# First ever Yak to fish the Ulladulla Kingy Ground...



## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

The Kingy Ground....a famous, and pretty large reef, which sits in around 70m and peaks up to just over 50m about 5kms due east of the Ulladulla lighthouse (about 6.5kms from the boat ramp)
As its name suggests, it is, or rather was, a prolific kingy holding reef, and such was its downfall thanks to the pro's and their kingy traps. It's been 5 years since I last was out there, and that was pretty much the last time it really was going off - 8kg specimens were the norm, with many up to and around 15kgs. There have been the odd flurry's of activity out there, but for the last few years its just been keeping the bottom bouncers happy with snapper, mowies and jackets, with smallish mako's putting in a few appearances too, and the very occasional kingy.
The last 3 weekends however have seen the fisho's in town buzzing with excitement because finally, the Kingy Ground has been firing, with the Kings thicker in numbers than they have been for years.
One of the guys I took out snapper fishing a few weeks back (Pete), headed out there in his 28 Bertam last weekend and cleaned up - not big fish, but most were legals so it was good fishing all the same. I got a text picture from another mate who went out on Tuesday - and he was holding up a fish knocking on the door of 15kgs (which incidentally snapped his rod above the second ring during the fight).
Pete called me up on Tuesday night and said that they were heading out on Saturday (forecast was perfect), and, as he is fully aware of my idiot side, offered to take me and the yak out with them.
It was too good an offer to refuse, and thus the majority of the rest of my week was sleepless with anticipation, and spent beavering away in my shed digging out my old Kingy Rigs, the big guns and other bits and peices, and also finally getting around to constructing a bait tube.
Saturday morning finally came.
I met them at the wharf and unloaded the majority of my gear on to the boat, and then launched the yak from the boat ramp and pedalled around the headland to a spot where I hoped to get some live squid, whilst they motored out of the harbour and started collecting slimeys.
I plugged away for half an hour, but didn't manage to attract any squid, but the guys on the boat soon had the tank full and they called me up on the VHF and said 'lets go'
I cruised over to them, jumped aboard and we slid the yak over the side and onto the deck and we were away. I was soooooo pumped for this, but at the same time, I was not expecting the most awesome fishing ever, as I knew that the pros would have been out there for the last couple of weeks flogging the place to bits, so really we were only going to get the tail end of the action.
A few minutes later we were at the Ground, and as I'd expected there were plenty of other boats out there, spread right over the reef, with a couple of pro boats out there too.
The yak went over the side, and I sat in it and had my gear passed down to me. I wasn't going to be stuffing around today - even though I knew that most of the fish hadn't been all that massive, there was still the chance of solid fish, so I'd brought the big gear. There was no point taking my snapper gear - mainly because the reels didn't hold enough line to get to the bottom and have enough left over to handle a big run. My two live bait rods were a 15kg fully rollered Tica rod with a Penn 245LD spooled with 15kg mono, and a Tiagra 50 fully rollered rod with a Tiagra 50WLRS, and a Penn Big Game 15-24kg rod with a Penn Spinfisher 9500 spooled with 24kg mono to be my jig rod.
Anyway, off I went. It was incredibly exciting - and I was getting a real buzz knowing that I was the first to christen this patch of water with a yak.
I deployed two livies, with a big one on the Tiagra under the yak, and a smaller livey on the 15kg, sent to the bottom and then drifted about 50metres behind me on a balloon. I started off very slow trolling the baits around, but with a fair bit of current coming from the north, and about 7knts of breeze from the south, I wasn't really getting any where, so I opted to set the drouge and drift instead.
The first hour was really quiet. No one was hitting fish, and I began to suspect that we may have missed the run and it was all over. The guys on the boat called up to let me know that they'd just had a 2m mako cruise past but apart from that they'd seen nothing. Spewing  
Then, I noticed a guy on a boat up the northern end of the reef was working pretty hard with a bent rod, and sure enough, his mate was standing next to him with a landing net....cooooooool, here we go.
I pulled in the baits - well, the heads - bloody jackets (the Kingy ground is notorious for them) - and pedalled up to where the action was happening. As I went passed the other boats, I got a few funny looks and a few 'points' - one guy who I said hello to as I went past him, just shook his head in disapproval and turned his back on me! They just don't understand..... :lol: 
Once up there, the guys called me up to say that they'd just got one too - I was now getting pretty towey, so once I'd set my livies out, I grabbed the jig rod and sent down a big blue knife.
I hate jigging - its bloody hard work - especially in deep water, with a big heavy rod, and sitting down. It took a while to work out the most comfortable way of doing it (which wasn't very) and kept at it until finally, one fast retrieve upwards became a blistering run down wards and Smeg was onto his first king from the yak! Whooo hooo!!! I forgot how good kings go, but it didn't play up too much, and after a few minutes of huff and puffing, I got colour and dragged him over the side. You beauty! Unfortuantly though, he was a smidge under legal, and by far my smallest kingy ever! Still, I'd got one, so I took a snap and sent him back to his mates.
I got another one about 10 minutes later, but this time I had a bit more to deal with - in the shape of a big arsed dirty old seal! As I got the fish up near the yak, I saw the seal dive under me and go for the fish - and sure enough the bugger grabbed it. My mates on the boat were pissing themselves as they watched me do battle with Sammy, with the nose of the Revo being swung one way and then the other as the seal did what he could to relieve me of the fish.
Luck was on my side though, as he'd grabbed the fish by the tail rather than its head, and he dropped it. With a locked drag, and me leaning as hard as I could into the fish, I cranked it in, and swung it over the side - only to have the seal come head and shoulders out of the water right next to me! I did have a momentary 'brown' moment, as I thought he was going to lean in and grab it out from between my legs (and possibly the bells :shock: ), but instead he just hung there and hissed his disappointment.
Again though, this fish was just under - 63cm and with a mutilated tail - I felt pretty bad sliding it back over the side to a slow death, but the rules are rules and I guess he would have fed a few fishes back down on the reef.
Things went quiet again for a while and I'd drifted a fair way from where I'd got the first one, so I pulled in another two slimey heads :? and went back to the mark and drifted again.
First drop with the jig, this time a larger 'fluro' knife, and I was straight on - this time to a better fish, which also had to dodge the seal during the end game, but finally it made it up onto the deck unscathed and yep - it was a keeper!!! RIPPER!! Still not an 8kg fish like in times gone by, but it was over 70cm so it was all good.  A couple of quick brain adjustments with my staino pipe donger and I put him under the bungies on the rear deck, and got back to the action.
I ended up getting a couple more 'just unders', another one that went legal, and also a nice bonnie that I also kept.
It then all went quiet and we all stopped getting fish. It was getting on for lunchtime and I was pretty rooted anyway from all the jigging and fighting fish, and with a nice feed to take home I was happy to call it quits for the day. I cruised over to the guys on the boat and said that I was going to head in. The plan had been to load the yak back on the boat, but as it was a pretty reasonable day, I decided to head in under my own steam (well, my own steam plus an icey cold Crowny out of their esky ;-) ). 
It was a magic trip back in, with a pod of 4 big whales going nuts in the water about a k to the north of me - I never get tired of seeing whales.
The trip took about 40, maybe 50 minutes to get back to the ramp, and after another cold one whilst cleaning the fish, the day was complete.
I'd hit the Kingy Ground and brought some Kingies home - my most extreme yak trip so far had been a success. Mission complete. I guess now, there is a new spot to yak fish - albeit on the right day, and certainly with company and comms to the mainland. I'll keep my ears to the ground and if I hear of it firing out there again I'll let you know - I'd love to see a few other yakkers out there and hooked up to hoodlums!
Heres some piccies....
Cheers for now,
Smeg


