Fishing for Kingfish at Barrenjoey

[alex462]

Hey guys!

This is my first post, and was looking to get some tips for bagging my first kingfish! Im looking at heading up to Barrenjoey tomorrow with my mate, we're hiring a small boat because part-time work wages + being a full time uni student doesnt leaving much dough to spare to think of purchasing a boat... (yet!). The setup ill be using is a shimano charter special TR2000LD on a Shimano Bluewater Overhead Rod -5'10", 24kg with 50lb braid, and 80lb fluro carbon leader. I've done a bit of reading on another thread on the same reel where people have used up to 50lb braid which has worked well, however what are opinions on this? I think it may be slight overkill, but i guess overkill is better than no kill (or release)... We're looking at catching some yakkas for live bait, and hopefully some live squid if not atleast very fresh squid. Does anyone have any helpful tips to keep the bait alive, as they may be sitting around for 2.5-3 hours until we get to the boat. Also, has anyone has success in the area recently, and if so, any spots in particular to try? In terms of trawling, i've got skirted lures which i have been told work well, but was looking at getting a lure to try out preferably a diver (im not sure if thats what they're called).

Im sure you have gathered im a bit of a newb at the moment, so any info would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

[whiteman]

My brother-in-law fishes the harbour each weekend and targets kingies with limited success. I was down that way a few months ago and we spent a couple of frustrating hours looking for yackas when we should have been fishing as we had purchased some quality dead bait and he had some left over frozen yakkas from a previous trip.

Kingies are predators (just like mackerel we get up my way) so while he and his mate bottom bashed I floated a dead yakka out under a balloon into a wash zone near south head. Guess who caught all the kingies?

I really don't know much about them as a species but I was watching a fishing show where the guys were casting lures around the buoys dotted around the harbour and they were killing them. If I was in Barrenjoey I would look for wash zones like Lion Is or Barrenjoey headland or some structure. If I can catch them locals should be much more helpful.

[alex462]

Ye barrenjoey head sounds like a good guess because the boat is only small i doubt i'd want to risk going out as far as Lion Is. Do you think my line is too heavy?

[Midnight]

Alex for most of the Kings you will find in that area, your 50lb will be way over the top, you will be ale to winch them directly to the boat if you have the drag cranked up. But just fish it anyway, and you can adjust the drag as you see fit if you want them to make a few runs etc. you could quite happily fish 8kg around there and still catch the little ones from what I have seen. A lot of blokes fish lighter.

But once the warm currents show up, and the bigger fish move in, your 50lb outfit will be warranted.

Just go and have a crack mate and have some fun!

[whiteman]

I just reread your post. Yep, that's some bit of line you're packing. That's exactly what I use up here and we get some serious mothers on the hook. I have one of those reels which is a solid little thing. The kingies I caught were around the 3-4kg mark and not the toughest that I've fought for the size. Soft mouths and we lost the first one because the skipper got too excited with the net (why do people always reach for a net?). When I used to live down that way (Warriewood) we used to sportsfish for the local salmon during the day and serious fish for jewies at night. I'd use 10lb braid, 20lb leader and a 7' spin rod with a quality Shimano reel if I were to do it again.

[alex462]

Thanks for all the posts guys! I'll tell you what, the only thing i was winching was my cold butt back into the car lol turned out to be an absolutely terrible day! Had some live yellow tails, and fresh squid fillets and not so much as a tickle on the line.... We did have an unusual guest tun up though, i was looking out the side of the boat as we were moving between spots and there was a sea lion staring at me! veryy beautiful creatures...

[deckie]

Unlucky about the weather alex. Was probably that day that quickly went from a nice sunny 25 to what felt like 10 deg this week.
You dont need to venture out into broken bay with the hire tinny, doubt they allow it anyway, but u dont need to as long as you;re patient you'll find the odd school over the next 6 mths. The smallish ones maybe 2-4kg often hang right in tight in decent packs to the moorings and marina wharves along the eastern side of pittwater and around scotland island, the basin and lovett bay. Often tho the better fishing this time of yr is for a fish noone seems to chase and think as a byproduct...the humble old bonito. What you're doing with the trolling will naturally target them as well as kingies, but they're more solitary and u just run into the odd one. We like to rave about kings coz they get bigger but realistically its only the odd good day u come across them over maybe 80-90cm inside pittwater except for peak times. The bonnies though can be serious brutes this time of yr around 4-5kg and can fight even better than rat kings. Can treat them as bycatch chasing kings or treat the king u want as lucky bycatch when targetting the bonito.
Yeah your gear is hefty but wouldnt bother changing except to lighten up the trace maybe, and make sure its long. Dont know where u hire the tinnie but i'll assume north end if u were thinking barrenjoey. Stick in tight to the moorings/marina's on eastern side then run all the way down and around scotland isl, then up past lovetts and towlers on the west side. Longnose pt thru to and around Soldiers into the Basin is a prime area to drag a live squid or the yakka's u have...better drifting if wind favorable direction, also i reckon the best colder months bonito ground in the whole area. If u have a light outfit maybe 3-6kg, try dragging a small rapala cd or similar in either a pilchard/mack colour or redhead...bonito's luv the old red head and can be as much fun as rat kings i reckon on light gear. Light flouroc trace even tho u run a risk of losing the odd one...better hooked and busted than never hooked at all. If calm troll right up and around the west head bait grounds, then turn and come back inside pittw then do a b line from mack beach across to sth palmy the other side and drag along the deep side of drop off, then track back down the moorings again, past stokes to home. That should take a few hrs if u simply want to troll and drift, and cover your best chances in inshore water where its more comfy and just as likely most days...IF they;re about you'll run into them at some pt.
Definitely try to drift past and in tight to any poles/markers or anything u find interesting with small liveys out. Can even pick up a bonus john dory this time of yr in close to the deep moorings during the morning, think deep during middle of day and drift as much as possible rather than troll but where u can largely depends on the wind that day.
They love a small live squid slow trolled,...and small bridled slimeys next best i reckon, then small yakka's next best. Another good dead bait trolled is a garfish with a head rigged weight/bib and one hook coming out under gills and another out its bum down back, flexible/swimming is the key with whole dead baits. If its dead squid try cutting a long slightly wedge shaped piece and use a snelled 5/0 or so two hook rig front and middle...u want a long tapered thin end flapping about the back end as u go along and a bit wider at front, can even cut a slice into the "tail" to help swimming action coz its pretty tuff bait...had better luck trolling that than trolling whole dead squid with decent tailor a bonus. If u can find a long thin flexible soft plastic with a floppy tail in white then could try that too. Most of the better fish in pittwater like kings/large bonito tend to hit the front half of baits i found so bridling liveys is good or live squid if u can find them even better.
Should get better fishing in a few months time so if going now dont be too target specific, bonnies/small kings/tailor...and the chances are surface schools in nthn half of pittwater will be salmon..in which case make sure u take a cpl of very very small surface lures or be prepared to be frustrated as hell not getting hookups in a good school. Dont be afraid to drift your liveys underneath schools of salmon coz thats often where the big boys lurk.
You could try a bit of ammo lock and a cheapo aerator should help keep the liveys sweet. Never overcrowd, less in prime nick is better than a lot half dead.
Good luck next time.
Steve

[alex462]

woww thanks deckie for the generous post. I'll be sure to try out the things you mentioned, after all surely cant have a worse day than the one i already had! haha. Can't let one bad day put you off ayy, ill be sure to get out there every chance i get! cheers