# Longy 16.01.08 (Not as good as SBD's)



## wigg (Jan 6, 2007)

What can I say?
I was there the day that SBD caught 2 horses.
Conditions were average (wind and chop)
A very slow start until the tide changed.
The action wasnt as good as Saturday but it was still sun.
I think I used every trick in the book to lose a king today
Strightened treble
Shredded 80lb leader
Shredded 40lb leader
Bashed into Mr Woppie and had to put the rod in the holder before we both ended up in the drink
Reefed on 30lb braid
Reefed on 30lb mono
Spat hooks (stingers and assists)
Shredded 40lb stinger
Missed strikes

Did I have fun UBETCHA!

Managed to boat 2 keepers a 66 and a fat 68 that went harder than the 78 I caught last year.

Good to see such a good roll up and meet a few new faces.

I shouldnt laugh but Mr Woppie is the funniest guy I have ever seen fish. I will let him tell the tales.

Fingers crossed we can do it again on Friday.

Cheers

Wigg

sorry no pics


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## jaredluke (Nov 23, 2007)

I suppose it's all part of fishing losing fish and tackle but eh you ended up catching 2 nice sized kingies which is good.


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

wigg said:


> Strightened treble
> Shredded 80lb leader
> Shredded 40lb leader
> Bashed into Mr Woppie and had to put the rod in the holder before we both ended up in the drink
> ...


As a yellowtail kingfish virgin I am wondering about all the bust offs Im reading, on what I would have considered fairly substantial tackle. I have caught many black kings (cobia) to 30 kgs and never fished over 30lb braid and usually on a Penn GT220 combo ($89) and cant remember all the trouble I see described in the posts. Mind you I have smoked a few of those reels. But hey, for the price of 2 cartons of beer you get a new rod, reel and line. I look at them as being like disposable cameras , work them hard and throw em away.
Im heading to SWR in Feb and hoping to get a few down there. Im wondering if I need to upscale my tackle to chase these brutes. Strightened trebles and Shredded 80lb leader sounds like a 'Yes'. I am bringing a tld25 with 50lb braid and the Penn with 30lb as trolling rods. I was going to plastics fish for the kings with a 4-8kg starlo Stick and either a daiwa Sol 3000 or a Stradic\Twin Power 4000 with either 20lb or 30lb braid. I was hoping to buy a reel that I could estuary fish with lighter line and cover offshore plastics
Am I dreaming? I havent bought the reel yet so any advice would be good. What about the rod? I was going with max 80lb leader. Should I upscale that too? I dont want to spend my weekend respooling every night and retackling every 10 minutes.


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## wigg (Jan 6, 2007)

A big part of the problemis we are fishing in 10-15m of water.
Things would be different if we were fishing in 100m of water and it is reefy and rocky.
It just adds to the thrill.
I was using tld 25 AND A TLD 15 today.
A bit frustrating at times but hey I dont eat fish.
All good

Cheers

Wigg


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

Its a good point Paulo - i've never caught a kingfish so I don't know how hard they go but people do seem to get smoked regularly on substantial weight line. What size reels are people using? I read a post today saying how this particular person (sorry can't remember who) liked to use a 500/1000 sized reel for flatties and leave the 2500 sized for kingfishing :shock: Now from what i've heard about kingfish surely a 2500 is undergunned. I'd want a 4000 minimum by the sounds of things.

What size reel are people using? (assuming bigger reel pulls bigger drag) I know there's a few certates etc around that will pull higher drags for a smaller size...i suppose a better question is what drag settings are people fishing? No point having 30lb line and 80 lb leader if your reel can only pull 20lb of drag.

(thinking as i type - always a disaster) But since people are using 30lb line is it safe to assume they are using reels that pull 30lb (~13kg) of drag? From memory the certate 2500 can only pull around 7-9kg?


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

paulo said:


> As a yellowtail kingfish virgin I am wondering about all the bust offs Im reading, on what I would have considered fairly substantial tackle.


