the past year and wrote that in the depths of Winter when the water temp is low they seem to be a less aggressive, and more lethargic once hooked, BUT that he still catches them YEAR ROUND!!! Keep thinking what you like about water temp and Kingfish, I'm just saying maybe you should just get out there when you can not worry too much about the water temp and focus on getting out there early and catching bait and trying all the likely spots. In any event it's not like you're not going to fish spot A over spot B because of a 2 degree temp variation is it? A mid winter King from Middle Harbour. Water temp wouldn't have been more than 15 degrees. Tides on the other hand do seem to play big role, at least in any river, lake, estuary situation. The most obvious being you need water over a sand flat before you can fish it. Back to the barometer. Any weather experts out they care to shed light on why barometric pressure doesn’t appear to reflect the actual weather? I am missing something? Any biologist that can explain how fish detect changes in the weather through barometric pressure, especially as they are under water and not on the waters surface . Is barometric pressure different underwater? Cheers Dave

Howdy Inspired by my recent Deua trip I thought I'd have a crack at the Lane Cover River as it has been a while. Weather forecast sounded perfect, hot and Nor Westers. Instead it was muggy, overacast, less than 30 with no wind. Still we managed to get one within the first 10 minutues and a few more within the first couple of hours. Spent the rest of the session paddling to the upper reaches and then realised it was well after lunchtime so headed back. The fish weren't big but fat. All had sores as is the case for most LCR fish it would seem. Not as pretty as the Deua but plenty more snags to fish. Some pics. Bassin is great casting practice for the 8 year old. Cheers Dave

Howdy I go down to Moruya at least twice a year to see my mother and always make the trip up the Deua looking for bass in my favourite holes. Problem is that there only so many places you can you access the river without some serious bush bashing. So this year I took the canoe. I've been meaning to do it for sometime with the idea being that I could walk it across the shallow crossings. For another first, I took my missus as she had never been up there before and I figured a human Minn kota (didnt want to fish) could prove useful. So we launched at Bakers Flat and paddled down river. It was a reasonably hot day and being peak holiday time a lot of people had been swimming in the main hole, which is only up to 8 feet deep, so I wasn't hopeful. So I pushed on went through the first creek bed and came across this then this It's not as deep as it looks but deep enough on the right hand side in the shade amongst the fallen trees. Sure enough my first cast into the timber snares a nice little bass. Next cast and I get another one. Next cast, the lure gets caught in a tree. Tried various lures after that with no joy. We'd left the 8 year old with my mother and were only meant to be gone for "not long". So having achieved what I wanted to achieve I called it a day paddled back up to the main hole and went for a swim. A couple of days later I went back by myself with some more time up my sleeve to push further down stream past this second set of shallows but the water following it wasn't particularly deep or fishy. The next set of shallows was too thick with trees and or simply shallow (dry)to walk the canoe through so I headed back casting a range of lures in the likely spots to no avail. Certainly is beautiful part of the world but not sure I would call it a bass mecca as you just cannot fish enough of it. Might have to get friendly with some of the locals at the Saturday markets and see if can access private property. Cheers Dave

I tried for Jews on Saturday night in MH and caught a whaler. So good chance it was a shark.

Livebait, both squid and yakka, were easy enough to get at the Spit early Sunday morning. Tanks full we headed to Long Reef. The seas werent as friendly as I had hoped but not too bad either. Spent a couple of hours there with yakka on one side, squid on the other and flicking soft plastic for snapper in between. All for zip. Did connect to a massive squid on the yakka but it managed to rip it off. No one else seemed to be getting into anything decent either. Back to the harbour. No luck at any of the markers or the usual middle harbour haunts It was a bit late in morning for chasing Kings anyway but another couple of boats we spoke to at the Spit, who I expected might have done well, didn't have any luck either despite fishing there since sun up. In my experience the Spit can fire up this time of year and is a good for a run of Kings when all other spots fail but this year doesn't seem to be the case, at least not consistently. Cheers KM