Fishing Monthly Magazines : Big kings hit the Pitt

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ig kingfish have led the way over the past month in Pittwater as the water warms and clears.

Each year the bigger kingfish come into the river at the start of the season and we were lucky enough to show our customers some really great action this year.

On a charter of king novices arranged by Stan Tan, we found enough squid to start the day in 30 minutes, which was a real blessing.

t didn’t take long for the small squid to get smashed by a 70cm king and each lap of the area produced a bigger fish than the last.

By 10.30am we had one live squid left and a last, dead monster squid which we cut into large strips and kept the head whole for some more downrigging.

With the last live squid set on the camera downrigger and the big head on the other rigger, we made another pass.

he 30lb braid outfit screamed to life and stripped off 50m of line within seconds and before the second downrigger could be raised, the second reel started to howl.

After quite a few close calls we landed both fish, 90cm and 92cm.

he guys ended up getting 16 chances at decent fish. A special mention should go to poor ‘Bad Luck’ Blake, who hooked and played a monster on 20lb braid after it ate a 12” white

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o soft stickbait. The fish eventually ran back into the shallower water and cut us loose on a mooring.

The bigger fish are moving from one day to the next so it is really pointless for me to tell you where they have been, so I will tell you where they should go.

The western side of Pittwater and the deeper water on the southern side of the Palm Beach sand flats will be places to start.

FALLING TIDE

On most occasions an early start will be a waste of time because the bite normally revolves around the run-out tide.

The Barrenjoey Headland area is a great place to anchor and berley to catch a variety of fish, but at this time of the year if you don’t put out a live bait for a passing king, move over so someone else can!

ave a soft plastic ready for when a kingfish chases a hooked bream back to your boat.

The other areas to downrig are Towlers Bay, the Palm Beach moorings, The Basin and, to end the day, a lap of Scotland Island.

If you own a larger boat and can travel outside the river then areas such as West Head, Barrenjoey Headland, Hole in the Wall, Lion Island, West Reef and East

eef will all see great fish being this month.

The best bait is live slimy mackerel but if they can’t be found, big yellowtail will do.

We have also been picking up kingfish between Broken Bay and Long Reef.

ost fish have been around 70cm but occasionally bigger. These fish have been devouring live downrigged yellowtail, the bigger the better.

BIG FLATTIES

n Pittwater and Broken Bay we also have been picking up some large flathead. These big girls have all been released after a couple of happy snaps and most have been caught while casting for kingfish feeding in the shallows. Stuart Quinlan recently was casting a 12” white

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o whilst his mate Patrick was hooked to a kingfish on the other side of the boat. To everyone’s surprise, Stuart landed a very decent 75cm flathead to end of a great day on the water. Squid are being a little easier to catch but on their day they can still be very frustrating. The best jig colour has been orange and the smaller 1.8g jigs are working a treat over the shallower areas.

ry at West Head and on the ocean side of Barrenjoey Head. Salmon are being caught from Lion Island to Terrigal but are starting to be rather shy. They can be caught on small minnows such as Rapala C

7s trolled around the headlands or wait for them to rise and cast small soft plastics further out in the deeper water.

Over the next month the snapper should start to bite. Long Reef and Esmereldas are producing some decent fish from 2kg to 5kg on soft plastics but the numbers aren’t huge.

The dreaded leatherjackets are still about so it is wise to ease up on the berley and save yourself a lot of money on lost tackle.