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## Rstanek (Nov 5, 2007)

Great report Greg, sounds like an awesome spot for a mothership adventure.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Gratz man,

Such a good feeling I am sure, pioneering your own area is the bees knees.

Nice report mate...


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

Well done smeg jigging from a yak thats insane. How many kms out were you.

Cheers Micka


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2009)

Hey mate awesome stuff and a great read aswell thank you.


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## warren63 (Apr 16, 2009)

Great report, well done !!


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## AJD (Jul 10, 2007)

Dude - great report. A cool way to fish new water!
The kingy grounds were a top place to fish when I was living down that way. I remember getting smashed up one day on 15kg tackle time and time again.
I hope you land a real stonker in the near future.
cheers Al


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## MrX (Feb 7, 2008)

Marvelous report there Smeg - thoroughly enjoyed it. Seals trying to pinch your fish, whale watching, heading home under your own steam - what an adventure! Nice payback too: take a mate on a yak and get it him on to snapper, he takes you out on his stinkboat (including yak!), and gets you on to kings.

How did the lads go on the boat? Did the yak outfish them?


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## blueyak (Jan 20, 2009)

Top report Greg. It's good to see some kings are around down there again.

Look forward to seeing a meter+ job coming aboard.


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

Cheers guys, glad you enjoyed it!


yakattack said:


> Well done smeg jigging from a yak thats insane. How many kms out were you.
> 
> Cheers Micka


Its about 5kms to the closest bit of dry rock... as for the jigging, yep it was insane, pretty unco, and my shoulders are killing me!



MrX said:


> How did the lads go on the boat? Did the yak outfish them?