I'm a cobia virgin (until swr hopefully) but I can't even imagine how hard 30kg of kingfish would pull. In the shallow (up to 30m) reefy conditions we fish there's always a bit of luck to not end up reefed, even on heavy gear (there's a limit to how high the drag can go in the yak). Both fish this am were on 15lb Nitlon braid & 30lb Nitlon fluoro on a Certate 2500R custom, and with the king particularly a gentle approach paid off.

For SWR I'll fish the Certate combo (I run 3kg measured drag), a TLD20 with 15kg mono & 80lb leader (run @ 5kg strike) and a Catalina (if I'm good, yes Gatesy's got one) with around 30lb braid and 60lb fluoro (also set around 5kg drag). Hopefully I'll get smoked to hell.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

CHAOS AND QUIET !!! AND CHAOS !!!!!!

Paddled out with my host for the morning Wigg - thought I'd need my passport for the distance we paddled !!!! So nuthing happening - gets a bit bored !!! Puts out the big fat lure and puts out the little lure and puts out the big squid head on to a xmas tree sparkler - so paddled around with nothing going down  . So myself - Wigg and Paul B all kind of paddle together heading in the direction of home - wanting to know what all the fuss was about at LR. I could see on my sounder the water getting shallow - BANG Squid head gets hit BANG Little lure Gets hit - Start pumping the squid head rod (monster mesh) CRACK - snaps the end of sheeeeet - fish is till on though and the rod works heaps better now its only 4 feet !!!! The fish starts towing me round and I can see all my lines wrapping each other up - I then see Wig get hit and he's on - and he's being towed towards me. I get the one fish in the boat put him between my legs and just cut the line to save on extraction time and start pulling in the light rod - then BANG big lure goes off !!!! The rod is bent at an extreme angle and I'm being towed right into WIG - then we collide - what with plenty of FARKS and GIGGLES as we try and sort this frantic mess out - at one stage I'm almost ready to spit the dum and cut all the lines with my knife as it was too chaotic. I keep my cool and land the fish on the smaller outfit. Now for the big lure rod - I try and look back to see the big lure rod no longer flexing at the funny angle and I'm glad that the fish has rubbed me off - phew................. So the first fish is legal - second fish just under.............

Then we hook up with Avayak - Gary whos found a nice possie and a school of fish - I mosie on over to see whats going on and hook up onto a nice fish on one rod (SIMPLE LIFE FOR ME) and having fun playing the fish with the lads around me - Wig calls out that the xmas tree rod is getting hit - and i'm thinking pickers on the squid so continue to play my fish - then the bugger behind me really goes offfff - the rod in the flush mount is being pulled right over and the yak with it - I wobble almost out and can hear Wig pissing himself as I'm trying to land the fish in my right hand and undoing the drag on the rod thats being pulled in with the left - I hear another crack and the rod holder (flush mounted) gets ripped out of its screws - fark !!!!!! Finally get the two fish in !!! Again ones legal 67 and the others under - my god so much chaos for mid size fish !!!! Eventually my tally was 6 kings - two legal - 1 snapper legal (returned) - 3 sweep (yippee). Monster MEsh - snapped - road holder cracked - WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!! I'm only going to ever fish 2 rods at once again for kings - too crazy!!!

Thanks for showing us Longy Wigg and Gary your GPS was very handy

Tired WOppie

I'll post some pics later - need to lie down


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

sbd said:


> paulo said:
> 
> 
> > As a yellowtail kingfish virgin I am wondering about all the bust offs Im reading, on what I would have considered fairly substantial tackle.
> ...


SBD so am i right to say your drag settings are based on what you/the yak can handle safely rather than what the line/rod can handle? If that's so then why run the heavy line? Surely you'd get an advantage from running lighter line for casting distance etc?


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

travis - considering these fish (sub 65 rats) are all 3kg or less fish, theoretically you SHOULDNT be able to get smoked by them on 30lb braid (or even 10lb braid).

But they fight well above their weight. For such small fish they are incredibly powerful, and as wigg says if you give them 10 metres of line (that's about 1 nanosecond of light drag) they will rub you off on a sharp rock. They seem to have a fair amount of cunning and manage to find the sharpest snags.

however if you can manage to keep them above the reef in the first 20 seconds of the figt then you stand a good chance of catching them as they tire out after a few runs. the bigger guys (1 metre plus) -I have no idea how people stop them, and even on game tackle they more often than not win the fight.

