Yellowtail Kingfish in Moerton Bay

[Bassmaster1]

G'Day All,

I have been getting very excited recently about the onset of spring and the hopeful increase in pelagic activity in our beautiful Moreton Bay.

I remember going on holidays in the mid 80's to Amity Pt on Nth Straddie and seeing Yellowtail Kingfish caught quite regularly off the Jetty there on Pike & Squid. In fact, I also remember large schools of juvenile kingies schooling up under the jetty, yet no matter what we threw at them we could never catch one :(.

However, the last few times I have been over to Amity Point, the kingies have not been there, and from what I have heard they have not been there for a while. The only report I have seen on there in the past 2 years in relation to a yellowtail kingfish capture in Moreton Bay I think was from Webby, who landed a monster on a bream meant for a cobe late last year.

I have made it my goal to catch my first Yellowtail King in Moreton Bay before XMAS (this year8-) ), and was hoping if anyone has some tips in relation to good spots, depth range, structure type, baits, SP technique, moon/tide/time of day etc, your comments would be greatly appreciated.

I have also attached a picture I found on the internet of a fine looking specimen of a Yellowtail King for some motivation, and also to entice the picture viewers to read my thread and hopefully leave some feedback also ;) .


Cheers,

Bruce

[killitfillit]

curtain artificial reef has plenty but they are all but unstoppable (fun).try heavily burleying on a tide change and sight cast an unweighted half pilly to the one you want........easy.....good luck

[Bassmaster1]

Thanks Killi, I will give it a try, does anyone know what sort of gear I should be using? I have a 7'6" Ian Miller Snapper Raider rod with a Sedonna 4000 spooled with 30lb braid and 30lb flurocarbon leader, enough or not?

Cheers,

[sleepygreg]

that looks like Montague Island in the background of that Pic

[leelee]

Don't know about kings in Moreton as I have not got one yet but back in NSW i used to use 50lb braid on a 18kg custom hastings stick with 60-80lb leaders and still could not stop some of the hoodlums.

If you get a XOS king on that gear you have been lucky. The gear should be good enough for rats up to 70cm but the 30lb leader might get shreaded if near structure.

Cheers

Lee

[Bassmaster1]

Thanks leelee, what sort of bait or lure did you use in NSW, and what depth did you fish?

Cheers,

[Bassmaster1]

I also have an Okuma EB80 live bait runner spooled with 50lb braid with what is about to be a Diawa Saltiga Driftmaster. Guess that would bring the big ones in but they would be more fun on the 30lb combo..... ( i think).

Cheers,

[imnotoriginal]

I'm the same as you mate, Kings in the bay is a memory for me. I remember when they used to circle the tangalooma jetty in schools with the mackerel, guys would cast spoons and metals at them from the jetty in the hope they could hook on, and some did. In the last 5-10 years though, its been solitary fish, if we're lucky, when I visit Moreton. I've seen them, but not since in those numbers. Around that jetty, those who've had the best success (the most looks in my case) have been using either lightly weighted baits or softies or jigging twintails next to the pylons. Good luck, I only caught one but it went like a torpedo!
Joel

[leelee]

Thanks leelee, what sort of bait or lure did you use in NSW, and what depth did you fish?

Cheers,

depends on where I used to fish.

Most of the time 5-30m of water and bait differed to where I was and lures where bigger stick bait styles.

You can't go past legal bream as live bait for kings or cobes.

Cheers

Lee

[Horse]

That was me and Chris (Bayfisher) who picked up one on a downriggered 27cm bream;D . They used to be quite common and you would often see them when diving the Tanga Wrecks area or around the beacons. I reckon I would be heading to the Eastern side of Hutchies etc to target them

Cheers

Neil

[leelee]

Yeah nice fish Horse:D

Legal squire and tarwhine make great big swim baits huh ::) ::)

I have to dust off the DR and get the old shark weight swiming again;D

Cheers

Lee

[Bassmaster1]

That was me and Chris (Bayfisher) who picked up one on a downriggered 27cm bream;D . They used to be quite common and you would often see them when diving the Tanga Wrecks area or around the beacons. I reckon I would be heading to the Eastern side of Hutchies etc to target them

Cheers

Neil

G'Day Horse,

Apologies, I could not remember but I knew there was only 1!! Well done on that big boy, I bet he gave you more curry than you could by with 20 bucks in New Delhi..... It looks like your fishing around the NW tip or moerton there.....
I have heard of a good spot which is a large coffee rock like structure around 1.5km NW of Bulwer, anyone else heard of this or fished there before?

Cheers,

[Horse]

G'Day Horse,

Apologies, I could not remember but I knew there was only 1!! Well done on that big boy, I bet he gave you more curry than you could by with 20 bucks in New Delhi..... It looks like your fishing around the NW tip or moerton there.....
I have heard of a good spot which is a large coffee rock like structure around 1.5km NW of Bulwer, anyone else heard of this or fished there before?

