Along a few hundred meters of the Oriental Bay boardwalk, the summer months can offer anglers exceptional fishing for exciting green and gold machines, more commonly known as kingfish.

Despite a patchy summer, the number of kingfish caught here and elsewhere in the harbor has been quite exceptional this year. Fish from just a few kilos to burly specimens weighing more than 20 kilos have provided experienced and first-time anglers with plenty of action.

Catching kingfish here has been done with varying degrees of success and abundance since Wellington anglers were first introduced to light spinning equipment and surf rods in the 1950s.

Catch rates before the introduction of chute bait, compared to current successes, are a separate phone number. As good as some of those earlier rigs were, the big leap toward catching success has come as fishing tackle technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, along with refined live bait techniques using slip rigs. . The result is a growing number of live bait fans who can now explore many other locations within the greater Wellington Harbour.

So let’s look at some of the ways to get started in this relatively new aspect of the sport.

Choose the team

The very name ‘kingfish’ conjures up images of something special, and the kingfish does not disappoint when it comes to firepower (and a rather attractive appearance). Consequently, you can’t go into battle with these bruisers using entry-level rod and reel equipment. Whether you prefer fixed or free-spool reels (both are suitable), make sure the reel is structurally robust and offers effective stopping power.

There is a growing trend among anglers to use braided line when chasing kings, but a good rule of thumb for those who prefer nylon is to make sure your reel spool contains at least 200 meters of 15kg monofilament. Additionally, if you plan to use poppers and stickbaits, a 15kg nylon still allows for a reasonable casting distance.

As for rods, those designed to handle line of 10 to 15 kg (minimum) and measuring 2.4 to 3.05 m (8 to 10 feet) tend to be effective for this purpose. Some anglers even prefer to use powerful surf rods, as the extra height helps keep the line well elevated and clear of obstacles such as nearby rocks and weeds. Please note that the above selections are made when fishing in relatively unobstructed terrain.

Selecting the land

The Oriental Bay wall is a good candidate for slide baiting. It has a nice drop of about eight meters of water, just 10 meters from the shore, with the seabed being a composition of sand and mud. This clear drop-off is often where baitfish such as kahawai like to patrol, usually with a good number of fish between 400 and 600g.

However, similar slopes and friendly seabeds exist in other parts of the port, either bounded by rocks or reclaimed; You just need to find them and take advantage of them. While these areas may have few catchable live baits on site (a challenge that can be overcome and is discussed later), the main criterion involves having a relatively clear bottom.

Kingfish Slider Rigs

Before the slide bait came along, most anglers would place their live baits under a balloon and hope that the vagaries of the tide, the wind, and where the fish wanted to swim wouldn’t be a bother. In more remote areas, this technique generally worked well, but slidebaiting offers the great advantage of eliminating most of the constant irritations associated with balloon fishing. It is also a more acceptable way to fish when you are around other anglers.

When selecting a fishing area, find a safe place for the rod holder. Your rod should be angled just ahead of perpendicular when facing the water.

At this stage, you should have a stopper (solid ring and/or large bead) tied to the end of your main line (literally, the end of the line for your slip rig and bait). Attached to the stop ring/bead is the plumb trace, which should be over a meter long and lighter in breaking strain than the main line. For example, if using 15 kilo fishing line, the sinker should be attached to 10 kilo fishing line with a single granny knot. The reasons for this are simple: if your sinker catches on the bottom, it will break, leaving your rig intact, and better yet, if you are hooked on a fish and the sinker catches, it will break. you don’t lose the fish.

By using a breakaway sinker (the 5oz size is good) with the grapnel wires secured tightly at their bases using a twisted rubber band, you are guaranteed to maintain a good tight line between the sinker and the rod tip.

Generally (at least in Wellington Harbor) a proven hitching distance is 40 to 50 metres. Your final preparation is selecting a suitable live bait hook and slider (see photo 5, above). You need to ensure your slider and a meter length of 40-50kg breaking tension are attached and ready to slide before the live bait is secured to the hook.

Attaching the slider and crawler to the main line is a reasonably simple procedure, but still requires practice to ensure it is done quickly and keep the baitfish in fighting shape.

Whatever type of live bait is used, the hook should be placed in the shoulder of the bait, too deep, just below the leading edge of the dorsal fin, with the hook point angled forward (see photo on previous page ). Then it’s just a matter of lifting the rod high and letting the bait slide in the water, after which you can put the rod back in the holder, tighten the slack to fit the sinker and wait for the strike.

Solving the live bait problem

The Oriental Bay wall is a unique location for slide baiting as it has a fairly reliable population of small kahawai live baits, but some days catching the bait is a difficult exercise. The answer to this problem (and in other port locations) is to use horse mackerel/horse mackerel. Not only are trevally a very effective live bait, but they can also be easily caught from most dock structures at night with small squid baits or sabiki bait flies.

The trick is to keep them alive, and portable aerated bait tanks will do just that. These can be as simple as a battery-powered aerator that powers a large cold bin, or a store-bought aerator and bin. When keeping live bait overnight, I suggest lowering the water temperature (a bottle of ice will do), as this keeps the baitfish in a calmer, less agitated state.

Once at the fishing location, the live bait can be transferred to a holding net at the water’s edge. If this is not possible, you will need to use a bucket to replenish your live bait tank with fresh water at regular intervals. A bucket with sturdy rope attached is an essential part of live bait equipment, and is also a useful temporary container when transporting live bait to your rig.

catching the fish

Waiting for a connection is a time of patience and observation. Often their first sign of action is a slight movement or bend in the rod tip. This could be the prelude to a wren’s first attempt at bait, or another predator, such as the barracouta, which loves small trevally.

If no further action occurs, it is best to leave the rod in place for a while longer before checking the bait. As a general rule, it is best to check live baits at intervals of about half an hour.

A more positive sign that a fish has your bait is when there is quite visible and continuous action on the rod tip. It’s a good sign that they’ve taken the bait.

Deciding when to tighten the fish and strike it is a matter of judgment and experience, but once you do and can feel a strong action through the line, it is usually time to strike.

I don’t need to tell you how to play fish: this is the moment of truth, when you will have to trust instinct. You will surely realize what raw power really means!

Whether you land the fish or not, what I do know is that you will have learned more from the experience than from all the advice I can give you. And I know for sure that you will come back for another chance.

Be a responsible fisherman

Kingfish are truly a national treasure and provide Kiwis with fishing experiences that are definitely in the ‘A’ category. And they are also respected internationally, as an increasing number of foreign fishermen are attracted to our shores to fight with these yellow-green tanks. Fortunately, many of these fish will be released after they are caught.

This has to be good for our economy and the well-being of the recreational fishing industry. I believe kingfish population and management can only improve, as long as we embrace the spirit that each of us who fish for this top predator feel responsible for its sustainability and management. However, there is still much to learn about kingfish biology, which does not help when developing the best possible sustainable fishing practices for this species.

So how can you help? Try this…

Catching your first kingfish on land fishing tackle is one of the greatest accomplishments an angler can experience. You are entitled to wear this feat as a badge of honor, and once you begin it, you will earn many more. However, always keep in mind that the kingfish you catch has also earned the right to wear a badge, a badge based on the species’ courage, tenacity and brute strength. So if you are lucky and skilled enough to capture what you need, I urge you to post more that may arise.

In exchange for watching these fantastic fish swim away, you will experience a wonderful feeling that I can’t really describe, the intense mix of euphoria and satisfaction being one of the greatest gifts that fishing has to offer.