AGP Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 A couple weeks back I had some major success cracking my first metre plus king in Sydney. What made it that much sweeter was the fact it hammered a surface lure and was landed on very light tackle. My fishing partner and I had spent the morning chasing snapper around Long Reef and upon leaving made the call to visit a few headlands on the way back in and throw Halco Roosta poppers into the washes in the hopes we could rise a winter king. Having known bigger kings frequent headlands and points we sounded up a thick and tight ball of bait fish and could see some nice arches sitting on the edges. I spent around 20mins working the popper when this beast surfaced behind the lure and belted it with an explosion on the surface. The strike is something I'll never forget. Immediately after hooking it I knew I was in trouble as it made a serious attempt to find bottom. Gear being used was a 8-10kg Berkely drop shot, Ecooda Black Hawk 4000 loaded with 20lb bite motion and 30lb FC rock leader. I usually use much heavier gear for Kings and regularly get busted by them in these depths on 30-40lb. One thing in my favour was the fact that it had taken a surface lure and I had a good shot at turning its head before it reefed me. I locked the drag immediately as it screamed line off and was close to finding the bottom. My mate thought on his feet and wacked the Yamaha in reverse and slowly started driving him out into deeper water. At this point I had to grab the spool and allow zero line pull as he was mere feet from the bottom. Somehow the gear held out and we were still connected once driving out into around twice the depth. This is where the fun began.. For the next 20 minutes I just couldn't gain much without the fish taking just as much back. Once I reached the point of physical exhaustion we could see colour and knew Sydney Kings like this in the shallows aren't something you see every session. I finally got him to the surface where we realised we had no chance of netting him in our small environet. He also had 2 mates the same size follow him through the entire fight. The call was made to gaff the fish and not release it (we release over 90% of Kings we catch). This still was a major ordeal as every time my mate attempted to gaff him the fish would turn its head, kick its tail once and be out of sight in an instant. The gear was pushed to its limit but we eventually got him to the surface when the fish and I were both done and we landed him. My bragmat has its nose guard snapped off so we short measured him slightly but lets just call him over 110cm's. Stoked with this fish and it was an absolute barrel of a fish compared to some of the skinnier metre plus kings you see. The photo of the treble shows how far all gear was pushed and stoked my knots held while the hooks were bent so severely!!! Thanks for reading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foulhooked Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Hollllyyy crap! Incredible catch! I'm changing the hardware on my poppers and trying this weekend! Simply amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longy509 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Awesome work mate nice king Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foulhooked Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Also, is that a tide apparel shirt you're wearing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 That is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieR Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Wow! What a monster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquidMarks Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Speechless.... wow, i can only dream of something like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGP Posted September 3, 2014 Author Share Posted September 3, 2014 Also, is that a tide apparel shirt you're wearing? Yeah that's the one mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snatcher Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Well done,great reort and fish John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy ! Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Mate that is a beast! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike. Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 BEAST of a king, well done!. Looks like you put some hurt on him, or he put hurt on you , either way top result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaClH2OK9 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 What a stonking fish. Great work on such light tackle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ojay Samson Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 WOWZERS!!! excellent work on a amazing catch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stephanb79 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Holly holly crap WOW what a king and what an effort great job !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydneyfisher12 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 WOW thats a MONSTER kingy mate and off sydney thats massive and on a poper is amazing the strike would off been massive thats the one im chasing cheers sydneyfisher12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefish Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 lucky guy, that is my dream fish and still try to get one, congratulation........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANwan Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Monster king mate .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Fantastic fish. He definitely pushed everything to the limit. Well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyyy87 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 great fish! congrats mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anth Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Awesome catch, we'll done mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefisherman6784 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 No way mate That I a beast of a fish and on that gear is just amazing to land that fish Must of been amazing seeing that take on the surface and I'm sure you were relieved when that gaff went in Well done mate, great effort Cheers thefisherman6784 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasksta Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Fish of a lifetime mate bloody great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laddercat Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Great read very jealous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_ Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 This is why we fish. Top work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellcorner Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Awesome! I think we're in for a big season as far as kingies go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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