Kingfish, not ff.

[Mike Thomas]

Hi Guys, had a great day out from Whitianga on Friday. We were very lucky with the weather, bad the day before and awful the day after, but great for us on the day!
We landed well over 40 Kingfish and one snapper between the 4 of us, and kept one each. Man these fish are real fighters, its like being attached to a train! They do sometimes take a fly near the surface and I took my salt water fly outfit with me but did not get a surface shot, all fish caught on Jigs and live baits.
Here are a couple of pics.
Me looking pretty pleased.

My mate Nick also looking chuffed

And this one shows the average size of these brutes.

All the best.
Mike

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Mike,

Are your arms still tired? 40 fish of that size must have put muscle aches on all of you. Looks like a great day asea.

REE

[Mike Thomas]

Hi REE, yes I must admit at one point I had to straighten out the fingers on my left hand by pulling them straight with my right hand! cramp is very funny sometimes. The main thing is these fish fight dirty, they head for the reef as soon as they are hooked and you have to "stop them or pop them" so the drag settings are brutal. One fish took 40m of line in its first run, with a drag setting of about 10kg! and they never give up. My mates and I are all pretty sore.
All the best.
Mike

[Jax]

Hi Mike; Mighty good looking Kingies. I am hoping to tangle with some soon on the fly in Tauranga Harbour.


Working on an articulated Piper Fly. Looks pretty good in the water. cant wait to hear see what the Kings think of it.

Never gone after Kings before so am sweating some. Jax

[Mike Thomas]

Hi Jax, not sure if you follow the NZ fishing site, but Clark Reed is doing a Salt Water Fly clinic at Bowentown on Dec 3rd, I am staying overnight and plan to fish the "flats" the following day, if you fancy it give me a shout.
All the best.
Mike

[Jax]

Thanks for the Heads Up Mike. Unfortunately I will not be intown at that time.

Clark is real good Value. You will have a ball. Jax