jim77

Yes - got a gig @ Kings College Auckland. Bit of a change hopefully.

Hi Tony - I think you might be right on the work front... I struggled in Sydney in terms of dreaming about fishing. I'm worried how I'm going to go when I know there are. 30kg + Kings to catch less than 2 hrs away!! The boat IS a Surtees Barcrusher. Surtees is the Brand, Barcrusher is the model. The Barcrusher boats in oz are similar but not the same. Apparently there is some legal stuff going on...

In the process of moving over to NZ for a new job starting in January. Currently over here for a couple of weeks to sort out a few things. Getting my priorities right a boat was high up on my list of the first things to get sorted out. After having spent the past 2 months researching EVERY 2nd hand boat in NZ I finally found one that was reasonably priced. Viewed and bought it last Monday - managed to persuade the Mrs to let me go out on it last Thursday and Friday. It's a Surtees 610 Barcrusher. I will repower it with a 4 stroke (faarrkk it's thirsty with the current 135hp 2 banger!) but for now it's good enough to get me out there. First Kingy to come over the gunnels - 22kg caught on jig in 18m of water - brutal fight with crazy drag employed! Also got 2 others well over a metre and my mate got another. Choice! The next day we got owned by a seriously big fush. Good fun but annoying all the same. Caught up with the fly fishing Dr for a couple of fish - you know it's good fishing when you are throwing 95cm kings back :-) Next target is a decent Red, and then a proper attempt at some BIG kingies. Merry Xmas everyone.

Good job - time for a bigger Esky!

Nice one mate - good picture/screen shot. I had exactly the same thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago at the Peak. Also a Furuno sounder - it was so clear on mine it actually looked like a whale shape!!

Great work Mike - you know what i described you as before....... WIll have to catch up for a fish soon mate - 2 more weeks of footy! I will have to keep a few of the 'coutas i have been catching whilst jigging.

Good work fellas. Seems you can catch Kings afterall Groper! Nice work. Engine sounds like its treating you well. How far did you travel on those 25 litres?

Great work fellas - especially off the rocks!

Nice work Groper - no more smelly two stroke eh :-) Hope it serves you well.

Well done mate. That is a good size to open your account with, and an even better effort considering it was land based. As to your gear - that's not heavy :-) for kingies go big otherwise you will get your ar$e kicked!

Nice one Jeff - about time you cracked the metre! Good fish

I drove past shortly after all this action had taken place and can confirm they got smashed by big fish. Nothing to do with gear failure or bad knots. Big fish plain and simple. There was an element of inexperience and probably shock on the anglers part, but these were big fish. There were numerous meter plus fish caught in the harbour yesterday. 114 was the biggest I know of.

Hi I am going up to Forster area over new year and it would be rude to not take the boat right? Can anyone point me in the right direction or give me some marks for likely Kingy grounds? I have got a rough idea but my time on the water will be limited so I want to at least have a bit of a start instead of aimlessly driving around. Any help gladly appreciated. Cheers Jim

Stay persistent - Time on the water definitely helps... The fish are there you just have to keep moving until you find them OR be patient enough to stay in one spot until they find you. I am never patient enough to wait!

Good report. Are you sure that they were slimies and not bonito?? 45cm slimy is a pretty big one. Did they have teeth?

Lol! Drag was cranked up :-)

A bit of a slow day to start with but armed with slimies, Yakkas and squid I was pretty confident we would get fish. Caught about 20 fish all up - this was the best of the day. Went 100cm exactly.

Interesting that you are catching them on jigs! What size do you use?

Nice work Mike. Did you cOnvert any in to Kings? You got your boat gOing yet?!

Good fish lads. Well done for putting it back. Eat the smaller ones and save the bigger Ones I reckon...

My turn next time! Wait to you have a real job and you can't go fishing for days on end!! That is just the start mate - we will get bigger ones. Hopefully jigging season produces some monsters...

Nice work fellas . I have mentioned it before but just a word of advice... Do not trust the rod holders on the Downrigger. Sooner or later you will lose a rod over board when it breaks on strike especially as you are catching a few decent fish. Either hold the rod or put it in a stainless holder.

You are teasing everyone mate! They all think you were fishing off Sydney... You better tell them you were fishing the central coast. Oops sorry just slipped out! Good session - hopefully get into those bruisers and find a 20kegger in a couple of weeks

Nice report red pumpkin - sounds like an action packed day! That fish that you thought was a Kingfish... That's actually a yakka or a Yellowtail Scad. They are a totally different species. They are a popular livebait and normally pretty easy to catch. Next time you catch one throw it back out with a hook through its nose and you might get lucky and have a Kingy eat it!

Stick at it... Whilst there have been a few good fish caught this isn't a typical Sydney summer by any way shape or form. Plenty of very capable fishermen are doing it equally tough ATM!