Central coast kingfish

[DerekD]

Hi Fishraiders,

 

Saturday evening, while sitting in a bar, I got a call from a good fishing buddy Mat asking if I was free the next day for a chance at a 1m kingfish. While very short notice (found out later someone had pulled out of the planned trip) the plans I had for Sunday could be changed pretty easily. Said I was in and we made some initial plans. Went home and sorted out some food and gear for the trip and set the alarm for 4am.

 

Mat rocked up at mine and we put the gear in my car, left his new car in my garage then drove West to Mark’s place where the boat was stored. Bit chilly when we arrived with frost on the grass. Loaded up the gear, topped up the fuel tanks and then drove North. If you have ever seen one of those posts “Tag a mate who falls asleep when fishing” then I’m usually the one that gets tagged. True to form I fell asleep on the back seat. Woke up as we were in the Gosford area. At one stage we were discussing trailer handling and I told the lads about the time I was at Tunk’s park boat ramp and an older couple with what looked to be a recently acquired boat show special were struggling with the ramp. She was directing and after about six attempts I realised they were going to be there for a while so I lined my trailer with the other half of the ramp and put it in first go. The lady pointed at her husband to get his attention then pointed at me and very helpfully told her husband “that is how you do it”. The boys laughed.

 

When we got to the ramp I could see why three people were needed. There was enough water surging around the ramp that you or your boat could quickly get into trouble. With Mat on the boat at the controls and Mark and myself in the water we managed to launch the boat safely. Mark asked if I could park up the trailer as the parking area was getting a little crowded and as per my earlier anecdote I reckoned I was pretty good handling a car and trailer. I got the chance to put the money where the mouth was or more accurately the trailer in the spot. To be fair I think Mark was very capable of doing it himself but as the boat and trailer was a relatively new acquisition he needed just a little more confidence that comes with experience. My usual technique is looking over the shoulder rather than using the mirrors. I’d had a cyst removed from my neck on Friday evening and due to the stitches and plaster feeling a bit tight I had to turn the whole body to look over the shoulder – uncomfortable but workable. While I could have driven it straight in that meant the challenge would have been at the end of the day. With a couple of adjustments to work around the parked cars it went smoothly in trailer first. We then boarded the boat from the beach and made the long trip to the bait grounds

 

200 metres later we’d arrived at the bait grounds. We would have been there quicker but there was a group of swimmers that seemed to think swimming in front of a boat ramp wasn’t a potential safety hazard. 11m deep and plenty of fish showing on the sounder. In went the burley and down went the lines and shortly afterwards we started pulling up some yellowtail. There were even some 30cm plus ones which I looked at with a 1m king gleam in my eyes. Too many for the live well so we put some of the larger ones in my salt water filled esky (after removing the food). Heading out of the bay to the fishing ground we were fortunate enough to see a few whales moving North. Trip out took about an hour and when we pulled up we were over structure in about 160m of water. Local advice is that kings hang around this as it is only structure in the area (no I don't know what it is called or have the GPS marks). There was apparently a fishing competition on that day so we were surprised to find we were the only boat out there.

 

