Its been some time since I was last reporting on my latest fishing adventure with you guys so here we go with a little part of my world downunder in New Zealand. . . . . . .
The 3 Kings Islands 50nm North of Cape Reinga has always been on my bucket list of trips to do and after many aborted attempts over the years due to bad weather , dream became reality and I was finally on my way with the good ship UWANNAGO.
We left Auckland late Thursday afternoon, arriving in Whangaroa 20.30hrs and after fueling up, getting all the gear stowed we were underway for an overnight steam north to get in a position to make the run to the kings the next morning.
Watch duties were given and a couple of Lumo lures deployed for the trip up in the vain hope that billfish may indeed feed at night and at a leisurely 5knts we were at Surville Cliffs by day break with a full compliment of lures now weaving their magic hopefully about to raise a last of season marlin.
0800 on the button and our long rigger was hit and we had a fish on which was tearing out the line at a great rate of knots. B.F was forceful in his call of strike and sleeping, unbelieving sleepy eyed crew were razzle dazzled into action to clear the gear while I scrambled into a gimble and harness . It was not to be yet again for me this season and within seconds of being on the rod the fish dropped the gear. Bugger ! !
Onwards we headed towards the kings, following well worn GPS paths from many trips before. I was learning so much about the area with every mile traveled. The chance to view the areas structure through the sounder and the moods of the seas up there was quite inspirational and I pondered a possible visit in Wetspot next season .
The tidal and current flows up there are immense and where once there was a roughening sea there are as quickly milky areas of relative calmness reflecting what’s going on deep down on the sea floor. The workings of deep structure and current flows are most impressive when related to the contours on the GPS.
The team were settling in well with lots of good humour and high hopes for the rest of the trip. Captn Mike aka Batfarstard was cetainly in good spirits
Finally the 3 kings started getting closer and closer. Starting first of all with a view of what could be thought of as just one island standing alone (Great island ) and then the closer one got, the makings of North East island and then the Princess group swinging out to the west .
With no further action on the Marlin front we arrived at the kings at 4.30pm and mooched around for a while to find some kingfish sign.
The team had assembled the jigging arsenal and me being the newbie I am with this form of fishing was asking plenty of questions especially seeing as I had such a fine array of brand spanking new jigs care of Boulder and a new JMPS300 and OJ 4000p to blood with its 1st fish.
My options of jigs seemed endless and to say I was confused about what to deploy was an understatement. The quality and ability of my 1st batch of windons was also being called into question by myself at this stage, but it was too late to get one of the lads to whip up a quick PR Knot as 1st jigs in was not far away.
We found some likely sign on the western side of Cape Morton Jones on North East Island and decided to settle on this area for a while.
Jigs were dropped with no initial result. It took me a little time to find some rhythm again as it had been some 7-8 weeks since my 1st ever jigging session with the Boulder Guiding expedition on Epic Adventures where I was shown the finer points of Mechanical Jigging with great success.
With a look of quiet concern etched on the brows of my fellow fishers from zero strikes to date from this famed hot spot of action we set up for a 2nd drift and on drop No.2
I was hit from what I initially thought was a smaller fish. Indeed though my drag had not been set properly ( typical newbie ) and the fish was taking far too much line too quickly in what was only 60m of water, so after a very quick and massive drag adjustment the fish finally felt the heat and responded accordingly with a massive power run to the rousing cheer of “ HE’S GETTING REALLY F&C$^D UP GUYS ! ! ! ! ! !! “ from the crew as I was nearly pulled over the side and struggling to resume some composure .
This fish had me crossed up like nothing I had ever been before and I struggled to get the rod tip out of the vertical . It was at last a serious fish and it was on my virgin gear, I was inexperienced and I was getting F&^*$^ over big time and the Uwannago team was in hysterics and loving every second of it.
I was getting my own back though and after a little while with the drag at sunset, a few trips around the deck and many a time with the rod tip being driven towards the waters edge , I was slowly gaining ascendancy and the fish was coming my way.
I was tiring and my arms were aching but finally this fat little piggy arose and I was in awe as it was my 1st king to top the 30KG mark in nearly 20 years and as you can tell I was a tad stuffed to say the least .
With a measurement of 1.30m and the condition it was in the crew picked it for 30Kg and I was stoked to say the least and with a few photos my new PB on jig it was released to fight another day J Yeaaaaah and my WINDON SURVIVED ! ! ! ! which was most pleasing
In the meantime Adam and Dave had hooked up as well and landed and released another couple of solid fish and towards the end another from myself making two fo the day and a nice little Golden snapper.
So ended our day and we were off to the safe anchorage of North West bay for a typically fantastic Uwannago dinner, a spot of night fishing and a restful night in close to the cliffs with the amazing sound of the nereby blow hole going off throughout the night.
The next day dawned with some fun in close with the resident trevally which are a feisty bunch to say the least and resulted in many a bust off and some nice examples landed.
With breakfast completed we were off to explore the Princess group area for hopefully some more kingfish action and off course the local scenery which is simply awe inspiring.
And the wonderful scenery was everywhere
A fellow fisher mentioned in his Ultimate Kings Adventure report how spiritual this area is and after experiencing it 1st hand I can totally agree and understand his sentiments. The landscape of the area is incredible and I happily snapped away as we toured the area.
