Report 071 Checking the fishing grounds before the Top Catch King of Jetskifishing Tournament… 13th of October 2011

I hadn’t been out for a fish for a few weeks now and was eager to get some time on the water… I squeezed this quick session in between work and a short weather window. Before heading out I had one last listen on the Now Cast weather conditions and it was a definite go with a reading of fourteen knots at Tiri. The only down side, was an increase to twenty plus in the arvo, so I best not muck around. After a quick beach launch, I was on a fast trip up to the area of Tiri, where I was eager to see if the Kingfish would be keen on the jig… wasn’t long and I had my first one on!

I released the Kingfish and continued with the jigging, which soon had me on to another fish. The whole time while fishing I was eagerly watching the bird activity heading out to deeper water… I couldn’t resist any longer and decided to go chase the work-ups! I followed the bird activity on a ten minute ride out towards the fourty five metre mark, where I spotted the action I was looking for in the distance! The Gannets were having a feeding frenzy and that is always a huge adrenalin kick… I made a quick stop to prepare my fishing tackle for some soft bait action. As fast as I was removing the reel covers and attaching the soft bait, the birds dispersed! I couldn’t believe it and still approached the area in anticipation of some more activity. I missed the moment on this occasion, as all I was left with, was the Dolphins and the fear of all the surfacing Whales!

The Whales were a little intimitading, so opted moving a couple of miles further east to the spot I had fished a few weeks ago for a nice Kingfish on the plastics. This trip had the same activity, with the Kingfish there again and me dropping the first one I hooked up. Lesson learnt “when mechanical jigging, be sure to wear your jigging gloves”, I soon had a nasty blister that made the jigging action uncomfortable! This had me switch to the Diawa – Pirate jig, on my Sol rod and reel. I know from past success the Pirate jigs attract the Kingfish easily, my technique is dropping the jig to the bottom with a rapid retrieve! As expected a strike, and I was prepared, by not having too much drag applied so the fish could run, rather than bust me… At this stage I thought a small Kingfish was on, as it hit high in the water column and only made one strong run. As I spotted the colour I was excited to find a reasonable Trevally that I would be taking home for dinner.

In between snapping an image of the fish, I spotted the wind was quickly getting up as forecasted, I was a good thirty kilometres from land and decided to head back before it became a tougher ride on open water.

It was definitly the right call to head back, the sea got lumpier by the minute… I made a quick stop at the Ahaaha’s, fortunately to land another fish, this time a Snapper on the Gulp – 5” Nuclear Chicken.

The weather had set in and as you can see, I was well overdue to make the ride back to home, being safe than sorry!

The ride back was made easier having the luxury of cruise assist, which allowed me to maintain a constant speed to navigate through the choppy conditions, without any unexpected throttle while wavehopping. When arriving back to Bucklands Beach, it was a quick retrieve of the ski, to head home for the quick wash down. It is always an amazing feeling after a day on the water, to reflect on the miles covered with experiences in such little time, with the day still ahead of you.
The next Jetskifishing report, will be the lead up to the Top Catch King of Jetskifishing Tournament and will be about fishing with my 9 year old son, Cooper...
Cheers, Andrew