Cheers,

That was pretty much the area. Anywhere along the Combie dropoff through to Cowan and the beacons would be worth a look. The Gneering blinker used to always have schools around it as well

[bayfisher]

Your right that kingy came off coffee rock right at the top of moreton in about 60ft if i remember correctly, There is basically patches coffee rock all the way along moreton worth a shot though. It might be hard however to target big kingies directly in the bay, your far more likely to hook a cobia, tuna, sharks, rays etc. Somewhere offshore like hutchies is the better bet. There does though seem to be a few packs of small rat kings around roaming the bay. In the last couple of years I have seen them up milling on the surface against the beacons (m5 m6 m7), over wrecks (neilson and curtain) and around the bardge pillions at amity. Good luck! ;D

Cheers Chris

[Bassmaster1]

Thanks guys, I think I will try getting out to curtain when the weather is looking good and try burlying up hard and baitfishing on the top of the tide, then do some trolling live baits on ledges between curtain and NW tip of Moerton.

Cheers,

Will let you allknow how i go.

[johnverano1]

Mate leelee is right, down here in Syd i ve hooked 8-10kg kings on 50lb and there are times where you cant stop them.
Once the first run starts if you cant get the rod out of the holder!!, by the time you get the rod out the king has reefed you.
I use a 4000 size reel on rat kings matched with soft plastics for anything larger then 4kg you might need to go for bigger gear.
There is a little trick that might go your way if your near struture and that is go soft on the fish after the fist run . I have even free spooled them as they run to struture , i know it sounds crazy but it has worked . As long as you have set the hook in the first run.
THen after that run try to drag the fish out of the area to deeper water.

[michael_mad_fisho]

no need to travel that far have a look at dunwich (spelling) scored some nice 6 to 10 kg specimens there as well as golden trvally to 7 kg all on soft plastics. havent been there for awhile so wouldnt no if the kings are still there.

[Bassmaster1]

no need to travel that far have a look at dunwich (spelling) scored some nice 6 to 10 kg specimens there as well as golden trvally to 7 kg all on soft plastics. havent been there for awhile so wouldnt no if the kings are still there.

Thanks Michael,

Just out of curiosity, what size plastics did you use, and were you fishing off the jetty?

I have head of several techniques used to catch them on softies, but not sure which one is the most effective, trial and error I guess...

Cheers,

[tailorboi99]

I have always wanted to catch a kingy, I have seen a few huge ones at southport of the sandpumping jetty. We were using live Silver trevally and they were being hammered!!! Good luck catching one.

[tunaticer]

I used to get them as bycatch at the Bulwer dropoff chasing cobes many yrs ago. Cobes are much easier to land because the hoodlums would head for anything to bust you up on. More often than not a decent 50lb or better YTK would win the battle.

Last encounter with them i had was land based off Lion Rock on the Sunshine coast early one morning. They were attacking large coffin lures ripped back at breakneck speeds over the reefs. Landed two that morning about the 15lb mark.

I believe the decline in numbers in SEQ is because NSW permitted commercial fish traps specifically for them for a period, unknown if this still exists though.

Jack.

[Bassmaster1]

I think i will try those ledges all the way up from Tangalooma to the top NW tip of Moreton Island, will try a couple of live baits on the Okuma EB80 live bait runner spooled with 50lb braid on the new Diawa stick.

Will also try working 5" & 7" plastics around curtain on the sedonna 4000 with the 30lb braid spool with a 40lb flurocarbon leader - hopefully can track down some of the hoodlums!!!

[Tetsuo]

I would try dropping livies all the way from curtain to the holes up past Bulwer. I've been blown away on my snapper gear through there.

[Bassmaster1]

I would try dropping livies all the way from curtain to the holes up past Bulwer. I've been blown away on my snapper gear through there.

I will definately be hitting that area with livies. What sort of livie rig did you find worked best in the area? I was thinking a twin hook rig through a fresh pike, gar, whiiptail or similar, lightly weighted.

What depth did you use to fish and how much weight did you use? Also, did you find any one particular section of the tide fished best?

Cheers,

Bruce

[PADDLES]

we caught a rat kingy in the spitfire channel earlier in the year by slowly sinking a pilly past a marker with the current. even though we bled it and put it straight on ice it tasted dreadful. the flesh had the consistency of mashed potato when it was cooked, we shoulda made fishcakes with it i reckon.

[Bassmaster1]

we caught a rat kingy in the spitfire channel earlier in the year by slowly sinking a pilly past a marker with the current. even though we bled it and put it straight on ice it tasted dreadful. the flesh had the consistency of mashed potato when it was cooked, we shoulda made fishcakes with it i reckon.

