Three Kings Island jigging trip starts.

[ksong]

I am on a plane to Auckland, NZ for Three Kings Island jigging trip.
I fished there in 2005 and 2007 and this trip is probably my last trip there because of my age.
I had memorable trips there and I hope we can repeat it.
I plan to use light Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rods as well as light 80g and 150g Black Hole Cape Cod jigging rods for big yellowtail in 60 - 80 lb. I will be tough test for such light rods as big yellowtail is very powerful.

We are going to stay on the Tracker, sister boat of the Cascade on which I had two trips previously, for 5 - 6 days. All we do is fishing, eating and sleeping on the boat.

It takes about 20 hours to get to Auckland by plane from here and fishing start from April 3.

[redsetta]

Wow, fantastic!
That's a bucket list trip for sure - been trying to get out there for years.
I fished off the top of NZ (out from Shipwreck Bay) a few weeks back and it was epic.
I generally fish 80lb gear and 300-400g jigs for those bruisers, so you'll have your work cut out on the light gear!
Good luck mate - will look forward to the report.
All the best, Justin

[ksong]

If it takes more time to land a fish using light rod, it is not testing. We are going to use the same drag for the light rods as we do heavier rods.

[Rivverrat]

From reading about this area I'm looking very much forward to seeing pictures of your trip.

I more than likely will never get to fish there... Jeff

[ksong]

The Three Kings Islands trip is finally over.
It took 20 hours from NJ to Auckland, NZ.
Three of us from the US arrived almost at the same time though we took different flights.
We spent the first day relaxing in downtown of Auckland.















Anglers from NZ provide transportation which is a huge help.

[ksong]

After driving 5 - 6 hours, we arrived at Mangonui Harbor.  We found out we were fishing on the Cascade with Capt Mike, not the Tracker.  That was great as I fished on the Cascade in 2005 and 2007.
Capt Mike turned out to be very diligent and likable Capt.
Jason who works for Catch Tackle was there already.

[redsetta]

Exciting start!

[ksong]

We left 4 pm. We  ran  6- 7 hours to anchor in a bay in northern tip of island.


On my previous trips, we ran to the Three Kings directly.
On the next morning, we ran about 2 hours to jig kingfish. After we caught small kingfish we ran another 2 hours to fish King Bank. 
On the way to the Bank, we got a nice yft on troll.


I fished with 6'8" Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch with prototype IRT 600 duel drag reel. 

[ksong]

On the next day, they tried to catch bait for two hours early in the morning which is the prime time to jig. I thought this trip is exclusively for jigging and I was not happy about it. But Capt and majority fishermen like the mix of jigging and bait fishing.  So I had to adjust myself for peace in mind.

After bait fishing, we fished near the Three Kings Island group. I got my biggest kingfish on this trip using 6'8" Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rod and IRT 600 reel filled with 60 lb JB Hollow/100 lb leader line. I used 400g local Catch jig.




After fishing Three Kings for a while, we ran to Middlesex Bank. We got there in the afternoon.  Unlike my previous trips when we got big kingfish there, kingfish were not responding well this time.





I tested 5'8" Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rod with JM PE 6 reel using 300g or 400g Catch jigs.

[Rivverrat]

Kil, loving these pics. Tell us about the gear your using I see a Jig Master,  BG, IRT spinning reel but not sure of the make of the black one your using. Is it an IRT also ?

What weight line & drag ?  ... Jeff

[boon]

I plan on heading to the Three Kings either this summer or the one after.
I have wondered a couple of times about coordinating a trip for AT members.

[David Hall]

What a great trip.  I'm more interested in how you adjusted your attitude after spending all that time and effort to get there?  Lol.   

[ksong]

Kil, loving these pics. Tell us about the gear your using I see a Jig Master,  BG, IRT spinning reel but not sure of the make of the black one your using. Is it an IRT also ?

What weight line & drag ?  ... Jeff

I am in Auckland airport. I will give detailed info of gear I used later. The black spinning reel is prototype IRT duel drag reel. It performed beautifully

[ksong]

What a great trip.  I'm more interested in how you adjusted your attitude after spending all that time and effort to get there?  Lol.   

it is easy. It took two hours to get bait and I could sleep two hours more.
See had great group and I wanted them to enjoy fishing.
I could jig on the whole trip and that matters.

[ksong]

Capt Mike decided to go hapuka/seabass in deep water on the third day.
I thought he would go to King Bank for mix of hapuka and kingfish we we did in 2005 and 2007.  But he ran the boat 3 hours to the different spot.  We fished 250 meter ( 750').  We used to catch big hapuka and bass in 150 meter water after fishing kingfish on top of the bank.
we got 50 - 60 lb bass, but mostly were small hapuka or bluenose.
I asked Mike why he had to run so far for hapuka/bass. He said hapuka/bass were wiped out on the Banks by commercial fishermen. Sad story.

I tried to use 26 oz glow hammered diamond jig for the light Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rod/JM PE6 reel.  It is mismatch for fish 250 meter with such a light setup, But it worked.
The problem was the glow jigs attraced small fish like rosie.
John got about 15 lb hapuka and I had about 25 lb bluenose with the setup.

We stayed there almost until 2:00 pm and I suggested to go for kingfish.  It was about 2 hour run to King Bank. 
We had decent catch of kingfish there. The Pursuit joined us and fished next to us.



John fighting a decent hapuka using the Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rod/JM PE6 with 26 oz jig.  It was rule to wear a skirt for anglers and that day was John's turn.



The heavy glow jig attracts small fish.



Tony got a nice fish.





I got bluenose using Black Hole Cap Cod Slow Pitch rod/JM PE6 on 26 oz jig in 250 meter ( 750 ft).



Ross, IRT reel rep, fighting a nice kingfish using Black Hole Cape Cod 450g jigging rod/IRT 800 reel



Murray got a nice kingfish.



fighting a kingfish using Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rod/IRT reel.