- Empty cart.
- Continue Shopping
ILFF Predator #8 with a big old bend in it!
(Posted by Lewis Peart ILFF Ambassador) On Thursday night (28th December) the call was made to get out to the channel markers and fish a small gap in the upcoming weather that happened to line up perfectly with the tides. The night was spent tying pipers and hoping that the predicted gap would hold so I could finally get a shot at my first kingfish on fly. Here’s the flies that did the trick.
I’d been out and about wading the flats for months, and while finding lots of success with other species, Snapper, Trevally, Kahawai etc. that Kingie had until now eluded me, so I really wasn’t going to turn down an offer like this regardless of how bleak the weather looked. Friday came, and that gap held, so armed with my Predator 8 weight and a fistful of courage I met Will at the Half Moon Bay boat ramp and we set off towards the go to markers.
The weather did have me feeling a bit hopeless, I thought to myself that surely, they would go deep and seek cover from the thrashing sea and the wind, but to my suprise when we arrived at the first marker, we could see tailing fish, and we knew we had a shot. From a glance, it appears that fishing markers is a simple exercise, but I quickly learned how untrue that is… My first few casts were rough, I needed to cast essentially the full fly line very accurately, which with wind stalling your back cast is a real nightmare. Nonetheless, we made it happen.
A good cast whipped up and behind the left-hand flank of the buoy, and within two fast strips the sea erupted, BANG fish on!
That was the first half of the puzzle, now making use of the Minn Kota we gently steered the fish away from the marker before it woke up and headed straight for the bottom, now the real fight began. These fish are something else pound for pound and even small specimens give you a hell of a fight on light gear! I was so pumped full of adrenaline and dopamine that I didn’t even notice the weather, which by now was worsening.
Now with that first fish out the way I had finally earned my new Auckland Saltwater Fly fishers’ hat which I donned as a badge of honour.
Ninja modes, playing the game !
Now we focused on searching for activity on different markers and casting into zone when we could. That zone is very important, it seems to be in the eddie produced by the marker as a result of the current, this means that you essentially need to cast behind the marker and get it as close to it as you can, even hitting the marker and dangling line over top of it produces fish, it’s all about getting it into that zone and stripping fast as soon as the fly contacts the water.
My buddy picked up and dropped one, then landed another, then finally I hooked up to my second fish which took me for a rodeo ride around the boat.
My buddy landed another fish and all 4 for the short 2-hour session were tagged and released without incident. So why bother with all of this when the next day was going to be so much better for the weather? The thrill of competition of course! This was all for our friendly King of Kings competition running between Auckland and Tauranga, hopefully this is an event that continues every year and encourages new anglers into the sport and helps convince a few trouto’s over to the weird world of saltwater fly fishing.
Cheers – Lewis (ILFF Ambassador)
