Softbaiting the wash in the far north - a fun day with kingfish surprise

Our 2nd day in the north saw us launching the little Osprey off Rangiputa, The wind had calmed a little more for the morning. It was going to pick up in the arvo but the high cliffs running north of Houhora would give us shelter through the day. The plan was to softbait the wash along this area where we have caught some beauties over the past few seasons. It was great to be out at last in the little Osprey and as we headed towards Houhora I wondered what the day would bring. It's amazing country along this stretch with miles of coastline to flick a softy at. We started at a spot where we had caught some solid fish over 80cm from and on my first flick I was hooked up. Not a big boy this time but a nice little kelpie around 40cm which I released to fight another day.
Stevo had already managed to hook up on a nice little Johnny which was already on the ice. I flicked out the zman again and after a few little twitches, something had ago at it. I was hooked up again but this one felt a little better. It still wasn't the big one we were hoping for but it was a nice kelpie going roughly 50cm. After letting the first one go I decided this one would keep Johnny company in the bin. It got a little quiet after that and pretty quiet over the next few spots. Usually we hook up on a few at every stop but today was proving to be a bit hard. We made our way down to a corner that holds a lot of bait fish and schools of kahawai this time of year. We do get lots of smaller fish here to but it's always worth a shot. We've caught a few Johnny's from here also and that's what happened on my first cast.
It was Johnny number two which once again headed for the bin. In Between a few kahawai and small snaps I at last hooked up to something a lot better, it didn't pull a lot of string but it was a nice fish overall at around 65cm. It was in top condition so I decided to release it. I do love catching the big fish, having a good scrap, a bit of line peeling but out of the catch it is watching it swim away when they can that I love the most. The forecasted southerly was starting to show which did make it a little difficult drifting wise. Although sheltered from the cliffs it's those squally winds you get that race down the coastline that always interrupt your fishing. There were plenty of fish here on the corner of the bay and I landed another little 38cm kelpie in no time.
Over the half hour of playing around here I had noticed a few gannets working in the secluded bay up ahead. They were right in the shallows and as we moved in more and more started to turned up. Soon it was just havoc as they dive bombed the baitschool. We headed over and flicked out our softies. Being in such a pristine secluded spot I said to Stevo "there has to be kings in here." There was definitely kahawai but my third or fourth flick out got nailed by something big. Rod buckled and line peeling. I knew it had to be a king this time. It was a battle and being in only 10mtrs of water with rough on the bottom I had to play him hard. Man it was a hard fight and most of the time it was a stalemate. It had been such a good battle and after landing it we decided to keep it at 95cm long. We haven't had kingfish in a long time and Stevo was keen to take a bit home.
I tried to get Stevo onto one as well but this time I set up the Rapala to drag around. We hooked up to a couple kahawai but soon the tell tale sign of line peeling and rod buckled like a horseshoe told us this was no kahawai. "Yeah boy" Stevo was on big time and loving it. It was another great scrap and after landing it and going close to a mtr and a bit more chunky than mine we decided to keep this one as well. Our bin was a little light on the snapper with only 3-4 and a couple Johnny's so this would top the day off for us nicely. After this we did call it a day until arriving back near the entrance of the Harbour which was full of birds. You can't really ignore that so we tried a couple drifts. She was blowing quite hard around 25knts now with no shelter being open beach but we did manage a couple more fish for the bin - a couple snaps and Stevo scored a nice trev.
It turned out to be a pretty epic day in the end fish wise with a good variety - snaps, Johnny's, kahawai. a trev and a couple kings and best of all enjoying it with a mate,,,,,
Tight lines
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[@harryfairgray9639]

I miss living in the north. You live the dream cuz!

[@justinsteves9779]

Hey bro,
Great fishing, good viewing, cheers man

[@dztrbn6471]

Epic bro, mean as session of slaying!

[@otklfnz]

Well you launched at the right end of the beach thats for sure. Hard sand down that end.

[@lucashutton5734]

Mean