Scott Gray here.
I have just returned for a quick trip across to the North Island of New Zealand where I caught up with good friends Milan Radonich and Nikolaj Mathiesen.
While we had originally planned a trip down to Nelson on the South Island, the decision was made to stay on the North Island as the whole country was lashed with strong winds and heavy rains. With our options limited I found myself up in the Coromandel Peninsula chasing kingfish.
For livebaiting for kings, I rigged the heavy Okuma Salina II 16000 jig outfit with 80lb Sufix Matrix Pro braid and connected a 2m trace of 100lb Sufix fluorocarbon Invisiline straight to a 9/0 VMC livebait hook.
With the wind playing havoc and a Tsunami warning issued on our first day out on the water things didn’t look too promising, but this was all forgotten when a rampaging king appeared from nowhere along a rocky point and demolished the first big livebait of the morning, which was a 2kg kawahai (aussie salmon)! After nearly choking on the bait and a spirited short battle the fish was steered away from the reef and the danger of tangling on the anchor rope and was landed. While it certainly wasn’t a monster for this part of the world, it was a great capture against the odds and I’ll never forget the sight of the big king terrorizing the livebait before it got eaten.
Regards,
Scott Gray
www.adventurebound.com.au
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