Well I suppose one could call it that I did a tiny bit better - they brought home 5 fish, and there were 4 of them on board, and I brought home 3. My biggest one was either a little bigger, or a little smaller than their biggest one (didn't measure theirs!). They did get a lot of throw backs though. In all they landed 14 fish between them, and I landed 7 (including the bonnie). They did however chew at least 50 bucks in fuel ;-) Go the yakker!
Interestingly though, they didn't get any on jigs - it was either livies or dead baits that did the business for them.
A bloody awesome adventure though - I can't wait to do it again......mmmmm.....and hopefully one day from a PA - I'd be able to stand up and jig then! :lol: 
Cheers guys,
Smeg


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## craig450 (May 11, 2007)

Sensational effort Greg!! im insanely jealous mate.

Well done and thanks for the report


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## Beanhead (Nov 13, 2008)

A top story Smeg, right up there with the best.
As they say. No Guts, No Glory.
I have now become a great follower of your exploits.
The power to you.
Cheers Dave


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## spongy (Nov 13, 2008)

Great Report Greg.
My in-laws have a place down at Mollymook, and would love to check that reef out from the yak.
5Km from shore is definitely within my safe exploring range so definitely a "doable" fishing trip.
1 problem I have is I don't know where this reef is. Any chance you could share with me the co-ords?

Cheers,


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## MrFaulty (May 15, 2008)

and your kayak is even the same colour as mine! Id be very keen but would need some notice to get down there. Paddle out, pedal in.


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## Starver (Aug 18, 2008)

You done it again Greg, great read keep em coming, its all us Victorians have got to keep us going, fish wise it is very quiet this time of year.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

good to see the kings are coming back and that your mates gave you a taxi ride out to chase them....

I was down at Berrara on Saturday and was wishing I was out there in my kayak as conditions were awesome. Saw a few breaching whales as well... good stuff.


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

Fantastic report Greg. You have done what a lot of yakkers only dream of, (including me).
Would you just go the jigs next time to keep it simple?


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## Thomas (Aug 22, 2007)

nice one Greg. Good to see someone is trying something new and adventurous. Keep at it. I'm sure there are some big suckers out there


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## Southerly (Apr 20, 2007)

"My two live bait rods were a 15kg fully rollered Tica rod with a Penn 245LD spooled with 15kg mono, and a Tiagra 50 fully rollered rod with a Tiagra 50WLRS, and a Penn Big Game 15-24kg rod with a Penn Spinfisher 9500 spooled with 24kg mono to be my jig rod."

So what did you use for the big fish? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

David


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

A beautiful read as usual Greg ...great stuff.
No... I'll go further.
Your stories are always written with a special kind of synergy between you and your experiences.
More please.


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Wow, great report, would have loved to see your face when the seal threatened to join you, Cheers, Dave.


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

Thanks again guys - some kind words there, I really appreciate it and I'm glad my trip reports are enjoyed by so many crew.Cheers 8)

Anyhoo, here are the marks for Kingy Ground - 35.22.679 150.32.243 (I just googled them). It is a big reef though, that runs north to south for a k or so. I'd assume that anyone heading out in a yak would go out when it was 'on' out there, so there will always be other boats on the reef for company. That makes finding the reef a doddle - go straight out of the harbour and head east until you see all the boats. If, when you get there, guys on the boats are 'cutchun' KungFush' and calling you 'Bro', you've gone waaaay too far ;-)

Will I do away with the livies next time - hmm, probably not. When I'm fishing I like having a hook in the water all the time - jigging see's the occasional 'breather' happen, so that means down time, which I'm not in to. I actually expected the livies to go off, but they never did. I'm glad I had the jig rig else I would have got bored!

Saw my mate today who got the big un last week - he went out yesterday morning and they were still on. I was all pumped for another run this weekend....until I checked the windguru... 

There _will_ be a next time though....
Cheers,
Smeg


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## southcoastmatty (Jan 21, 2009)

Beam me up to the mothership Mr Lewis!!

Nice effort and an excellent strategy!

You seem to put yourself in the right place at the right time every time. Good to see you outthinking both the stinkboats and the fish. That peddle in must have been bliss.

ps I finally caught my first snapper 63cm .....albeit out of a boat and on bait just off Bannisters. Nearly got wiped by the Southern Bommie though [oops].

scm


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

did you try any big plastics on the kings? even drifting one behind you might work - we catch most of our kings up here on plastics (albeit in much shallower water), they just seem to love them. Big 7" Gulp jerkshads in white or salt pepper might work??


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## GregL (Jul 27, 2008)

southcoastmatty said:


> ps I finally caught my first snapper 63cm .....albeit out of a boat and on bait just off Bannisters. Nearly got wiped by the Southern Bommie though [oops].
> 
> scm


Nice one Matty! Yeah, that Bommie can be a monster - 20m up to less than 3m in next to no time - it'll catch you out in between sets....

Dave, I didn't try with sp's - I'm sure they would work, but I wasn't set up for it - I may well give it a bash though next time.

Cheers,
Smeg


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