Jigging Kingfish - Lorde Howe Island

[wwatson]

Hi Raiders just a quick question about jigging in relations to kingfish. Heading to Lorde Howe Island chasing kingfish on the jig and am unsure about which rod to look into. I am tossing up between a Nitro Grave Digger PE2-5 max drag 26kg and a nitro Hell Raiser PE3-6 max drag 30kg+. They are both nice rods but obviously the 3-6 has a much thicker body. If anyone has jigged lord howe or jigs kingfish often any help is appreciated. I will be putting a Saltist LTD 5000 on it. 

 

Cheers Tight Lines

[PaddyT]

I havent fished LH myself but a good mate gave me a rundown , big issue over there is beating the sharks and the other big issue is taking luggage - so jigs end up being a bit of an issue-you cant take enough to beat the shark numbers because of weight issues on the flight. I do know someone else who was a fanatical jigger who preshipped a whole bunch using seafreight to get round this. Apparently the majority fish are not in the NZ or Norfolk class so im sure your gear will be OK , good luck , especially with beating the greycoats

[Berleyguts]

I can’t give you much advice on gear but I do advise you to check your baggage limits. When I fished LHI in 1990 there was a 15kg baggage limit on the aircraft (a DASH 8). I took as few clothes as I could in order to carry more fishing gear. I packed a Daiwa Sealine 400H loaded  with 15kg mono and a 4500 Baitrunner from memory loaded with 6kg mono plus a spare spool of 4kg. I packed the 2 rods (built myself on a JS980 blank and a Super Barra blank) in a PVC tube. These days, I’d take a lever drag reel in 15 or 24kg class and something like one of my snapper outfits (20 or 30lb braid). You might want to go heavier, although the charter I fished on provided good gear in 24kg class, which is why I took lighter gear... I did have a lot of fun on smaller kings on the 4kg line and it served me in the lagoon on Trevally and bluefish. What I couldn’t fit in my suitcase, I posted ahead (lures mostly, about 5kg worth). Allow plenty of time for postage. I used to work for Australia Post and was heavily involved in mail issues to LHI. Unless you pay for Express Post, parcels go by road to Yamba, then by ship to the island. The ship only goes every 2 weeks, so allow at least 3 weeks ex Sydney but be aware that the ship goes into dry dock twice a year so it can be 6 weeks between journeys. Express Post and letters will be carried by air but there are weight and space restrictions, so it may not always get on the first flight. In low tourist seasons, there are less flights and who knows how COVID19 has affected mail carriage to LHI? My friends still with Post advise that parcel volumes (due to COVID) across Australia generally are unprecedented, heavier than Christmas volumes and they are really under the pump. Short answer, don’t post something you can’t afford to be without.

Good luck and tight lines!

[JonD]

A mate recently went with his two young boys. Kings wearnt huge but like already mentioned getting fish in before the sharks get to them is the hard part. They were catching nannigui of around 10kg + but only gets heads to the boat. 

[Berleyguts]

3 hours ago, JonD said:

A mate recently went with his two young boys. Kings wearnt huge but like already mentioned getting fish in before the sharks get to them is the hard part. They were catching nannigui of around 10kg + but only gets heads to the boat. 

Yes, that is why the charters prefer you to fish 24kg... lots of sharks! I remember I was trolling 15 and hooked a decent rat. Then the deckie said, “Get it in quick! There’s a Noah after it!” So I started cranking it in harder. Then the deckie called out, “No! Drop it back! There’s a bloody big king after it!” So I dropped it back. A huge king hit it and took off. I got reefed! 🤷‍♂️

[wwatson]

Cheers for the help guys!