Botany Bay - 20/2/08

Wow! Three weeks between reports and in that time I've only been out in the yak twice. But I'll make up for it with this report now and another one on wednesday night. This one covers a session I and 5 mates had with Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours (http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/). Scott taught me the finer points of Kingie catching a few years ago and it was time to pass on the skills to a few other fishos.

We started off by catching a few trevally around the Drums and then it was off to the live bait grounds where we quickly loaded up with Yellowtail. From here it was a short blast out to Cape Banks where we promptly put two livies down. We'd just had time to finish a coffee when one of the rods starts to bounce around a bit. Scott no sooner says 'That livey is a bit nervous,' when the rod slams down and we're on! Justin drops the two closest guys with a quick left-right and then snatches the rod. A few determined runs has us Ooh'ing and Aah'ing but Justin handles it like a pro and our first legal (67cm's) hits the deck.

While all this is going on, I'm flicking about a Mojo rigged on a 1oz jighead. I let it sink before working it back from the bottom when I get a savage strike. The drag squeals briefly (very briefly) then it all goes slack. I can still feel that the lure is there though, so I give three more jigs and whack!, I'm on again. The light Pflueger 3-4kg Supreme Rod loads right up but it has heaps of power in reserve and the next legal (66cm's) is in the boat, too.

Over the next few hours we hook a total of 18 kingfish and land 12. Of the ones we lost, 4 threw the hooks but two of them were absolute screamers that took off and just kept on going until they reefed us. Man, they can pull like a freight train! The action was simply superb and twice we had a triple hook-up with rods and anglers hooting and hollering all over the boat. Matt (pictured above) had never landed a kingie before and was absolutely stoked to get into a few. Although there were almost tears when his first king (that looked about 70cm's) came up tangled with one of mine and my braid sliced straight through his leader. Oooh, he wasn't a happy chappy at all. : (

I thoroughly recommend a day on the bay with Scotty. Get a few mates together and let someone else do all the hard work. Scott provides all the tackle and bait and you'll definately learn a few tricks of the trade and if nothing more, you'll at least learn some of the top spots that Botany Bay (and Scott) have up their sleeve.

Of course, after getting into these kings, I had to give the Hotwater Outlet a crack a few days later. And what did I get? NOTHING! Not even a hit. On the way back in a decided to have a quick flick around the groynes off Silver Beach. 15 minutes later I had these 4 in the well. I couldn't believe it. All caught on a 1/16th jighead rigged with a Gulp 3" Minnow in Mouldy Cheese colour. The 40cm model was a big fat bugga, too.

Ok, the next report will cover a bream session I had on the Cooks River last sunday with Terry. And it was a ripper, too. So until then... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid