Fellas
Just back from a jigging and topwater trip to the 3 Kings onboard
Enchanter with fellow forum members Scott Caton and Kent Gardner, as well as some other lads from Brissie - Michael "Lumpy" Moloney, Geoff Caton and Chris Stacey.
To cut to the chase - the fishing was insane!!!
I am not exactly sure how many kings came over the side but a reasonable estimate would be in excess of 120, including approximately a dozen fish over 30kg and one beast in excess of 40kg. We also caught an assortment of other species, but more on that later!
Day 1 - Three Kings Island and Princes GroupAfter having steamed for 14 hours from Mangonui the previous day we awoke at our anchorage at the Kings to 30+ knots of breeze out of the southwest. Our skipper Lance indicated that we would have a "lay" day at the anchorage while we waited for the wind to drop and that we might pick up the "odd" kingy during the day.
What unfolded that morning was four hours of madness as we smashed fish after fish on stickbaits and live koheru. Multiple hookups were the norm and by lunchtime we were buggered!
Kent Gardner with the fish of the trip - a 40kg+ beast caught at the anchorage in 25m of waterFishing in about 25m of water we had superb topwater action with the fish nailing bascially anything we threw at them - Orion Bigfoots and Nambas', Craftbaits, Nomad Dogtooth's and Nomad Ulua's. The lure of choice however was the FCL Labo CSP S220S in either the kahawai or blue sardine colours - the kingi's couldn't get enough of these terrific stickbaits!
Andrew Johnson with an "average" king caught on a stickbait, estimated at 25-28kg.After lunch and a couple of medicinal ales the skipper made the call that we would brave the "washing machine" out at sea and head over to the Princes Group for a "look". Conditions over there were tough to say the least and with the strong winds and big tidal movement, just standing upright was a challenge. The fish were quiet on the stickbaits but man of the moment Kent Gardner performed a tremendous feat of angling to land another donkey in excess of 30kg.
Kent Gardner with a little help from Scott Caton manages to hang onto his second 30kg+ fish for the day - note the "choice" conditions in the background.Given the unfavourable conditions we headed back to anchorage to battle the fish in more stable surrounds and about an hour before dark it was on again for young and old with a repeat of the morning frenzy!! The plug was finally pulled at sundown and 6 exhausted punters managed to stumble through dinner and a couple of rums before collapsing into bed - so much for the "lay" day!
Day 2 - Middlesex Bank and the "Flemish Cap"The wind backed off dramtically overnight and we lifted the anchor in the predawn light and headed out to the Middlesex Bank where skipper Lance was confident that we would tangle with some "mules". Conditions were excellent with only a couple of metres of swell and a slight windchop. The boys were all as "toey as a roman sandal" after the previous days action and the "Middlesex" did not disappoint. From the very first drop the shout of "fish on" reverberated around
Enchanter and again for the next few hours we were stretched to our absolute limits by monster kingi's, with nothing coming on board less then 25kg. The fish were sitting in around 130m of water, so jigs in excess of 400g were required. Gun jigs included JM Rockets in 400g and 500g, Zest Super Deeps, SW Labs, Broken Arrows, Fisherman Crazy Longs and FCL Labo VM jigs.
Geoff Caton with the first big king of the morning.Scott Caton has his "cherry" popped with his first fish over 30kg.That man again - KG with another ripper!Andrew Johnson with one of the three "mules" he landed on day 2 that were over 35kg.Another "doubla"!The action continued unabated into the afternoon and at around 3pm, 6 broken bodies called a halt to proceedings.
Given the good weather and favourable moon phase our skipper suggested we might steam out wider to the "Flemish Cap"and fish during the night with the aim of catching a broadbill swordfish. The boys jumped at the chance as none of us were likely to get a shot at a "sword" again. On arrival at the "cap", baits were deployed and it wasn't long before the action started. Just for something different, Kent Gardner was on strike again when the first bite came - an hour and 20 mins later a 130kg sword hit the deck. This was followed an hour later by a 150kg striped marlin!
Kents "sword" - a terrific effort backing up from 6 six hours of heavy duty jigging during the day.Lumpy with the stripey that unfortunately was not released on account of being gut hooked.Day 3 - King BankAfter a huge night locking horns with billfish we steamed back in on gentle seas to the King Bank on what would be our last day before transiting back to Mangonui. On arrival we were greeted by a raging current and tougher fishing. We managed to catch numbers of kings again, but the quality was down on the action experienced the day before at the Middlesex bank. We also tried to target a few of the big bass and hapuka that the area is famous for, but the current made things very challenging on Lance's deep water spots. In some ways this was a bit of a blessing as I am not sure our bodies could have held out for another extreme session!
Chris Stacey with a nice bass from the King Bank.Geoff Caton with the last big fish of the trip - another 30kg+ specimen!At 5pm Lance called lines in and we headed back to Mangonui via an overnight stop at North Cape.
So in summary we had a fantastic trip - sensational weather and great fishing. I can't speak highly enough of the efforts that our crew on
Enchanter - Lance and Steve - went to to make our trip so special. Nothing was too much trouble and they worked really hard to put us on the fish and keep us well fed and watered - thanks fellas, much appreciated.
This was our fist time at the Kings and we will be back. There is a fait bit of planning involved in putting these trips together. There is no doubt we made a few mistakes and learned plenty of lessons. I would be more than happy to try and answer any questions from Forum members interested in doing a trip.
Cheers
Andrew