First pass with live yellowtails Mat hooked up and then snagged up on the structure. Neither fish nor working end of the tackle came back. We were using stupidly heavy leads to get down before we drifted over the structure. I was using my 80lb outfit with 100lb leader through the sinker to a swivel then dropped down to 80lb line to the hook. The intention with this rig was that if I snagged up I was likely to lose just the hook and the line below the swivel. It worked as I retained the sinker for the whole day. Counting down I worked out it was taking over a minute for the livies to reach the bottom. Next pass my hook didn’t come back and it looked like the line had been bitten and we thought it was likely to be leatherjackets (bugger). A re-rig, another bridle rigged livie down and this time there was a hook-up and I was on. Some weight but it didn’t feel like a 1m king would. After a hundred plus meters of pumping and winding and got colour and what a beautiful colour it was complete with a yellow tail and I even got my livie back (should that count as 2 yellowtails albeit of 2 different species). Netted and my king count for 2018 was up to 7 with still a few hours of fishing on the cards. It was legal but not by a huge amount. Mark then sent down a livie and upgraded it for a legal king. Mat was struggling a little and losing gear. We’d also get hook ups but then have the hook pull. At one stage we heard a blast of venting air and turned around to see a whale much smaller than any I have seen out there before. It was about 5m long and certainly not a dolphin and Mark called it as a pilot whale. We weren’t getting a king every pass but often enough that it kept things interesting. All the kings were legal but not hugely so although they were pretty broad across the shoulder. They also looked a bit more silver than I had seen before. The winds eased up and the swells flattened out and we had a beautiful albatross bobbing about nearby and keeping us company. Mat then scored his king and Mark changed to jigging and started getting a few more kings. Mat and Mark had double hook-up but I let the team down by not making it a triple. On the next pass I caught my second king. Two livies left for the last few passes as time was running out with 7 kings in the esky. No joy and time up so we let the last livies go.

 

The run back in was pretty good and we were fortunate enough to see a pod of dolphins. The sun was dropping down and glaring through the windscreen by the time we were close to the boat ramp. I changed back into my shorts so I could jump into the water and hold the boat against the surging swell. Mark hopped out with me and before we went up to get the car we watched one of the locals struggling to get his boat back on his trailer so I stepped in to give him a hand (which is sometimes all you need to make a difference). Since we took the time to park the trailer in the first place we had no trouble getting it out of the parking area and down the ramp. With Mark on the winch, me in the water and Mat driving the boat in, putting the boat on the trailer went as smooth as you could ask for. We set the safety chain, ratchet straps, indicator check and Mark asked if I minded driving back to Sydney. Considering that he’d done pretty well all the driving till then I was happy to drive back. On the way back he had the usual manly discussions. Cars, recipes for kingfish, best domestic cleaning products, how our significant others don’t quite get us and multi-layered roles we are having to cope with in today’s complicated political correct society (alright not the last two). Back at Mark’s I got the opportunity to back the boat into the driveway on a cul-de-sac with poor lighting, limited view out the passenger window because of the baby window shade. Even with the two of them acting as spotters it was a challenge. I had to hop out of the car twice to check the alignment. Maybe I’m not quite as good as I thought I was but got it lined up and into the driveway without any scrapes. Mark’s lovely wife Amanda was there to greet us and watch us unload the boat. Mat laid out the 7 kings on a towel and it was such a nice sight I took the picture below.

 

I don’t actually eat fish but I had some recipients in mind for the two I was keeping. My long term fishing mate Todd and the mate that stood on the stingray, Anton “First Cast” M. Mat was going to keep one and then give the other to another couple in our fishing group that often shared their catches with him. Todd was pleasantly surprised to get a king as he loves eating them and he called me up with a thank you today. Anton filleted his and enjoyed the taste of fresh sushi. He has family in town so I suspect they will be eating a meal of fresh kingfish. All in all a fantastic day and I was grateful for the opportunity to get out there and I hope I get to join them again. My kingfish count is at 8 with 10 more to go to achieve my fishing goal of 18 kingfish in 2018. Still working on my other goal of a 1m plus king and more importantly I'm still enjoying the journey.

 

Regards,

 

Derek

 

[wazatherfisherman]

1 hour ago, DerekD said:

Hi Fishraiders,

 

Saturday evening, while sitting in a bar, I got a call from a good fishing buddy Mat asking if I was free the next day for a chance at a 1m kingfish. While very short notice (found out later someone had pulled out of the planned trip) the plans I had for Sunday could be changed pretty easily. Said I was in and we made some initial plans. Went home and sorted out some food and gear for the trip and set the alarm for 4am.

