# Lord Howe (Adventure) Island - Part Five (Final)



## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

This is the final installment of the Lord Howe Island trip report. If you have just happened upon it for the first time here are the first four posts covering the entire trip.
Part One - http://akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=39682
Part Two - http://akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=39693
Part Three - http://akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=39694
Part Four - http://akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=39707

*Monday*
Sunday was a washout, high winds and lots of rain squalls. It rained and blew most nights. Grant and Anthony left on the lunchtime plane and with the weather too rough to get out on the yaks we did one of the island's many spectacular walks to the 'Boat Harbour'. A rocky little protected beach about an hours Class 4 walk up and over an escarpment at the southern end of the island. 








Monday on the other hand was another sensational day with Tuesday predicted to be the same. We rode our bikes to Ned's Beach and setup on the beach as per usual. With a new week brought all new tourists and again we patiently explained to all that asked that we knew it was a sanctuary and yes we were going way out there to fish on those things. :roll:.

With no wind and little current we pedalled around the point and out of the zone. Having landed all of my kings on the one plastic I saw no reason to change tactics today and tossed out the same 'True Blue' patterned 190mm squidgy slick rig. Lynette tried the same in 'Drop Bear'. We had only traveled 250mm when her reel screamed into life and the rod buckled over with the weight of the fish. After the initial run she retrieved the rod from the holder, hit the pedals and rudder to bring the yak around and folded in the amah to make the fight easier. 








Check the weight on that rod. This was another good kingy. 








Only having landed tuna this size by the tail before and wanting to release this her first kingy, she opted to use the lip grippers to secure the fish and remove the hook. With a bit of life left in the fish, pulling it into her lap for a photo wasn't an option, so we went for a few over the head shots.








Due to the weight it was hard to get a shot of the fish and her smiling all at once! 









A quick measure on the paddle sticker had it at just over 1.1m and at my estimate about 14kg. Lynette opened the lip grips and sat back and smiled as the fish swum away. Her best yak fish so far. _Are there ANY other female yak fishos in the country fishing offshore and landing fish this size?_

Under pedal into the light head wind, we made our way past Clear Place and down along Blinky Beach. The wind was up a bit now and after a quick snack in the shelter of Blinky's we turned around and allowed the conditions to push us home. When we were in roughly the same spot where I hooked Saturday's kingy there was a good show on the sounder and my reel squawked into life with a solid run. 'You beauty' I thought and as I took the weight of the fish on the 24kg stick I reckoned I had another good king on the end. With the little Saltist locked up the full 7kg this thing was still making solid runs and life pretty uncomfortable for me. I was as surprised as anyone to see a horse sized Spangled Emperor come aboard. 








That thing gave me curry for 10 minutes, remembering I'm fishing 7lb drag on 50lb braid and 200lb leader. Unfortunately after trying for 10 minutes I couldn't revive the fish so back to the resort it went to be part of Pinetree's Monday Night Fish Fry.
_At 72cm that's another HOF fame first for me please mods._ That's two HOF firsts for the trip for me. Are you starting to get the picture about the size of the fish at this place? 8)

Unfortunately that's about it for the fishing for the remainder of the trip. Mother nature reminded us whom was in charge and from Wednesday on there was no real fishing opportunities until we had to wrap the kayaks on Friday afternoon for transport back to the mainland. Tuesday was an awesome day but with Thursday still charting as good weather for fishing I opted to do two dives off the Admiralty Rocks group. That was amazing and Im glad I took that option before the weather turned bad. Coral caves and lots of marine life on a very clear day. Awesome.

The weather did give us the opportunity to get out and see a bit more of the island by foot and bike and gave us the other perspective of locations we had already fished off on the yaks. Its pretty much photos from here on in with a few postcards to finish.

I hope this report has encouraged you to make the journey there. It's a unique part of Australia and a fantastic place for a holiday.


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

*Postcards from Lord Howe*

































*Lord Howe Island is an Amazing Place!!!*


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

Thanks for the reports Paul excellent work 8) 
and Lynette, congrats for Yak'n that Huge Kingy .... well done Girl


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## baitwasta (May 24, 2007)

luckily Lord Howe is an expensive holiday , tourist numbers are regulated and it keeps the people numbers down and the fish numbers up, there's actually some some really scary water out there. wish i'd been there with you , fantastic kingy off a yak!!! cheers JohnO


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## TheFishinMusician (Feb 5, 2007)

Thanks Paul for that final piece of the puzzle and for the rest of the series.

