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Extreme Jigging: Dogtooth Tuna, Yellowtail Kingfish (Hiramasa), Amberjack, Samson Fish => Reports & Expedtions => Topic started by: Andrew Cox on April 07, 2011, 11:09:35 AM
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The long await for the first of my two jigging trips to the Three Kings this year the home of monster bass and thumping kings had finally turned into reality.
This year I was heading there with Chris Wong owner of BCS Enterprises the man behind the amazing new jigging products branded Jigstar, also Roy and Linda from Jigstar in South Africa and Brad Burden from Jigstar Australia, Rob from Sydney and Jason from New Zealand friends of Chris.
For some that dont know the Three Kings is a group of islands that lies roughly 50nm northwest of Cape Reinga in New Zealand, it is home to some of the best possibly live aboard fishing that New Zealand has to offer.
After my amazing trip last year aboard Enchanter owned and operated by Lance with his deckhand and second skipper Steve I could not recommend a better jigging platform and crew to assist us in our journey to where us mad jiggers like to call Jurassic Park.
We boarded the boat in Monganui and began the long journey north, the weather wasn't looking the best for the trip so we had to make the most of the time we had.
We were lucky enough to get few hours of jigging in on the King Bank on the first afternoon, the kings where on fire with some great fish landed on the first afternoon.
Chris with some amazing kings landed on the first afternoon on a new Jigstar prototype 100-150 gram rod, these are some serious kings for a rod of this class.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5619.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5649.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5650.jpg)
Robs goal was to land a king fish over 30kg this was soon broken on the first afternoon, after his trip late last year to the Ranfurly Banks with his biggest at 29kg he was a happy man.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5623.jpg)
Roy had a hard day on the first day hooking a few freight trains that ended up in tears in the reef below, after a couple of beers he was back into it.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5654.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5715.jpg)
Roy was testing out a new Jigging Master Amberjack Sniper Deep and assured us he didn't get railed but this photo proves him wrong, sorry Roy !
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5704.jpg)
After making the long journey from South Africa I dont think that Linda knew what she had got herself in for, she proved us all wrong on the first day coming up with a couple of solid kings just under the 30kg mark.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5661.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5664.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5680.jpg)
Jason with a couple of kings for the first day including one that had been tagged and released before.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5640.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5695.jpg)
Brad managed the only puka on the first day that was living where we would not normally find them, lucky for the puka it was caught in shallower water so it was lucky enough to be released to fight another day.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5637.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5639.jpg)
A couple of my kings from the first day, when the jigging is on fire we are too busy to take photos as we must drop our jigs straight back down so we have to limit the number of photos taken.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5628.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5687.jpg)
Day 2 we headed out to the Middlesex Bank where we would spend the day targeting king fish, the weather was a bit rough and got rougher as the day went on but we had an amazing day on the kings landing a few over 30kg and one over 40kg, with multiple hook ups all day and fish every drop it was by far the best days jigging I have ever seen, we will let the photos do the talking.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5720.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5726.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5730.jpg)
Rob with the second biggest king for the trip that wasn't far of 40kg.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5737.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5740.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5738.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5742.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5746.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5749.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5752.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5754.jpg)
The following three fish I managed to land was on the last three drops at the end off the day when it had cut up rather rough and there was just Brad and myself left jigging !
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5756.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5757.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5759.jpg)
On the very last drop of the day Brad came up with this donkey weighing around 44kg.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5764.jpg)
Day 3 we had some huge seas and decided to stay close to home and have a jig and test some new Jigstar stick baits around the Princes Group, unfortunately the kings were nowhere to be seen so we shot out to a handy bass spot in 180m of water, I managed to get smashed on the reef by something with bad intentions and no other fish were landed so we headed back early to have a fish at anchor around the Three King Islands.
We had a heap of fun on light tackle landing some kings not far off 20kg and also Brad landing one on a stick bait after hours of trying.
Day 4 was the last of our fishing days with the weather looking rather good Lance came up with the plan to head out to the King Bank to try and get some bass for the freezer.
After a very slow start and not many fish at the first couple of spots we moved down the reef hoping things would get better, and they certainly did as you are about to see, Roy was first up with a kingie.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5767.jpg)
Then we managed a few bluenose in around 160m of water, very hard jigging with 400-500 gram jigs when the fish are not biting !
