Report 069 Quick ride over for some Coromandel fishing... 22nd of September 2011

This trip was a spur of the moment social ride leaving from Bucklands Beach to the top of the Coromandel. We left the ramp just after first light with four skis. All the riders had done plenty of Jetskifishing hours and were familiar with such a long range trip. The conditions were forecasted to drop, yet the marine forescast was still saying it was blowing seventeen knots at Channel Island as we were leaving... Our fingers were crossed that it would decrease, to make for an easier ride over. The ride across took fifty minutes to the top of Coromandel and started with Neil, Dave and Buzz enjoying some soft baiting in the deeper water.

I tried a nearby spot for some Kingfish activity with no success... then decided to have some breakfast while enjoying the surroundings and catching up with the guys on the water. This was a good time to post some live Facebook updates on the Jetskifishing Page, fans of jetskifishing can do the same by sharing their live experiences at our Facebook Page.
For my softbaiting on this trip, I used the Berkley Lumo 4oz Elevator Head, as I was fishing at fifty plus metres of water. To setup for my drift I scouted around the area using the Raymarine charts to fish on the edge of the contour lines, finding the fish sign which was not far off from the surrounding bird life. With not much current and plenty of weight, first soft bait of the day to be used was the Gulp Squid Vicious – Nuclear Chicken. In my experience, with these heavy soft bait rigs, there is no need to cast, just drop below the ski while keeping in touch with the line. You should constantly be ready to strike the line, as the better sized fish could hit the bait at anytime. As with my theory, the bait was hit and after a few minutes of string pulling action, I had my first Snapper of the day to add in the chilly bin.

I was wrapped with the quick start and next spotted some activity with some Dolphins and Gannets working the area. This is always a good sign for the possibilities of a feeding frenzie! I moved a bit closer to the active area and made a quick change of baits to the larger Grub, in hope of entising a mooching Snapper beneath. Today was another one of those dream days of Jetskifishing, magic conditions and fish to go with it! As I dropped the next bait I could feel the occassional hit to the bait, this time the rig made it to the lower depths. While manipulating the bait with the flick of my rod tip, I soon had another taker, this fish giving me a better run for my money. The fish had more weight to it and fortunately with fishing over the sand, I had no worries with the line it was taking. I was patient and have learnt not to get too eager by tightening the drag with too much pressure, that when the fish makes a run it can bust your line. After a few minutes of the long retrieve from fifty metres depth, I soon had another nice Snapper to add to the chilly bin.

We all had some fish in our chilly bins, so we left in pairs with a heading of the middle ground in search of a larger work-up. We didn’t seem to find the bird activity that we were after, but sure was the perfect conditions to be out there covering the miles.

We also tried a bit of jigging at this area after seeing some nice bait sign on the Raymaine. With the mechanical jigging it can get quite exhausting if you are out of practice, so wasn’t long and I was back to my soft bait fishing.
It seems to be murphys law, the larger fish hit your baits when least expecting! As I was retieving my bait from the depth of fourty five metres my bait was hit by a screamer. I was totally caught off guard and it was all on, with the fish pulling me straight to the bottom. There was plenty of solid head shakes and it was too early to call whether a heavy Snapper or a Kingfish. With at least fifteen minutes of playing it and plenty of encouragement from Buzz, we finally could see the fish’s colour coming through the water. The visibility was brilliant and I could soon spot a Kingfish before it completed another couple of short runs after seeing the ski! I wanted to be sure the fish was well legal so we had a challenge of netting it, seeing it was caught on the lighter gear... The Kingfish was definitly a keeper and after adding it to the Ultimate Catch Bag it was heading home for the smoker.

With the day still ahead of us and most needing to go to work, we called it quits and headed back for home. Along the way we were joined by the Dolphins.

The Dolphins are a tranquil sight and just another exciting experience you see when going further a field on Jetskifishing adventures.

With making it back to ramp in good time, it was a quick wash down of my WaveRunner and off to an afternoon’s work.
More reports to come soon, in between me organising the next King of Jetskifishing Tournament, to be held 30th October 2011. We hope you are all registered and are part of this next exciting event.

Cheers, Andrew Hill