I was also very keen to check out the area where the Elingamite went down in the early 1900's with all its cargo of Gold Coins that have slowley been given up in this harsh environment , and on seeing it, quickly imagined what the crew of the vessel would have gone through all those years ago.
Success on the fishing front for team Uwannago was not to be favorable this day apart from a few Trevally, a rat king and a rare Kings Snapper the kingfish were not to be found from the many fishy looking areas and deeper pins out wider and so the day drew to an end with dinner , the obligatory visit and chat with the local seal and plans being laid for the following day.
Up bright and early with a mission to the King Bank which was also a 1st for me and came with so many incredible stories during the game seasons of past and present of incredible amounts of marlin working up over a 2sq/km area.
The wind had got up quite a bit during the night so a relatively quiet morning was a bonus and we cruised North East until we found some excellent work ups with dolphins and gannets working and lures were deployed. 5 mile from the bank we had a solid hook up on the shotgun which as luck had it saw me once again in the harness and onto what seemed to be a reasonable fish which was at that stage unsighted but pulling a goodly amount of string . Lady unlucky played her part again though with a 20kg king coming to the boat and a pretty reasonable work up to be had on it while I skull dragged it to the boat.
The weather was picking up with a solid 15knt southerly developing and on arriving at the bank for the planned puka and king hunt it was quickly realized that this would be difficult to say the least. After many a drift the jigs were abandoned for some heavy lead and hooks with bait were deployed with Dave hooking up 1st for a long and bitter end in the fishes favour. These had to be the Super bass. Fish probably in excess of 50-60KG and we were undergunned so badly with the gear we were using it was weirdly inspirational !
And then Adam hooking up as well and feeling the HURT ! ! ! ! while mr casual keeps his cool !
resulting in some extended battles with fish that just would not play ball and resulted in either a parting of the ways or lost gear – damn It no Bass for supper.
The King bank was not to play ball this day either so by lunch time and no result we were over it and with the weather building even further the call was made to take the weather on the nose and high tale it back to the mainland. Severely limited with the sea conditions we towed lures most of the way back on what would end up being a very long 9hr trip back to Tom Bowling and by 10.30pm we were tucked up in within calm waters with a feed being turned out and tired bodies resting.
It was very nice indeed to be in my sleeping bag that night ! and I considered fully the very real implications of what that stretch of water between the Cape and the Kings could turn out when it gets nastier than the relatively moderate seas that we had experienced.
Our last day was upon us and we had a lot of making up to do on the fish stakes. We had only a couple of fish to show for the trip so far and North Cape was beckoning . On arrival the area was alive with Terns and Gannets as the sea boiled with surface fish and on the sounder the kings were in ubundance and the catch up began.
Let the games begin ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Dave was first into the action and getting tested big time on a very very decent fish ! and the cry of the Uwannago team rings out in jest with the King all over him
And finally after busting my original windon with another 20-25KG fish lost at the boat and after a quick re rig im back into it but physically starting to feel the HURT ! ! !
And Adams back in after a triple hook up from the team ! ! !
And Torpedo Dave - Whats that hand signal indicating buddy
And finally giving up after my last fish. Im just not use to putting up with 2 hours of this onslaught !
So a very very solid session was had by the team and full recognition has to go to Mike who managed to keep putting us onto the fish in reasonably trying conditions. We could have stayed here for hours but needed to keep moving on and by 10.00 we were re setting the lures and trolling our way down south and off home.
So that was about it for the trip, no marlin hanging about and lunching on what was a very nice spread of lures which would have topped off a brilliant trip to perfection but in saying this I was far to happy to even have that thought register until writing this report.
In so many ways the trip was near perfect. I experienced my 1st trip to the Kings which will always now remain as special little chapter of my life, I got to hang out with a great bunch of people sharing the same passions of spending time on the water , visiting special places and catching some great fish.
I cant wait to get back up to the 3 Kings and King bank area next season to not only target marlin but also to get back into some great Kingfish and hopefully to top off the menu with some big old bass, hapuka and King terikihi.
To Mike and Zara , thank you for sharing once again your tremendous vessel and inviting me along on a trip that I will always remember and I hope that I can get my ****e together and tag along in Wetspot into that area again with you next year.
The 3 Kings is a must do for any fisho and after you've had the experience of not only the fishing but the scenery and majisty of the area it will spoil you forever as not very many places in this world can beat it ! ! ! ! ! ! and thats a fact
P.S . heres a great old pic I found of a representation of the 3 Kings drawn by a crew member on board Able Tasmans visit to NZ in 1643
Until next time from the deepest darkest depths of New Zealand
Absolutely loved this read. You pics and story were fantastic. Those kings look like they have all the piss and vinegar found in Amberjack. I bet a couple of those will get you a trip to the chiropractor.
Would love to see more pics of the Island. It looks amazing.
Now booking for May Striper fishing on the Roanoke River North Carolina 910-540-2464
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I am stunned each time I read your reports...taken to another world I only read about to wonder and ponder your adventure in my mind...
Another wonderful report and adventure you have taken me on with a delightful read, thanks for taking the time and sharing your adventures with us...
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