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5771.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/DSC01087.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5782.jpg)
Check out the colours on this small bass.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5788.jpg)
Then the bigger bass started to come on the bite the first up was this one I got at over 40kg.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5791.jpg)
Next drift Roy and myself found ourselves hooked up to some more solid fish and two more bass over 40kg were boated !
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5794.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5796.jpg)
Jason was next up with another nice bass with Brad and myself also on the same drift.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5804.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5809.jpg)
Chris found it very hard to get onto the bass and seemed to be hooking kings all day, hooked up to another.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5814.jpg)
Linda got on the board with her first bass.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5824.jpg)
On the last drift while winding up Brad had something jump all over his jig, all of a sudden he found himself hooked up to a freight train as you can see by the look on his face he was hanging on for his life.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5827-Copy.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5827.jpg)
After a fight time of around 30mins a huge bass that we named Burt popped up about 30m from the boat, it was soon dragged in and turned out to be a massive bass weighing in at 81kg, possibly the largest ever caught on a jig.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5836.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5835.jpg)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii111/Coxy10_2007/IMG_5845.jpg)
As you can see the Three Kings is a place where you go if you are a serious jigger, it is no place for tackle under 80lb as you never no what you are going to hook it could be the 40+ kg king fish of a lifetime so dont even bother dropping the lighter gear down out on the banks.
If you have any questions about fishing the Three Kings please feel free to PM me for any info I am more than happy to help.
Cheers Coxy
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nice report Andrew, some absolute monsters!
what were the most productive jigs on the trip
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That last bass is phenomenal.
Sounds like an amazing trip.
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nice report Andrew, some absolute monsters!
what were the most productive jigs on the trip
To tell you the truth it doesn't matter what jig you drop out there, it is like Jurassic Park, we used mostly Jigging Master rockets and aliens and zest jigs, I prefer the rockets as some jigging was around the 180m mark.
Cheers Coxy
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75kg+ Hapuka and a 40kg+ king are both on my fishing "bucket list" love your work.
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Fantastic looking fish. There cannot be a jigging enthusiast anywhere in the word who would turn down the chance to fish at Three Kings.
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Damn, that last fish is insane! surprised a fish that size wasn't able to make it to some sort of structure, it looks unstoppable.
Definitely worthy of the 'Jurassic Park' description!
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Nice report with excellent, enormous monster fish....awesome....
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Nice report, nice fishes!!!
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Wicked report!!! That last Bass is mind blowing.
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great write-up Coxy.
The 3 Kings harbors some huge fish as can be seen above. You never know when a really big fish takes you so be prepared with heavy PE8+ tackle plus a bit of skill and luck. Skipper Lance was always bellowing from the helm "don't bring that pea shooter to a gun fight". Some big fish were lost by busted and undergunned tackle. We all knew at some stage that we had been taken by unstoppable fish that busted us and left us shaking and thinking "what if?".
My "what if' started after I dropped my jig but failed to note that it had momentarily hit bottom .... then a massive pull from a very heavy, solid fish. Normally I strike a fish 2 or 3 times to ensure a solid hookset and feel confident at that. This time, because of the sudden hit from the fish, I could only hang on hoping I was well hooked. I lost and gained line for around a minute thinking the fish was well hooked, I committed the cardinal sin by not keeping the line tight when I mucked around trying to gimble the rod. The weight came off so I wound fast to gain line but the fish was dropped. At that stage a marlin broached and then disappeared. Inspecting the leader, it was fairly marked from a probable bill wrap.
Yep....what if!!
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It seam's like you all had one brilliant trip Andrew and other's as brilliant is the only word i can think of and for the amount and quality of fish you all got, i am sure that not everything will or would be forgotten to quickly.
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Nice report, nice fish!!!
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That was a cracking trip Andrew, that last bass was an absolute donkey! Looks like the Jig Star rods are the goods?
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Great trip guys, thanks for sharing.
Quick question - what is the jig in the third photo? Looks very interesting.
Cheers
JT
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Epic report Coxy, big ups to the JigStar boys and girls... so bloody gutted I missed yet another trip!!!