Thanks Paddles, its interesting that it tasted soo bad, I have eaten yellowtail kingy a few times before (bought) and it has always tasted great. May be just a one offf........

Cheers,

BG

[Horse]

The one I picked up was exeptional eating. Beats our bay Snapper hands down

[BenDover]

There was areport on here ages ago about an aus fisher who was poppering for tailor in the shallows at mud and scored a big yellow tail kingy. I cant find the report though. If that was you step forward and take a bow :)..
BD

[BenDover]

Hey bassmaster1 - I just finished watching a whole show on kingy's. With alot of good advice, trolling, down riggers etc. the best baits and area's. Its called adventure bound and is on bris 31. It will be repeated on monday at 7pm if your interested.
BD

[Tetsuo]

To be honest Bassmaster I wasn't that organised. I was chasing snapper on placcies and picked up a few yakkas. I threaded the 3/8 jig head through their backs and got smashed each time. Middle of the day, just before and after high.

[Bassmaster1]

There was areport on here ages ago about an aus fisher who was poppering for tailor in the shallows at mud and scored a big yellow tail kingy. I cant find the report though. If that was you step forward and take a bow :)..
BD
Benny top report i know you report the best cover catch. ''

[Horse]

There was areport on here ages ago about an aus fisher who was poppering for tailor in the shallows at mud and scored a big yellow tail kingy. I cant find the report though. If that was you step forward and take a bow :)..
BD
I'm pretty sure that was Why-ting over in the shallows at Peel with the Kingy on popper
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=90691&highlight=yellow+tail+kingfish

I have been blown away on a live bait jig around the ferry terminal at Dunwich as well. The Curtain Arti seems to have a few resident fish that can be burleyed up but when stung with a hook go straight back to the structure

Neil

[BenDover]

Horse - Oh i must of missed that report!! Thats not the 1 i was thinking of... It would have been a few years ago now that i saw the report i was thinking of. It had pictures aswell. BIG kingy with a small popper hanging out of his mouth. :). Great stuff though.

I wish i could get bi catches like that..

[Bassmaster1]

thanks fellas, and BD, I will see if i can catch the rerun of that fishing show on Bris 31. I saw one episode a few months back with 2 guys smashing school sized kingies off Mooloolaba one after another!!!

Cheers,

[fleety77]

does it have to be the bay....try the goldie...

[Bassmaster1]

does it have to be the bay....try the goldie...

Yes it does have to be the bay, however I do make it down to the goldie with the boat in tow quite regularly so if you have any tips or good spots feel free to PM me,.....:D

Cheers.

[deegee]

Bassmaster, I f you are going to work the ledges between the Curtin artificial and Combyuro, have a look at the shipping channel beacons along the same stretch.

Once upon a time almost every beacon would have a few yellow submarines in residence, and sometimes there would be lots of smaller ones ( 5-10kg) too. All you had to do was drift past the beacon and throw a few cut up pillies over the side and they would come out to play. But they could be very frustrating - they would take a piece of berley without hesitation, but shy away from anything with a hook in it or line attached, and if you did hook one, more often than not, it would take the line around the pile and cut you off.
Live baits were a much better option, fished unweighted, with the main line straight to the hook. These days a low visibility leader would be the way to go.

There are far less of them now, than there used to be, but the beacons can still be worth a look, especially if you can do it on a small tide, or near the beginning or end of the run. Slack water is not so good though - there is a lot of truth in that old saying "no run - no fun".
It really is worth going to the trouble of jigging or netting some live baits, and there are usually some yakkas or slimies around most of those beacons. They seem to arouse the predatory instincts of the kingies, and they will often take a livie when they will not touch anything else.

Cheers Deegee.

[bayfisher]

we caught a rat kingy in the spitfire channel earlier in the year by slowly sinking a pilly past a marker with the current. even though we bled it and put it straight on ice it tasted dreadful. the flesh had the consistency of mashed potato when it was cooked, we shoulda made fishcakes with it i reckon.

There is suppose to be a parasite found more often in kingfish that live in warmer water that basically as you descirbed turns there flesh to mush when cooked, But the last one i ate was absolutely beautiful so its hit and miss.

Cheers Chris

[Bassmaster1]

Bassmaster, I f you are going to work the ledges between the Curtin artificial and Combyuro, have a look at the shipping channel beacons along the same stretch.

Once upon a time almost every beacon would have a few yellow submarines in residence, and sometimes there would be lots of smaller ones ( 5-10kg) too. All you had to do was drift past the beacon and throw a few cut up pillies over the side and they would come out to play. But they could be very frustrating - they would take a piece of berley without hesitation, but shy away from anything with a hook in it or line attached, and if you did hook one, more often than not, it would take the line around the pile and cut you off.
Live baits were a much better option, fished unweighted, with the main line straight to the hook. These days a low visibility leader would be the way to go.