A very enjoyable read and some really nice eye candy along the way.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Paul have read the 5 reports and really enjoyed the series and pics mate, and some wonderful action.


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## Southerly (Apr 20, 2007)

Hi Paul,

Congrats on getting the yaks over there and the great reports. Went there for my 20th wedding anniversary in January, heaven on earth thats for sure. We loved the laid back safety of the place to, our rooms had no lock or keys. Just marvelous, already plotting my return, will have to hire one of those hobies.

David


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## Isokaze (Sep 27, 2008)

nice fish


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Truly epic adventure boys & gal. I'm getting the itch again bad, time to arrange another extended trip soon.


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## gummyshark (Jan 12, 2010)

thanks for sharing such a fantastic post and pictures of heaven 8) 
gee a lot of work in these post, don't worrie think i read them 3 times now :lol: 
good too see lynette get in on the action as well, loved her smile and i bet the kingie had one too as she released it good 1 8) 
cheers gummyshark/ norm ;-)


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## amulloway (Jul 8, 2008)

i'm furious with these postings!
not because i didn't thoroughly enjoy reading it, but because whenever i tick somewhere off my list of must fish places (recently Fraser Is.), i read something like this and have to add another one!!! 
Looked fantastic, great read, awesome fishing, truly jealous.
Regards Ash


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

Another classic adventure Paul. Good on you's for doing it. Its going to be hard to out do that one.......the Maldives look nice, or there's a little out of the way uninhabited Island called Ile St Paul in the southern Indian ocean (its got your name on it and all)


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## Duane (Oct 20, 2007)

Thanks for the series, makes me dream of warmer places, specially when I was getting ice off the car this morning!


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## paulb (Nov 12, 2006)

What a great trip - well done to the both of you, but especially Lynette - those fish wouldn't have been easy to bring in.


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks everyone. 
At first glance it seems an expensive holiday but I never spent a single cent the two weeks I was there (apart from the bar bill at the end of the holiday on CC). I see packages on the website ex Sydney for $1200 odd dollars including accom, all of your food and airfares. Id be hard pressed to hire a unit on the Gold Coast for a week and buy food and entertainment for less. As I said the kayaks are already there. The AI we hired was $60 a day. The standard kayaks would be cheaper again.

But holiday costs aside. its the place itself that is well worth a look. Not just the natural beauty but the way the whole place works. They way people treat each other (tourists included) is worth the trip alone. I dont think we made it out of Brisbane airport on the journey home without hearing someone going off at someone else at the top of their lungs. It was nice to be away from all that for two weeks.

Isle ST Paul indeed!!! Tho it does have a nice ring to it. 8) 
Next years trip will be two weeks on the Sunshine Coast when the fish are bitinh

Thanks for taking the time to read the reports (even if you just looked at the pictures) ;-)


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Thanks for sharing that great report mate. It brought back memories of the some of the places I visited and a few I didnt get to. It really is a truly magical place - I'm not sure if you mentioned this in your account but in terms of the underwater flora and fauna - its pretty rare as the waters there carry many species that are found in both colder and warmer waters combined. Maybe you should set up the annual Lord Howe Island King Fish Kayak Regatta


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## fishinnut (Oct 4, 2009)

Three words mate, Absolutly Bloody Awesome. What cracker of a trip


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## ELM (Jul 14, 2008)

Thanks for going to all the effort Paulo, amazing place and have truly enjoyed reading every word and gazing at every photo.

Lynette, you are one hell of a woman getting out there and smashing those Kingies, well done that was a cracking fish and the smile said it all.

Top stuff.


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## Drewboy (Mar 18, 2008)

Paul,
Mate, you really do have the formula.....hope it stays that way.


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## mrwalker (Feb 23, 2009)

Thanks for a great series of reports Paul, your good work is appreciated. Been there a few times, never got to do a lot of fishing but there is always next time, cheers, Dave.


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