His and Hers Kingies
By Ross Hamilton
Fishing is a sport that is full of theories from anglers, as diverse as the tools used to entice that elusive strike. Recently I heard a rumour that the kingies where going off, but the only fishers having any luck were those using the high-speed jigging technique. We have attended those jigging seminars and bought the jigs, but still had very limited success, that is - no luck at all.
Being ones who want to have the 'scales of luck' weighing as much as possible in our favour, we decided to purchase a high speed reel because the theory was our lure wasn't travelling fast enough through the water to entice a strike from the kingies.
After some deliberation and more theory, the purchase was made - nice shiny Shimano Torium loaded with braid and matched with the appropriate rod. Pauline, the boss, did discuss the cost of this purchase and advised of her scepticism regarding its perceived ability to catch fish. "Was this just another excuse to fill in a gap in the rod rack?"
"No way honey. This is the real deal and Bob wouldn't put me wrong!"
The day of reckoning duly arrived and with some trepidation, we set course for the spot. The only trouble was my spot was the same spot everyone else knew about. That aside, we prepared our rigs for the plummet to the bottom, me using the Torium and the boss using her old set up.
I thought I had collected terra firma on my fourth drop, but it peeled off line like it does in those fishing shows on the TV. It was a short, sharp fight with the fish winning. Two drops later I was in again. Now the boss was wondering if she might 'need' one of those high-speed reels after all!
To cut a long story short, the Torium kicked ass all weekend, accounting for five kingies, but having said that, the boss did catch three on her Baitrunner 6500.
Fishing deep water and having the fish run for the bottom is a great feeling. The fish were obviously there, so it will be interesting to go back to cement the theory.
High-speed reels are hard work to use. We don't do the mechanical jigging, just drop to the bottom and 'cane it' to the top. You do get wet from the spinning spool and line coming through the end eye, but it's a small price to pay. We were using 200gm lures with assist hooks, not rubber banded. We even caught a blue cod, which was surprising considering the size of the lure and the short time the lure is on the bottom.
The Torium now has a partner in the rod rack. Funny that!
