Insane 3 Kings Jigging and Topwater Action

[Dave Hudson]

Dave

No real standouts but the key message was to not to be undergunned gived the sixe of the fish! We took a couple of PE6 (80lb) setups but these didn't leave the rocket launchers!

For the stickbaits, I was using a Ripple Fisher Ultimo 79H matched with a Stella 18000 and and Carpenter MH80H matched with a Dogfight. Both reels were loaded with PE8 Varivas Avani Max GT braid. Both rods are top shelf but the Ripple Fisher Ultimo was as absolute joy to fish with.

On the jigging front I fished with a Ripple Fisher 5215, a Ripple Fisher 5620 and an MC Works Southern Deep Ultimate Monster SD538XX - all were matched with Stella 20000's and PE8 Varivas Avani 10x10 Max Power braid. Of the three, the MC works had a bit more in reserve and was the rod of choice when the 30kg+ monsters were on the chew.

The other boys were using Jigging Master Powerspells in 450g, a Wilson Venom 450 and a Ripple Fisher 5220 and they all handled the fish we encountered.

In terms of traces - minumim we used was 150lb Sunline or Fisherman mono and some of the lads fished 170lb and even up to 200lb in the rough ground.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

Andrew

Thanks Andrew and Scott,
Great info on the gear used, very helpful!
Looks like i need to hit the gym
Cheers Dave

[Duncan O'Connell]

Great work guys, awesome to see the surface fishing fired up for you!

Cheers

Duncan

[Chris Wong]

Great report Andrew and big ups for the broady and marlin, terrific trip!
I was with Coxy in March and we too had a goodie but without the billfish.   Coxy is right, next time take a lighter PE4/5 outfit, you will last a lot longer at the rail.  Just tell Lance its a 100lb outfit     Bring it out when you get tired but never if there are big fish about (above 30KG).
If you are keen to repeat the trip, rebook ASAP because it is almost impossible to get back into the loop once you are out.  Most groups rebook immediately for the following year.
What did you guys do with the billfish? 

[James Taylor]

Unbelievable trip. Great to hear.

Any secrets on extracting 40kg kings form shallow water?

Cheers

[Andrew Johnson]

James

A little bit of class and a whole lot of a......e!!

Cheers

A

[John Flores]

Andrew,

WOW, looks like you guy's had an amazing trip. Great pictures...love that swordfish!!

[Jack Barrett]

Just wondering what tackle you used to haul in these beasts? 

[Matt Latham]

That looks like a fantastic trip. I have done some jigging around the Bay of Islands and got some reasonable fish but would love to get up to Three Kings to fight with some of those big Hoodlum's