 

Mat rocked up at mine and we put the gear in my car, left his new car in my garage then drove West to Mark’s place where the boat was stored. Bit chilly when we arrived with frost on the grass. Loaded up the gear, topped up the fuel tanks and then drove North. If you have ever seen one of those posts “Tag a mate who falls asleep when fishing” then I’m usually the one that gets tagged. True to form I fell asleep on the back seat. Woke up as we were in the Gosford area. At one stage we were discussing trailer handling and I told the lads about the time I was at Tunk’s park boat ramp and an older couple with what looked to be a recently acquired boat show special were struggling with the ramp. She was directing and after about six attempts I realised they were going to be there for a while so I lined my trailer with the other half of the ramp and put it in first go. The lady pointed at her husband to get his attention then pointed at me and very helpfully told her husband “that is how you do it”. The boys laughed.

 

When we got to the ramp I could see why three people were needed. There was enough water surging around the ramp that you or your boat could quickly get into trouble. With Mat on the boat at the controls and Mark and myself in the water we managed to launch the boat safely. Mark asked if I could park up the trailer as the parking area was getting a little crowded and as per my earlier anecdote I reckoned I was pretty good handling a car and trailer. I got the chance to put the money where the mouth was or more accurately the trailer in the spot. To be fair I think Mark was very capable of doing it himself but as the boat and trailer was a relatively new acquisition he needed just a little more confidence that comes with experience. My usual technique is looking over the shoulder rather than using the mirrors. I’d had a cyst removed from my neck on Friday evening and due to the stitches and plaster feeling a bit tight I had to turn the whole body to look over the shoulder – uncomfortable but workable. While I could have driven it straight in that meant the challenge would have been at the end of the day. With a couple of adjustments to work around the parked cars it went smoothly in trailer first. We then boarded the boat from the beach and made the long trip to the bait grounds

 

200 metres later we’d arrived at the bait grounds. We would have been there quicker but there was a group of swimmers that seemed to think swimming in front of a boat ramp wasn’t a potential safety hazard. 11m deep and plenty of fish showing on the sounder. In went the burley and down went the lines and shortly afterwards we started pulling up some yellowtail. There were even some 30cm plus ones which I looked at with a 1m king gleam in my eyes. Too many for the live well so we put some of the larger ones in my salt water filled esky (after removing the food). Heading out of the bay to the fishing ground we were fortunate enough to see a few whales moving North. Trip out took about an hour and when we pulled up we were over structure in about 160m of water. Local advice is that kings hang around this as it is only structure in the area (no I don't know what it is called or have the GPS marks). There was apparently a fishing competition on that day so we were surprised to find we were the only boat out there.

 

First pass with live yellowtails Mat hooked up and then snagged up on the structure. Neither fish nor working end of the tackle came back. We were using stupidly heavy leads to get down before we drifted over the structure. I was using my 80lb outfit with 100lb leader through the sinker to a swivel then dropped down to 80lb line to the hook. The intention with this rig was that if I snagged up I was likely to lose just the hook and the line below the swivel. It worked as I retained the sinker for the whole day. Counting down I worked out it was taking over a minute for the livies to reach the bottom. Next pass my hook didn’t come back and it looked like the line had been bitten and we thought it was likely to be leatherjackets (bugger). A re-rig, another bridle rigged livie down and this time there was a hook-up and I was on. Some weight but it didn’t feel like a 1m king would. After a hundred plus meters of pumping and winding and got colour and what a beautiful colour it was complete with a yellow tail and I even got my livie back (should that count as 2 yellowtails albeit of 2 different species). Netted and my king count for 2018 was up to 7 with still a few hours of fishing on the cards. It was legal but not by a huge amount. Mark then sent down a livie and upgraded it for a legal king. Mat was struggling a little and losing gear. We’d also get hook ups but then have the hook pull. At one stage we heard a blast of venting air and turned around to see a whale much smaller than any I have seen out there before. It was about 5m long and certainly not a dolphin and Mark called it as a pilot whale. We weren’t getting a king every pass but often enough that it kept things interesting. All the kings were legal but not hugely so although they were pretty broad across the shoulder. They also looked a bit more silver than I had seen before. The winds eased up and the swells flattened out and we had a beautiful albatross bobbing about nearby and keeping us company. Mat then scored his king and Mark changed to jigging and started getting a few more kings. Mat and Mark had double hook-up but I let the team down by not making it a triple. On the next pass I caught my second king. Two livies left for the last few passes as time was running out with 7 kings in the esky. No joy and time up so we let the last livies go.