JT - Thats the new Zest/SW Labs Spear Head jig which was introduced in NZ just before the trip.... comes in 160gram and 200 gram versions, and no doubt a killer for pelagics as well with its flutter style and shape...
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Cracking trip and fish fellas, that last Bass is unbelievable :o
Tim
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That was a cracking trip Andrew, that last bass was an absolute donkey! Looks like the Jig Star rods are the goods?
Sure are mate, we put them to the test and come out on top, another fine jigging rod but without that big price tag, matched with the Jigging Master PE5 the Jig Star 350 was the perfect combo !
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Just caught up with this report, somehow missed it ???, good to see trip one was a beauty Coxy, even the weather looked decent :D.
Nice 'what if' story Chris :( ;)
Got the Three Kings on the 2012 radar :D
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great write-up Coxy.
The 3 Kings harbors some huge fish as can be seen above. You never know when a really big fish takes you so be prepared with heavy PE8+ tackle plus a bit of skill and luck. Skipper Lance was always bellowing from the helm "don't bring that pea shooter to a gun fight". Some big fish were lost by busted and undergunned tackle. We all knew at some stage that we had been taken by unstoppable fish that busted us and left us shaking and thinking "what if?".
My "what if' started after I dropped my jig but failed to note that it had momentarily hit bottom .... then a massive pull from a very heavy, solid fish. Normally I strike a fish 2 or 3 times to ensure a solid hookset and feel confident at that. This time, because of the sudden hit from the fish, I could only hang on hoping I was well hooked. I lost and gained line for around a minute thinking the fish was well hooked, I committed the cardinal sin by not keeping the line tight when I mucked around trying to gimble the rod. The weight came off so I wound fast to gain line but the fish was dropped. At that stage a marlin broached and then disappeared. Inspecting the leader, it was fairly marked from a probable bill wrap.
Yep....what if!!
I handnt heard that Chris (or else hadnt read properly),what a shame they have been hard enough to get on conventional methods let alone a jig this season!
Im with you Bun I think I have to get up there next year!
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Had a chat with Peter J (Re'Pete) and SJ in March and they are pretty keen Falco, especially with topwater mixed in as well :D. We might need a 'Pow wow' at the Jigging comp in July.
And to think I told my wife I would slow down (more) after I turned 60, ha! ::)
Bun
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Had a chat with Peter J (Re'Pete) and SJ in March and they are pretty keen Falco, especially with topwater mixed in as well :D. We might need a 'Pow wow' at the Jigging comp in July.
And to think I told my wife I would slow down (more) after I turned 60, ha! ::)
Bun
That sounds like a good crew,roll on July! ;)
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Thanks Andrew, I've not seen them in Australia yet. May have to be a Trans-Tasman purchase.
Cheers
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Thanks Andrew, I've not seen them in Australia yet. May have to be a Trans-Tasman purchase.
Cheers
They are available from New Zealand, I will grab some when I am over next month if you are after a couple let me no.
Cheers Andrew
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Are all the bass kept for eating or what? I've got no experience with them all the video i have seen the fish looks dead and blown up when its finally up, are they ever released?
Yes the bass are all kept for eating, they are one of the best eating fish in the ocean, unfortunately they can not be released successfully.
If your profile is correct and you live on the Sunshine Coast the coast line is covered with them, not to many people target them here due to having to fish in 250m - 600m to get them, out of Moreton Bay, Jim's Knob and the Tweed Canyons you will find them.
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Jigs work down deep [and work the angler] as well as baits, use a good gimble belt and harness ;D,
I fish have a good chapter on one of their videos off the Gold Coast with Doug Burt on Phantom Charters.
Paul Burt doing the Alvey Video a few years ago
http://www.alveyusa.com/video/deepsea2.html (http://www.alveyusa.com/video/deepsea2.html)
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I better trade all my JM reels in for Alvery's after watching that ;D
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I better trade all my JM reels in for Alvery's after watching that ;D
Alveys would be too top heavy on your overhead rods Coxy ;) ;D
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awesome trip!
sick bendo's!
gratz guys!
jig on!
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Great report, and that last Bass was an amazing catch! Wow!
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Fantastic.
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Awesome trip. Mega Bass ;D