Gaynor Prestage's first kingfish caught on a Hotshotz Funky Chicken Curly Grubz rig.
By Gaynor Prestage
Not a good start to the weekend! Ron had clipped my parked up mountain bike with his 4WD as he was backing the boat out of our driveway, bending the bike's crank and snapping off a pedal!
Lucky for him it was the Dawnbreakers Annual Family Day at Havelock and I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend with our extended family. After arriving at Havelock we checked into the Garden Motels before heading to the boat ramp. Havelock was calm and sunny and all looked good for an afternoon's fishing in the Kenepuru Sound.
We motored out and readied ourselves in our favourite spot. Ron thought my rod should be set up using the same rig I had caught snapper with previously. However this rig was looking rather tatty and being a competition day I wanted a new one! I opted for a new Hot Shotz Funky Chicken rig. The flashy, bright, pink and green Curly Grubz flasher looked good to me and hopefully would appeal to a big snapper. After lacing it with a piece of Southern Bait arrow squid my 10oz sinker took the ledger rig to the bottom.
Ron's rod was the first to fire and he landed a smallish snapper. Perhaps fearing it may be his only fish for the weekend he asked me to get the camera. Somehow that photograph never was taken, as before I got to the camera my rod let rip and boy did it go!
The line took off and for a few moments a touch of panic set in when I saw the spool of my reel nearly depleted of nylon. Fortunately, a slow retrieve then began and after several minutes of playing this fish, I yelled for Ron to get my gimbal belt as I could feel my back straining. Fifteen minutes later the fish had slowed up considerably, fixing the thought in my mind that it was a huge ray. That respite didn't last long however, and it flared into action again. The line sliced through the water towards the front of the boat where, horror of horrors, it had tangled itself around the berley rope. At this point I had to call Ron into action and he clambered onto the bow of the boat and untangled the berley rope from my stressing nylon. I must admit I was starting to get a little impatient at this stage, so adopted a pump and wind regime on the tiring fish. Steadily I got my line back and expected to sight 'the ray' at any moment.
Imagine our surprise when a big kingi loomed up from beneath the boat into our line of sight. Nervously I manoeuvred the fish into gaffing range and Ron soon had the sleek kingi at our feet, 25 minutes after the initial take.
It was an amazing moment as my 'big ray' turned into my first ever kingfish and a good sized one at that. My birthday present of a Penn 330GT reel and rod paid off handsomely, as it handled the fight without fault. I've now joined Ron in the 'Big Three Club' having caught a big snapper, a groper and now a kingfish.
After my catch I was quite happy to spend the next day fishing from the Havelock Wharf with my grandchildren, allowing son-in-law Paul to get out fishing with Ron. But that's another story!