 

The run back in was pretty good and we were fortunate enough to see a pod of dolphins. The sun was dropping down and glaring through the windscreen by the time we were close to the boat ramp. I changed back into my shorts so I could jump into the water and hold the boat against the surging swell. Mark hopped out with me and before we went up to get the car we watched one of the locals struggling to get his boat back on his trailer so I stepped in to give him a hand (which is sometimes all you need to make a difference). Since we took the time to park the trailer in the first place we had no trouble getting it out of the parking area and down the ramp. With Mark on the winch, me in the water and Mat driving the boat in, putting the boat on the trailer went as smooth as you could ask for. We set the safety chain, ratchet straps, indicator check and Mark asked if I minded driving back to Sydney. Considering that he’d done pretty well all the driving till then I was happy to drive back. On the way back he had the usual manly discussions. Cars, recipes for kingfish, best domestic cleaning products, how our significant others don’t quite get us and multi-layered roles we are having to cope with in today’s complicated political correct society (alright not the last two). Back at Mark’s I got the opportunity to back the boat into the driveway on a cul-de-sac with poor lighting, limited view out the passenger window because of the baby window shade. Even with the two of them acting as spotters it was a challenge. I had to hop out of the car twice to check the alignment. Maybe I’m not quite as good as I thought I was but got it lined up and into the driveway without any scrapes. Mark’s lovely wife Amanda was there to greet us and watch us unload the boat. Mat laid out the 7 kings on a towel and it was such a nice sight I took the picture below.

 

I don’t actually eat fish but I had some recipients in mind for the two I was keeping. My long term fishing mate Todd and the mate that stood on the stingray, Anton “First Cast” M. Mat was going to keep one and then give the other to another couple in our fishing group that often shared their catches with him. Todd was pleasantly surprised to get a king as he loves eating them and he called me up with a thank you today. Anton filleted his and enjoyed the taste of fresh sushi. He has family in town so I suspect they will be eating a meal of fresh kingfish. All in all a fantastic day and I was grateful for the opportunity to get out there and I hope I get to join them again. My kingfish count is at 8 with 10 more to go to achieve my fishing goal of 18 kingfish in 2018. Still working on my other goal of a 1m plus king and more importantly I'm still enjoying the journey.

 

Regards,

 

Derek

 

Great read Derek and congrats on some nice fish! The 1m plus is due any time now!

[masterfisho7]

One great report Derek

[King chaser]

Good report mate. Stella catch!

 

Were you guys marking the kings or any bait on the sounder? Where were they sitting? Cheers 

[big Neil]

Great report Derek and well done to you all for the top result. Keep trying and I'm sure the target will be reached and you may even get your 1m fish. That's what fishing is all about, sharing the particular expertise of the entire team, resulting in a memorable experience for all. Cheers, bn

[DerekD]

2 hours ago, King chaser said:

Were you guys marking the kings or any bait on the sounder? Where were they sitting? Cheers 

Hi King Chaser,

Actually with the depth of the water (which has an impact on the the scaling on the screen) and the limited strength of the transducer I think we were lucky to see the structure itself. We couldn't see a lot of detail (in fact it it was just a flat solid line) and so we just fished on the basis that the kings were there. Be interesting to send a camera down there to see the shape of the structure and the amount of tackle hung up on it and the size of the schools down there.

Regards,

Derek

[King chaser]

59 minutes ago, DerekD said:

Hi King Chaser,

Actually with the depth of the water (which has an impact on the the scaling on the screen) and the limited strength of the transducer I think we were lucky to see the structure itself. We couldn't see a lot of detail (in fact it it was just a flat solid line) and so we just fished on the basis that the kings were there. Be interesting to send a camera down there to see the shape of the structure and the amount of tackle hung up on it and the size of the schools down there.

