I’m a leftie so I know that if I get in to trouble there will not be much help from the others. Then I discover Andrew Cox is also left handed but he quickly tells me “You are on your own” My first drop, and whilst I’m trying to master the jigging action, wham bam I’m on. So many lines in the water we get tangled and have to do the Enchanter Dance – under, over, under, over. We all get clear my fish is still on and then “cluck” my line breaks. It got damaged in the tangle – severe braid burn. Roy has to tie on my leader, assist, jig etc. I know I should have done it but he is quicker than me!

Now I am back at the rail. As we return to our drift I stand there clutching my gear – the signal to go is sounded and I drop. Its deep, 80 to 100 metres.  I get hooked on  - is this a fish or a fast moving submarine? Its peeling line off my PE5 spooled with 80lb braid. I juggle the drag to ensure I can somehow control the fish but not loose the tackle over the side of the boat. Sunset on a PE5 is just too strong for me. For ten minutes the fish dragged me from the bow to the stern and back again but all the time I’m gaining ground. Eventually I land my very first Yellowtail Kingfish – a whopping 30kg fish. Everyone’s whooping and hollering and I have a huge Cheshire cat smile on my face.

Photos taken, fish returned to the water its time to go again. I feel I need to recover but the adrenaline forces me on. Would you believe it another hit – this time a 28kg Yellowtail Kingfish. Now its time to gracefully retire and let someone else have a go at the rail.

That evening I proudly wear my Jigstar 30kg T Shirt. I had done it and survived – my confidence was sky high.

The next day we moved to the Middlesex Banks – bigger fish here. The weather has worsened more chop, more swells and loads of rain. Still this was the day when the guys caught the really big ones. Over 120 fish are landed with 9 Kingies over 30kgs but alas no big ones for me. There are some memorable losses, Roy breaks off on a fish, which has his Amberjack Sniper bent at 45 degrees and Chris lands a Kingie which got sharked near the boat and whose head weighs over 25kg. By the end of the afternoon everyone is exhausted but there is one more drop.  Only Brad Burden and Andrew Cox (the youngsters of the group) decide to go. There is some pretty competitive rivalry between these two good friends and they never miss a drop. They both hook up to monsters, they are both railed several times but manage to land their fish. Andrew’s is a 35kg Kingie, Brad’s a massive 44gm Kingie. Awesome.

On the third day the weather front, which had been forecasted, arrived with 35knot winds and 3-4 metre swells. This was not a day for the banks. We fished around the Princess Islands with three guys popping off the bow and the rest of us jigging. The conditions looked ideal but it was not to be. Apparently the area either fires or blanks there is no in between. We returned to our anchorage to escape the weather and enjoyed an afternoon of fun catching loads of rats on stickbaits and light tackle.

Our final day – the first and only day with blue skies and calm seas.  We are off to target the denizens of the deep – Hapuka and Bass. These guys live at 150 – 200 metres and you need a heavy slim jig designed to get down to the depths as quickly as possible. Everyone kits up with Deep Slim and Rocket jigs. For the first two hours it was disappointing then Bam the fish come on. First catches were Blue Noses by Roy, Andrew and Jason, then the bass started coming.

I drop my Deep Slim jig and watch the line peel off – when is it going to stop I’ve counted at least 18 colours – that’s 180 metres. I hit the bottom wind up and start jigging. I’m hit very quickly which means I have a lot of line to reel in. I start fighting – this fish is different to the Kingie but it is tough and I’m at the bow so there is nothing to lean against for support. Andrew kindly acts as my “wall” and I brace myself against him. I haul the Bass up – it is only about 15kgs. I’m now seriously in awe of the Guys who over the next few hours catch fish over 40gs. Andrew and Roy were topping the table with two huge Bass of 45kgs.

We now have enough bass in the fish box  - Lance does not like to over fish for Bass and Hapuka, which is why he only does it on the last day. “One more drop anyone?” Of course Brad and Andrew say yes. Brad drops his jig– he has around 250 metres of braid missing from his reel and begins reeling and jigging. At 40metres from the bottom he pauses and a monster fish hits his 500g jig. For 30 minutes he fights this fish in an aquatic tug of war.  As it breaks the surface about 70metres from the boat we realize this is the big one and it gets bigger and bigger as Brad hauls it closer. Once on the boat we weigh it (with its tail still on the ground) and it clocks up 80kgs.  This is probably the biggest recorded Bass in New Zealand ever landed on a jig. Everyone is ecstatic. Brad is knackered.

We retire to the cabin as the boat motors back to Mangonui reflecting on an epic trip with Personal Bests all round. And I personally reflect on how I battled and won over my demons. I can catch a fish weighing over half my body weight on a rod no thicker than my little finger.

New Zealand is a lovely country and the fishing awesome, with the Three Kings and Ranfurly Banks offering the opportunity to hook up and fight on jig some monster fish. I’m looking forward to the next invite. Maybe next time I’ll be a full time member of that angling team.

 
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