Sunday 15/12/13 Moreton Bay

[PROS]

Peter (rainbowrunner), myself and "Dan The Deckie" went for an early start Sunday morning again, plan was to chase more kingfish and mackerel action.

Peter did his absolute best to catch some livies and filled the tank in no time, I did my fair share too with 1.
Bait tank pump decided to die on us. managed to pull it out of water and clear the gunk, all good again.

Drifted Curtains about 30 times with possible couple of interested quick pulls but no hook ups, livies were lost.
Bait tank pump decides to die again, this time I put my electrician hat on and fixed it.
Fishing was very slow, after about 4+ hours of drifting and no interest we decided to hit the markers and chase some mackerel and get more bait.
Great shows on the markers, lots of bait balled up and circled by large arches on the sounder.
It was one of the best sounder shows I have ever seen, looked like those marketing screen shots.
Thrown slugs, plastics, bait, jigs and all however we couldnt get a single bite, not even the bait was interested.

Went to another marker, same thing, bait balls showing at the sounder with large arches but no interest.

Trolled makkas in between markers with no result.

Back to Curtains and did another 20 drifts for 2-3 hours.
Livies and I were in pretty sad situation by than.
After I almost lost my sanity with the waiting game, called for the last drift.
As it happens, right at the end of the last drift I get a good strike and walla.
Rod is loaded, drag is full lock and holding the spool, fish still taking line out.
Managed to turn him and few more strong runs later, Dan The Deckie misses the gaff shot but second try works and we land the fish.

Fishing was very slow but still with a happy ending.
On the other hand, I never laughed this much in the boat before, boys talking up each other it was one of the funniest days on the water.

Surrounded by great company, another great day on gorgeous Moreton bay, in this beautiful country.

Looking forward to do it all again soon.

Max

[Back In Black]

Well done Max.

What are kings like on the chew??

Tony

[Horse]

Its good how one good fish can make a day. That's a nice Bay Kingy. I prefer them over Snapper on the table

[PROS]

Well done Max.

What are kings like on the chew??

Tony

I love eating kings especially when fresh, yield is very high, nice texture.
Some people might say above average for eating quality but for me its a great feed, than again as the saying goes we Turks would eat even our own father if he comes out of water with a hook in his mouth

If you are going to freeze the fish ice slurry is very important with kings, they heat up significantly in the fight, if not chilled down well it will ruin the fish, will go all mushy after defrosting.

I am the same with Horse, prefer kings over snapper any day.

[Rainbowrunner]

Hey max It was a good day, glad you finally christened the boat with a decent fish.
An ice slurry for these fish is the only way tho, I chill them in ice for 24hrs then fillet, bag and freeze.
I rate them better than snapper too, but still nowhere near an estuary cod.
Wasn't there more posts on this thread? I had a quick look this morning then went to reply this afternoon and there is stuff missing?

Heres the pics from when I took Kaimen and Dan in my boat






I think Kaimen has changed a bit since you last saw him TimD