Regards,

Derek

Yea nice Derek, fish the gps mark and hope for the best in that sort of depth! I find it interest just structure in the middle of no where in that depth I bet many jigs and tackle has been claimed by it! 

[Scratchie]

Epic recount of trip Derek. Nice work on the kings and good to see them get shared around!!! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[sam bros]

Cracker report ,

Some solid kings there

[fragmeister]

Great post, Derek... I love a detailed fishing report.

Swimmers at the boat ramp ... because outboards and bodies in close proximity are a good match!

Cheers

Jim

 

 

 

[Kracka]

All I can say is...im SUPER jealous. Well done and great report

[BIGG DADDA TREVS]

Thanks for that Derek, one hell of a read. Great fish there and seems like u had lots of fun. Awesome effort

[GordoRetired]

Good catch there. ?

[DerekD]

Hi Raiders,

 

Late last week I received a text message from Mat asking if I was up for another trip to Terrigal with Mark for kings. I responded with a very unexcited “YES, YES and YES!!”. A little bit more time to prepare so I didn’t bring my usual tackle shop with me but did pack some more knife jigs. The swell and wind reports while not perfect for Sunday were good enough that we made the trip up there. Now that we had a system the launch went very easily. Made the long 200m trip out to the bait grounds to find – nothing. On their last trip all the kings were caught on live bait so we were really keen to catch lots and hopefully bag out. Lots of burley in the water and a few location changes and still no live bait. There were a couple of locals fishing from kayaks so we motored over to where they were to ask for advice. As I was talking to them the sounder lit up and we looked down into the water to see lots of yellowtail. They were aggressive and big too. With no shortage of livebait bagging out was going to be a real possibility.

 

On the way out we saw a big swirl on the surface. Turned out to be a dolphin. We saw some flocks of feeding seabirds and our best guess is that it was a school of salmon and as the target species was kings we didn’t stop to look. Out at the fishing location Mat and I drop livies and catch nothing. On next pass Mat loses his rig so there is something going on down there. After a few drifts it is not looking good so Mark gets out a knife jig and hooks up to a nice legal king (about 70cm). The kings were at least down there.

 

Just for shore based kings I have recently acquired a 7 foot Daiwa Saltist Hyper 2 piece PE3/5 60-120gr lure weight matched with a Daiwa BG5000 reel and 300m of YKG 50lb braid. Had caught one squid on it so really wanted to christen it properly so out it comes and I grab a knife jig. I’m generally not a fan of multi-coloured braid but in this case the colour changes every 10m made it very easy to judge depths. Started jigging and hooked up pretty quickly. Unfortunately part of the way up the hook pulled. At least I know my jig selection is working. A few more jigging attempts and this time I hook into a pretty solid fish took my time and when boated it measured 79cm. Sent the jig down again and it didn’t come up – probably leatherjackets. Sent another one down and hooked up to a solid king. Took my time as I didn’t want to lose it. When it was netted and measured it came in at 81cm. A new PB by 1 whole centimetre. I lost another couple of jigs to what I am pretty sure were leatherjackets. Was feeling sweet and sour at the same time.

 

At one stage I turned to the fishfinder to see a strange curve on the screen. It was longer than expected and looked like a fish had gone up in the water column and then changed its mind and started to go deeper. The other two were a little quicker on the uptake and called whale. Shortly after we had three surface within 50m of the boat. WOW!!

 

Mark hooked into something of reasonable size but it didn’t fight like a king. In fact it planed its way up. When it got to the surface I was surprised to see a beautiful little Mako shark of a little under one metre long. Grabbed the line by the leader and was looking down its teeth into its throat trying to work out how to get the hook safely when it shook its head and broke the line. Problem solved. I was swapping between live baits and jigs. Mat wasn’t having much luck with either then he hooked up on a bait and Mark hooked up a good king on the jig. By the bend in the rod this was going to be the best king of the day. Mat gets his fish to the surface first but was disappointed to find out it was a Nannygai. Mark then calls out he has been sharked. Brings up the jig complete with kingfish head soon after and it was followed up by another Mako shark – this one closer to 2m long. It alternated between looking at the head of the kingfish and biting on the propeller. Such a beautiful shark. Mat got the attached photos.

