Fishing in Tasmania – Kingfish gives anglers run for their money

by Carl Hyland on 25 Feb 2016 Yellow tail Kingfish are giving land based anglers a good run for their money around the state at the moment. Last weekend, anglers’ fishing from the Low Head breakwater told off big bust offs after using small live baits under balloons were seized by Kingfish. Using medium sized rods and line, they were no match for the larger fish which just smashed everything put in front of them.

One boater who anchored up in the front of the break wall also told off having a Kingfish on for approximately 15 minutes only to have the line break at the reel when too much tension was applied. To have a Kingfish on for 15 minutes is doing a good job as they do fight dirty. For those in the know, Kingfish fights should be immediate and straight to the point. You go in hard with good tension and work the rod, giving no quarter.

Kingfish head for any obstacle the can get that line around or against and as we all know, line under full strain only has to touch a rock, pylon or even a boat keel and it’s all over. If fishing for the species in deep water, apply pressure once hooked and keep it on as loose line will result in the fish doing everything it can to get off. Kingfish are a schooling fish and I find where you get one, you will often find others.

So a fish hooked will often have tag alongs following right to the boat, this is when another rod loaded ad ready to go with either a raider type lure or a big 10cm soft plastic will often get you another fish. In other states, caught Kingfish are often tethered to a boat or at the feet of the angler and this in turn will attract others.

I mentioned live baiting and this is quite a simple procedure, where a hook is placed in the back of a smaller fish and allowed to swim free under either a balloon or float. The risk of doing this is that a big squid (in itself prime kingfish tucker) will seize the bait and depart with it of a couta will sometimes have a go as well. These species might be a desired by catch, but when the above method is used in conjunction with a berley slick, the results for Kingfish can be outstanding.

If land based, I also find that an ebb tide, that is an outgoing, is often the best time to fish for pelagic species as the berley slick will often flow offshore , right to the deeper zones which is often where your target species hang out. This is exciting fishing, as the fish quite often come right to your feet and can be seen in the clear water.