Personally I've only ever had bad stories to tell with 2500 size reels and sub 10lb braid. 10lb braid is fishing 'light'. I use 20lb braid on a 4000 size reel and 30lb braid on a 4500 baitrunner when targeting bigger ones. 35lb leader is the minimum I'll use after being pinged off on 20lb too often.


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## wigg (Jan 6, 2007)

I am giggling reading your report Woppie.
I can picture you. Fighting a king on the front rod when that back one went off I cant beleive you stayed upright.
Chaos and madness.
"Welcome to Longy son"
I was very nervy that we werent going to produce fish for you.
But Longy produces again.
Glad you made it and glad you had a good time (albeit a bit expensive but fun nonetheless)
The most fun you can have with your pants on I reckon.
Hope to catch up again soon.

Cheers

Wigg


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

beefs said:


> SBD so am i right to say your drag settings are based on what you/the yak can handle safely rather than what the line/rod can handle? If that's so then why run the heavy line? Surely you'd get an advantage from running lighter line for casting distance etc?


Travis, when the action is deep I don't find lack of casting distance to be a problem (I just drop it in and pedal away). The 15lb rig is ideal for kings to about 80cm, casts like a bullet and is big fun to use - 3 kg gets me to the upper end of the rod's rating anyway (Loomis GL2). On my jigging gear I run 27kg braid and still don't find the line diameter an issue, I can straighten a 6/0 hook if I get snagged which is helpful when dropping heavy weights near the bottom. I figure the heavier line must also have better (if not enough) abrasion resistance.


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

Cheers Dave - all in all it sounds like they're right bastards to catch and you need everything to come together to get yourself amongst them...sounds like bloody great fun

If it all worked exactly like the maths suggests it should then it wouldn't half as fun would it


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## johnny (Aug 12, 2007)

Great stuff..I just love the reports..top megadeath war and destruction Mr.Woppie..Yeah to all the above advice..Beefs they hit like a spanish mackeral,but not the 1 or 2 runs of spaniards. ....to clarify ,I'm the 500-[flatties are netted by the time they fight],2500 dude and I use a penn 750 spinfisher 20lb-30lb and 60lb leaders with hard drag settings in shallow water[eg 20 foot at balmoral ]or near structure[pylons,rock,reef]-as per trip reports...15lb and 60lb leader and 2500 reel in deeper water like clovelly-per reports-and still get bust ups...horses for courses.
Are those christmas trees the little ones of tinsel for tuna?
Mr.Woppie-monster meshes may be worth a phone to Raymond Terrace as per tackle talk post.
Are the kingys cruising at what depth besides the surface?
Regards,
johnny


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

Gatesy said:


> beefs said:
> 
> 
> > I read a post today saying how this particular person (sorry can't remember who) liked to use a 500/1000 sized reel for flatties and leave the 2500 sized for kingfishing :shock: Now from what i've heard about kingfish surely a 2500 is undergunned. I'd want a 4000 minimum by the sounds of things.
> ...


Now you mention it I do remember that old adage. I suppose my confusion stems from that then...why 1/3? If the breaking strain of the line is supposedly how much weight the line can take before it breaks and the drag is essentially the thing putting this weight on the line then why run line that is 3 times as strong as you drag?

(sorry for the thread hijack Wigg!)


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks to the Sydney boys. All good info there. Ill have another look at my tackle. Has anyone tried the new (to me) steel impregnated braid as a leader for the reefs and bust offs? I have some but because of the [email protected]#$ing [email protected] weather we have had in SEQ all year (all 16 days) I havent had a chance to use it. It certainly looks the money for tying knots etc and I dont think it would spook the fish. 
I wasnt understanding the difference between reefed and busted off. Now I do. They sound like right cunning little [email protected] All the cobes Ive caught have been in 50m plus water and on a big stinker. Whenever we spotted them on the sounder the skip would throw a handful of whole squids over, then we would drop only the one bait to the bottom and reef it up fast for the first hookup. The whole school follows the hooked one up and the rest of us simply pick the one you want and drop the bait straight into their mouth and hang on. They seem to run more than dive for the reef and rarely have trouble with that. I have been to a part of the reef of Fraser Island where there is a hole in it about the size of two rugby fields. When we backed up to it there were more than 500 cobia schooled up just below the water surface. They were like dogs at a fence waiting to be fed. We took 23 of +20kg ones in just over 30 minutes, with five hookups at a time usually. Probably lost that many too. After that everyone was too tired to catch anymore. Ill never forget it as long as I live.
Woppie.. dude... what a morning. Ive got a fish woody just reading about it. If that was me the reaper could come and take me now and Id be happy to go. I have just moved that to the top of the 'if I have to go can I be doing this at the time' list. That one with the blond triplets had been number one for too long anyways.
Well done!!!

Actually... fug it... Im leaving work now and gonna put the yak in the river now and have a go!


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## fisherdan (Apr 17, 2007)

Fish, fun and sunshine... You lucky buggers!

I had to drive past and see you all out there on the way to Manly pool, which was boiling with fit brown mummies....

It was a tough morning, no PB's.


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Paulo - Mate it was hairy and funny and hairy - all the braid - hooks - rods under pressure - my cord teathers - even had some braid (with a FISH ON THE END) get into the eye of a hook that was connected to another line with aNOTHER fish on the end in my lap        - its good to have a get out clause ie a farcking big sharp knife very close to you just in case - its not the first time Ive been close to being pulled over and out - and yes these are only the babies - mines the twin fanatsy from Ausitin Powers - Japanese twins fook mi and fook u !!! HAHAHAHAH


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Woppie, I know just how you feel. I had a similar day early Dec on Snapper and Tuna. My first like that in a yak. I couldnt wipe the smile from my face for a full three days. Does it still feel that good everytime? I hope so.
I know what you mean about the knife handy. I learnt that the time I had a double hookup and did get pulled out of the boat. When they hit I had a buckled rod in each hand and a fish going in either direction, I suddenly realised I hadnt thought this one through. I got back in (quickly) and cos everything was leashed it was ok, I recovered, lost one and landed one. I mounted a sheath on the deck the next day. Ive noticed in pics (not sure which one of you but I think gatesy) actually wears a divers knife strapped to their leg. I like the idea of that. And, though Im clumsy enough to hurt myself, I can see it being a handy thing Specially if a big toothy has just nudged you out of your boat.
Im thinking I should go a 4000 reel now, Im thinking the Sol 3000 just wont cut it more often than not. Anyone got a preference in a 4000 say sub $400 retail? Im looking at the twin power and maybe the new stradic. I like Daiwa but cant see the 4000 to do the job. My main use is the type of stuff you guys are doing and the usual qld macs and tuna.
Just got my current contract cut short. I now finish work on Feb 15. Looking good for the full week at SWR now. Bring it on!


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## bombora (Mar 8, 2006)

Have caught both cobia and kings (from boats) and they don't compare in the dirty stakes. Cobia are brilliant tough fish but just not as dirty. Plus cobia have a habit of coming to the surface during the fight of their own accord which can make it a lot easier to keep em away from reef. Kings notorios for their habit of puling harder the harder you pull! They just get riled up! Hence the softly softly approach, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I think David Green has written how even he finds kings almost uncontrollable when hooked on braid as that direct pull from the no stretch line makes the kings go mad. 
Just my own two cent approach: i really like a relatively medium taper rod if using braid on kings. The idea is they start on a run to the reef and the rod bends with relative smoothness, add some wrist/arm "shock absorbing" too and the king almost then forgets about the run before even taking drag. Smooooooth pump and wind to gain line and always be ready to repeat the above when the king starts another run. Just seems to make em less aggro than direct drag pull on braid through a fast taper rod. That or go back to mono and a fast taper rod.
Then again there are always kings around which nothing will stop. 
Loving the LR reports and great fishing from the forum members!


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Dick, what an incredible story. Serves yourself right for having three lines out though. You are truly a master of entertainment.



beefs said:


> Cheers Dave - all in all it sounds like they're right bastards to catch and you need everything to come together to get yourself amongst them...sounds like bloody great fun
> 
> If it all worked exactly like the maths suggests it should then it wouldn't half as fun would it


Travis, your maths are dodgy anyhow. Common recommendation is to set drag at 1/3rd mainline rating. This accounts for the loss of line rating due to the various knots, increasing effective drag due to line being peeled off, friction on guides and line resistance in water, and providing some overhead when a fish hits the afterburner. A simple calculation has 1/3rd roughly as 10lb line rating to 1.5kg drag. So 20lb line should be set to 3kg drag and 30lb line to 4.5kg drag by this reckoning.

This is what I use and I rarely have equipment failures but do get reefed. Some guys a fishing 50lb mainline but I have no idea how they handle 7-8 kg of drag and stay dry.

Choosing the reel to suit is a matter of line capacity and drag capability. In the shallow water in which we fish a king is not going to take that much line so a Certate 2500, which has 7kg drag can easily be used with 30lb, maybe even 40lb line. If the fish doesn't reef you it will tire before it spools you.

Anyhow, so much for the theory. Congrats to all those who got out this morning and caught legal fish. You'll all have to show me one day


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

PHOTOS !!!!!

Still be farked - burnt and crispy - have got sea legs - feels like i'm walking up hill going down hill and vice versa!!


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## wigg (Jan 6, 2007)

Hi Paulo

I had my heart set on the twinpower 4000 too but after talking to a mate who is a stella die hard he said get the stradic.
someting about the way it lays the line.
i followed his advice and am more than happy.
he suggested a stradic, sustain or even a saros (they all have the same setup with laying the line)

hope this helps

cheers

Wigg


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Hi Ben

Yes the Zilla was great on one king - felt like it had a lot of leverage in there - just like the M BUTT (that I also used today). The Zilla is just chunkier and more heavy duty. I love the action on these rods !!!! I dropped the Monster Mesh off with my local guy and he reckons there should be no probs on getting it replaced.... Nitro should do a jig stick !!!

Woppie


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## wigg (Jan 6, 2007)

I like the photos Woppie well done.

Cheers

Wigg


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

GLAD YOU LIKE THE ACTION SHOTS - PITY YOU CANT HEAR THE BLUE AIR IN THEM AFTER YOUR BUST OFFS !!!!


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## paulb (Nov 12, 2006)

First off congrats to SBD, who didn't need a navigation light to be seen a mile away, because his was grin was so wide and bright. Incredible start to the day mate!
My fishy trip started a little slower, ie nothing but pickers for the first couple of hours. My first kingie came at exactly the same time Woppie and Wigg were doing their kingie dance - although I was a respectable (& safe) 50 meters away from them. This kingie took an unweighted slither of squid no bigger than half a cigarette - which I'd put out in desperation to catch a picker (sweep?) for the table. After this it went quiet, so I started heading in, only to pass Avayak (who had left to go back to work an hour earlier) he kindly pointed out the success he was having in this location and as if to demonstrate, almost immediately hooked into another king. He was kind enough to keep fighting it long enough for me to get within a few meters of him, so that I could hook into one of the kingies mates, which were hanging around enjoying the show. Sure enough I was on almost instantly.
Now it was really time to get home and to work, so I started paddling back slowly, casting ahead of me. I hadn't got 20 meters when I hooked a small pan sized Snapper ( a baby of 35cm compared to SBD's goliath). Another 100 meters, same thing - I tossed them in my crate and proceeded to peddle home, only a minute or too later to hear a flapflapflapflap ---- splosh! as one them made a final and successful bid for freedom  
Definately time to go home and go to work...... wish I could have stayed around longer.


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## Daveyak (Oct 6, 2005)

Great stuff you blokes!! Excellent reporting & some top photos too, got my pulse racing just soaking it all in.

I hate you all.... :lol: :lol:


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Excellent thread!

Z


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Its all coming back to me now - its like a mist clearing before mine eyes !!!!

I just realised how good having a 7 foot rod was yesterday - especially when both were on or when my paddle was in the water resting - I could coax the fish round to the opposite side and balance out the mayhem.

just thought I'd mention this for any guys considering a rod for kings (or brutes) in the future. There is a down side i might ad and that is if your landing / gripping / or tail grabbing - you have to extend the rod butt quite far back to get to the fish / leader / or tail.


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