There are far less of them now, than there used to be, but the beacons can still be worth a look, especially if you can do it on a small tide, or near the beginning or end of the run. Slack water is not so good though - there is a lot of truth in that old saying "no run - no fun".
It really is worth going to the trouble of jigging or netting some live baits, and there are usually some yakkas or slimies around most of those beacons. They seem to arouse the predatory instincts of the kingies, and they will often take a livie when they will not touch anything else.

Cheers Deegee.

Thanks for your advice Deegee, I have heard the areas fish well for cobes so my gameplan is to deploy livies with twin hook rig 50lb flurocarbon leader and drift/troll with the assistance of minnikota.

Out of curosity, what sort of jig did you use for livies, I have a few herring type jigs I catch pike & gar on so I figure I could use these to collect livies, also I was thinking a live squid might entice a bite, providing an on the job calamari snack doesn't take precedence;)

Also, has anyone ever tried a fresh "butterflied" pike or gar for bait for these yellow submarines.....:o

[JIMBO99]

Jimbo99.
:-[ Years ago when I was fishing pro. we used to hate king as they would run along the moreton shore from the sandhills to shark spit and if you shot a mesh net for tailor etc. they would bash great holes in it everywhere, through one way turn round and back out the other way. would get an occasional small one rolled up in the net. but the big ones didn't seem to know the net was there and went in and out wherever they pleased. they were in about 4 to 6 feet of water. B$%#$%dy things. spent many an hour mending kingie >:( holes in mesh net.
Jimbo99

[Bassmaster1]

Does anyone know what is the best tide to chase them on, and if they bite better during night or day?

Cheers,

[ooglie74]

Curtain Artificial holds many hoodlums along with other unstoppable creatures.
I have used 50lb there and havnt stopped 1 before.
I was there 1 day and lost 18 into the wrecks in a short period of time.
Kingies also used to frequent the tanga jetty.
If you berley up from it and let it drift towards it and use live baits such as yakkas bream tarwhine anything will do you should in with a show.
I landed 1 13.6 on 6kg while fish from the jetty few years ago on a live garfish,I lost many also.


Cheers Troy

[michael_mad_fisho]

gday bass master

pretty much just using 4 inch dropshot minnows and some bigger flick baits and wrigglers. very eratic retrieves. always fishing from a boat along where the sand boat docks in all along the pilons there.

cheers mike.

[jamesryan30]

NOt sure if anyone has mentioned but try Rufus King Wreck just past the Bar between Moreton & North Straddie on outgoing tide early morning with pilchards. Watch the waves though and if the Kingies are there hold on mate!!

Cheers

[benni_fish]

we've had a few monstors come up to the boat from our burley trail, while shark fishing at bulwer and curtain..we feed them a few pillies before sinking a hook through one.. but the buggers can tell which one to avoid... ooohh soo frustrating.

i to will be on the hunt these next few months for the pelagic rush.

good luck.

[Bassmaster1]

we've had a few monstors come up to the boat from our burley trail, while shark fishing at bulwer and curtain..we feed them a few pillies before sinking a hook through one.. but the buggers can tell which one to avoid... ooohh soo frustrating.

i to will be on the hunt these next few months for the pelagic rush.

good luck.


Benni I have heard kingies can be very finnicky, and remebering what we used to thow at them under the Amity Pt Jetty in the late 80's, skimming squid skirts on top of the water at lightening speeds would arouse interest but not a strike :-/ (methniks speargun!!!), so I am not surprised to hear about your frustrations.

What sort of hook rig did you use in the pillies? I wonder if a snelled or single hook rig would work better than gangs, any thoughts?

Cheers,

[deegee]

Bassmaster, Sorry about the slow reply, but I have not been on line for a few days.
Re the live bait jigs, we used many different kinds and they all worked, and while some were a bit better than others, there was not that much difference.

We usually had two or three types in the tackle box and would try a different one if the first one we tried was not working

They would often be bitten off by small macks or tailor, so when they were around we used the cheapest ones we could find.

As for the squid, I've never used them, but I wouldn't hesitate to put one out if I had a live one. I doubt that a kingie would pass it up.

In regard to the rig, you should also be prepared to try a single hook rig. Kings and Cobes both engulf their prey - they don't bite it in half like a tailor or a mack, so the second hook is not as necessary. And both can be very spooky, so the less hardware you use the less they have to be wary of. This also means keeping hook sizes down, and using smaller good quality hooks rather than a big cheap ones.

I have never tried a butterflied dead bait, but if you could not get live baits, it would probably be better than just using the dead bait fish whole.

Cheers Deegee.