# King hit at Coogee



## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Launched this morning around 0600 from Coogee Beach. Sea still had a lot of swell, but the wind was non-existant. Had rigged up some squid for trolling, using the Geoff Wilson method. They looked pretty good. Paddled out to Wedding Cake Island and trolled the squid up to Lurline Bay. No hits. I was sure there were kingies around. Yesterday I could see fish swirling around and the seagulls going berserk. Figured they were slimies, and where there are slimies there are usually big kingies. Had also taken out my little 3kg outfit with braid and SP's. 
Saw some seagulls so decided to paddle over to investigate. Well....
I have never seen anything like it. Kingies were everywhere. On the surface, down below, splashing around the kayak. It was unbelievable. I figured I could try with the 3kg outfit and if I hooked one then I would be sending you this post from Auckland. As soon as the SP hit the surface, it got smashed. The kingie went berserk, and sounded immediately. The little rod was bent and most of it was underwater. The braid was peeling off the little reel at an alarming rate, to the point that I started seeing the backing monofilament. Luckiliy the rod is quite long (8ft) and very springy. Managed to stop his run. Played him for about 20 mins, going very carefully, as I knew I did not have much leeway with the line. Only using 8lb for the leader. Finally brought him close to the yak, where he decided to take another run. This time, though, he was exhausted. 2kg and 60cm long kingie. No sooner had I put him to rest than the water boiled around me again and dropping an SP, I was on again. This time the hook pulled out. Quickly cast again and BANG! on I was. This time after another 20 minutes, up comes a very nice 3kg kingie, that had swallowed the SP. Put that one away, cast again and WHAM! off I was. This time after about 10 mins, the line snapped.
Just amazing fishing this morning. The kingies were everywhere. 
Here are some photos. Remember, tomorrow morning if anyone is interested...bring your SP's and hang on!!!!
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Wooo Hooo! Champion effort Simon. What a buzz.


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Gotta love it when it goes nuts - Great stuff Simon.
What softs were you using?


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

great fun on light gear!

good to see theres plenty of 60cm models around - could you see any bigger fish down deep?


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## aleg75 (Dec 20, 2005)

nice mate! well done Simon


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Just using the 3" Berkley in Pumpkinseed and another couple of Shads, I think. Blue in colour, and light brown. I couldn't see any bigger ones deep, though I was fishing in about 18 metres of water. They were mostly on the surface, with their heads and tails out of the water. The school would keep moving, but remain within a 300-400 metre radius. I have realised that ocean fishing is a very visual kind of fishing. Seagulls usually hover over balls of bait, splashing and other visual cues get you paddling fast towards the spot, before you cast out a lure or SP and get smashed. Kingies had no interest in the squid.
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

the other week when I was fishing off kurnell I would see a school of fish 200-300m in the distance and start paddling towards them. I was dragging a couple of hb lures behind me. Usually before I could get to the edge of the school and start casting, the lures would get hit by other fish cruising away from the pack.

however on other occasions the lures have remained untouched and you physically need to be on top of the fish jigging or ripping a soft plastic through them to get a bite. the sp's seem to catch a lot more fish than metal slices.

exciting stuff!

(love to join you tomorrow but I CAN'T!!) - kids swimming lessons in the morning, and TOO many odd jobs need doing around the place before I fly out on Sunday.


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## Polar (Sep 1, 2005)

champion effort on light tackle - must have been a immense buzz - ya lucky bugger


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## fisher (Aug 30, 2005)

Sensational stuff Simon - thats the stuff dreams are made of. If only i could work out a way to get my prowler over there :?: - nah, couldn't do that to you - if I went there they would disappear for sure :lol: 
Good work.


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## Fishing Man (Oct 4, 2006)

well done mate,

im pretty envious of all the kings you guys get in Sydney.


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Nice light line yellars!

I mean no offense, but do you ever see fish (kings) over say 10kg? I know that little spinner would be taxed to the max, but I'm curious if the mid-size fish ever show off there.

Congrats, good eating!

Red, yaks are so stealth they themselves often act as FAD's. I've had the whole food chain going on under me, with pinhead anchovys getting attacked by green mackerel and barracuda. The anchovies were getting pushed up through my scuppers by the bigger fish. I saw a thresher tail smacking bait that day, too but it was out on the periphery, out of range of a cast. I love that stuff. Definitely worth the price of admission!
"You are one with the baitball"

Z


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Zed said:


> I mean no offense, but do you ever see fish (kings) over say 10kg? I know that little spinner would be taxed to the max, but I'm curious if the mid-size fish ever show off there.


Hoodlums! Yes, but a lot less common. They are making a comeback in local waters having being decimated by now-banned floating fish traps. Many more are hooked than landed - they have the reputation here of being the dirtiest fighting fish, ducking for any available structure to bust you off. Northern tip of NZ is the place to chase them


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

I am SICK with envy 

Well done though Simon, glad to hear others doing well. Was it still pretty early when they were breaking the surface?


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## Dan A (Aug 29, 2005)

Coupla nice fish there, am yet to get a nice sports fish from the yak.

Good stuff!


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2006)

Awesome fishing 8)

Top stuff mate.......


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

Great report and pics Simon, especially good to land those kings on light gear


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

Thanks for all the comments.
Unfortunately did not get a length for the comp. Need to buy the Shimano mat thing. 
The kingies were around when I first arrived, around 0630 and I got the first hit around 0730. Had I not lost the jig head, I would have kept on catching them. In my haste to be...er...minimalist, I only took out one jighead (which rhymes with what I am for having done that..  ).
They were hammering the plastics without hesitation. If there had been more of us, it would have been video footage material. They would come to the surface, then go deep, then come up again.
Is it true that if you catch a kingie it's best you tether him in the water so the others stay around? I suppose though you may have the Noah problem to contend with.
It was an awesome day. The type of day that really makes you appreciate kayak fishing, and when you know you have done everything right in regards to tying the knots, using the right leader, using the right plastic, etc. Honestly the rod was mostly under the water than on top. They know how to fight on light tackle. Still shaking... :shock: :shock: 
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## Jake (Sep 23, 2005)

Simon, sounds like awesome fun mate. I think it was Gatesy who said it best..."That report left me nursing a semi!".

I see so many bait balls like that out at sea when Im at work, but of course I cant go kayak fishing at work, so frustrating. Well done!

Cheers,
Jake


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## andybear (Jan 15, 2006)

Aww never had a Kingfish yet!.... Looking forward to it though

Cheers Andybear :lol:


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Simon , absolutely brilliant, what a session, there is nothing like having a school of active feeding fish milling round your kayak, it happened to me quite a few years ago just inside north head, i was on a long ski and stopped for my friend to catch up , when a hugh school of tuna about 5kgs broke the surface and started to go beserk , didnt have a rod ,   so just sat there and watched the display, awsome, have never forgotten it


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Great morning session Simon


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## YakAtak (Mar 13, 2006)

Nice salmon mate 8)


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Peril said:


> Zed said:
> 
> 
> > I mean no offense, but do you ever see fish (kings) over say 10kg? I know that little spinner would be taxed to the max, but I'm curious if the mid-size fish ever show off there.
> ...


Arrgh, it always some affect of ours.

Anyway, thanks. They're the same here. You better be ready, because they're headed to the nearest rock or kelp stalk. I impressed by the light line class that I see you all (generally) using. I think duran is the sane one, with his 25#. Ha. Personally I very rarely use less than 15# in saltH2O.

Z


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## Yakabe (Dec 16, 2005)

Hey Zed,

Over here in South Australia we get a run of Kings in the upper reaches of the Spencer Gulf, with fish around the 30+kg mark. The largest caught this year was a massive 42.5kg which was an Australian record. They have a very short season here as they seem to move off after spawning to who knows where. We do get in the gulf, during the summer fish to 25kg, but fish < 10kg are more common.

Yakabe.


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## JT (May 25, 2006)

Well done Simon. I must say that I am green with envy. I guess you don't catch them lying in bed  :twisted:

JT


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Zed said:


> Peril said:
> 
> 
> > Zed said:
> ...


Read a report yesterday of a 28kg specimen caught off the rocks in southern Sydney


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## Daveyak (Oct 6, 2005)

Great stuff Simon. Got my pulse racing just reading & thinking about a session like that.



Zed said:


> do you ever see fish (kings) over say 10kg?


I'm still hoping! Divers I speak to who spend time in the waters along this coast & around King George Sound (the body of water near Albany) say they are always seeing some huge kings. My father picked a 40 lb king trolling from aboat earlier this year but even though there's plenty of 'em around, they're not a common catch. I've not heard of any of the smaller, more manageable (from a kayak) sized kings being caught around here.

It's not often (especially lately) we get weather conditions good enough to get out around the islands where these great fighting fish live.


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## YakAtak (Mar 13, 2006)

Oops, I obviously didn't take enough notice when I looked at this the first time  Nice little rat kings mate.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Man what a top report, Kingfish in Sydney with SP on yak = 1337

Killer mate, amazing what the sense of enjoyment you recieve when you hook a fish from a bait ball... Got to get my yak salty already!

Well done mate.


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