 

We had to call time soon after with three legal kings in the esky. A relaxed drive back to the ramp and then to Sydney. Mat posted the attached photo of the kingfish with the concern that if they keep getting bigger he is going to have to get a bigger chopping board. Shame we didn’t get more kings but the next day I was still grinning like an idiot and a little bit sore from all the jigging. I’m probably out of shape but to be fair pear-shaped is still a shape. I may also have to start referring to Mark as the Mako Whisperer.

Edited September 12, 2018 by DerekD

[DerekD]

What surprised me about the kingfish was how fat they were.

One more Mako photo...

[sam bros]

Great read,

I must say i am jealous

[big Neil]

Great read Derek, thanks for sharing your experience with us. Cheers, bn

[Mike89]

Good stuff Dez.

[DerekD]

Hi All,

 

This will probably sound like both a fishing report and an Oscars acceptance speech.

 

After nervously watching the waves and wind conditions leading up to Friday last week Mark, Mat and myself made the decision to head offshore in the hope of getting big kings. A launch at Terrigal, a bit of manoeuvring around the swimmers at the boat ramp and we were at the bait grounds. We found the yellowtail pretty quickly and started filling up the bait tank with some nice large specimens. Running out to the fishing grounds we spotted both whales and dolphins. I dropped my head at the wrong time and missed a sting ray jumping about 2m out of the water. When we have fished the area previously sometimes the kings have preferred live bait and other times jigs have been killing it. We took a bet each way Mat dropped a live bait and I started with a jig. Due to the wind Mark concentrated on keeping the boat in position against the wind. It is about 140m deep and with the drift it was a challenge getting to the bottom while keeping clear of the boat. After a few drops I had a big hit and then realised the line had snagged the motor. Took a while to unwrap but unfortunately I lost the line and jig. We kept switching roles so everyone had the chance to hook up but it wasn’t happening. I had a second rod set up for live baits and started sending live baits down. I lost two live baits after feeling some bumps. Mat spotted a ball of fish about 110m down so I wound my line up from the bottom. The jigging braid with its line colour changes every 10m made it easy to judge depths. A little while after line started peeling off. Tightened the drag and I was on. We kept Mark’s bait nearby mine in the hope of a double hook up but no joy. Mat was wondering if the king was actually legal as I was looking pretty relaxed and didn’t seem to be struggling. The gear I was using was a NS Black Hole Amped Jig S-52 rod PE4-8 rated for 200-400gm lures and a Saragosa SW20000 with 80lb jigging braid. It had weight so I was sure it was 80cm at a minimum. My two biggest fears were pulling the hook or being sharked. I deliberately didn’t go super hard as I could afford to let the king take some line without panicking it. At this stage the advantages were mine. It took about 20m of line but I was confident I was still at least 10m from the bottom. I kept the pressure on and kept bringing it towards the surface. At 10m below the boat I was expecting the king to spook so I backed the drag off (really didn’t want to lose this fish). It ran but as I was able to keep it away from the boat I still wasn’t stressed.  We could see colour and it was big. A few minutes later Mark netted it for me. Was my best king to date but had a cracked the meter? The measure on the boat went to 90cm and the king easily cracked it. It looked to be a metre based on a visual assessment but I couldn’t be 100% sure and my tape measure was in my other fishing bag. As it was the only king so far it went in the esky. On another positive our fear of being leatherjacketed hadn’t happened and Mark also hooked a leatherjacket which went in the esky. We stopped for a quick photo opportunity at which point I realised how broad the shoulders were of the king and how heavy it was. We were visited by some small whales and an albatross. Mark hooked up the line I’d lost and back came my jig (I’d rather have lost the jig and kept the line as it costs $110). With no more hits we made the decision to head in via some other marks on the GPS. I dropped a live bait and lifted it about 5m off the bottom but managed to snag up on something odd. There was some give but I couldn’t get the line back. We drove it off and I was very glad just to lose part of the leader. Damn that Amped rod was strong. One of the yellowtails came back with slashes along its flanks. Short while later a couple of barracouta came up. Time to move on. We got the boat back to Mark’s and out came the tape measure. 102cm and I’d finally joined the metre club. Mark’s wife was cool enough to let Mat fillet the king on the kitchen bench. Those fillets were big. It was an awesome day with a couple of fantastic mates.

 

 

It was two days later sitting in the car on the way to the fishing shop (had some braid to replace) I realised how big an impact chasing that king had had on my life for the last 15 or so years. My first proper introduction to kings was a pre-production video by two Sydney mates showing how they caught kingfish. With a couple of mates (Chris and Tom) I lost my kingfish virginity in middle harbour with a 61cm fish (when legal size was 60cm) and a second one within an hour. I was hooked (so to speak) and I wanted to learn so much more. I bought more kingfish DVDs and learned to catch squid. Fishing around Sydney harbour I made a great group of fishing buddies (Todd, Ollie, Mat, Tom, Andrea, Andy, Felix and quite a few others). As I got better I helped a few people lose their kingfish virginity (Marnie, Eric, Ollie, Nano, Bronwyn, Vlad, Tom B, @anthman, @big Neil, Hannes, etc). I’ve had a lot of fun researching gear and wandering through shops looking at what might work. With a group of mates we bought some Hobie fishing kayaks and have also headed out on a charter or two. I work with 2 Finnish guys that have both cracked the 1m barrier. I watched one of them, Mikko, fishing a stick bait off the ocean rocks tease up a king. The fight was a brutal tug of war which the king lost. 1.2m and 15.6kg and it left me re-evaluating my gear. Gave me an excuse to head into the shops to get a Saragosa and another NS amped rod. During kingfish related discussions on Fishraider I’ve made some good friends (@Mike89, @wazatherfisherman, @savit, @HenryR, @krause, @big Neil, @Ragnar and others). There have been magical days on the water seeing wildlife in their natural environment. The pursuit of the kingfish has given me so much joy and allowed me to put the occasional feed on the table. This was a pause for reflection and certainly not the end of a journey as a I’ll continue to chase them with a passion and I still have many kingfish goals on my list – the biggest being a 1m plus king from the kayak with a fly rod (my holy trinity, my golden goal).

Edited August 23, 2019 by DerekD

[wazatherfisherman]

Truly a great read Derek! Congratulations on both the fish and sharing the story. Great pics too! 

The reflection of the Kingfish 'journey' is also a great story in itself, I'll bet a lot of other readers are also thinking of the significance of fishing milestones after reading this story! 

Fantastic mate! Now for the next size chapter!

Regards Waza

[kingie chaser]

Now thats a nice sized Kingie 

 

I've put my order in for one of those models this spring/summer 😁

 

Well done Derek 

[mrsswordfisherman]

Fantastic post and thanks Derek

Hope you get that "holy trinity"

[DerekD]

39 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

I've put my order in for one of those models this spring/summer 😁

 

Hi Kingie Chaser. Hope you get it. Pretty sure your smile afterwards will be as big as the king.

[big Neil]

If ever anybody deserved some compliments, Derek, it's you. I have had the pleasure of being 'shown the ropes' by you and want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the capture and the great story of your journey. You are an excellent tutor, not only explaining what to do but why. You give information freely and (no doubt) get some reward in doing this. To me, that's the sign of a genuine person who has a lot to share and is very willing to do so. A trait that is not always evident in today's society. I wish you every ounce of good fortune in your search for the holy trinity and hope to catch up with you again sometime down the track. Cheers buddy, bn

[DerekD]

As it was Mark's boat we left him with half the fish as the captain's share. Mat got the other half as I don't eat fish but was just so happy to be out there.  This photo is of the fillets from Mat's half of the fish.