Destinations: Norfolk Island
No doubt you’re hyped up after watching the explosive actionon the Free DVD on this month’s cover but now it’s time to calm down and tofind out exactly how you can set yourself up to battle it out with some of thebiggest and toughest kingfish on the planet. By SCOTT GRAY. Images by ANDREWCLARK.
NORFOLK Island is an oasis in the South Pacific Oceansituated about 1000 miles by sea from the east Australian coastline. Theisland plateau is around 50 miles across and includes deep reefs, pinnacles andsmall islands – all of which create habitat for a whole range of fish species.The Norfolk Island fishery is essentially pristine and commercial fishingvessels are excluded from the plateau. The only commercial fishing done on theisland is for local subsistence as fish are not imported or exported from theisland. As a result, a small number of operators do all their fishingmanually by hook and line to meet the demands of the local community. Notsurprisingly, the local waters are a recreational angler’s dream with easilyaccessible and diverse fisheries.
One of the most interesting and unique aspects of theisland’s fishery is the size that temperate species of fish can reach. Fishreach XOS sizes here! Due to the warm, tropical nature of these waters, the growingseason for temperate species is a lot longer than seen along the mainlandcoast. This is a common attribute of fish populations found near the productiveedge of their geographic range and I have to say there would be few places inthe world you would find 15kg+ silver trevally and snapper reaching over 20kg.Some of the pictures of snapper I’ve seen caught here weighing around 15kg areso young they hardly even have a bump on their heads!
The same goes for the island’s kingfish; they grow fast andbig at Norfolk. While there are plenty of kingfish in these waters averaging10-30kg, there are also numbers of really big fish exceeding 40kg+. Infact, I’d have to say there would be world record sized fish available – if,that is, you could land them.
While there are kings around the island all year round, bigschools of the larger 20-40kg+ fish can be found seasonally, usually in thespring months, in big numbers. Livebaiting for kings is popular around theislands; further offshore the local jigging grounds are amongst the best in theworld.
The island’s open waters also cater for all game fishingenthusiasts with big yellowfin tuna, all three species of marlin and wahooavailable seasonally. I’d have to say on this trip when we filmed the DVDadorning the cover of this month’s Fisho that it was hard to ignore wahoo freejumping clear of the water just to focus on big schooling hoodlums.
This trip was a great opportunity to catch up with goodmates and professional charter operators Gilbert and Troy Jackson fromJackson’s Fishing Charters and test out some of the new Okuma rods and reels.
Live-baiting
Probably one of the best ways to target kings of any size islivebaiting. You can see how the kingfish in these waters get so big – thereare countless numbers of baitfish in the form of bonito, striped tuna, frigatemackerel and small yellowfin. There are usually big flocks of terns feedingover dense bait schools around the headlands and coves. This means catchingyour livies is usually quite easy. Best of all, the premier kingfish groundsare usually less than a kilometre from the bait grounds. This means you caneither troll your livebaits to the hotspots or, as you’ll see in the DVD,simply throw one or two livebaits in the tuna tube for the short trip out. Youdon’t have to drive far from the bait grounds to get hooked up.
Bait collecting & rigging
Small Williamson Gyro Jigs and Tuna Catchers were used toeither cast or troll up our livebaits. Trolling Rapala X-Rap 20 divers alsoaccounted for plenty of bonito as well. We had two smaller Okuma Salina II 5000high speed reels spooled with 30lb braid and matching rods rigged up just forbait catching.
With the possibility of hooking 40kg+ kingfish we selectedour tackle accordingly. This is no place for being under gunned,particularly when the plan is to hook big fish close to heavy structure, thentry and tow them out under heavy drag. For this reason we used one of the newOkuma Makaira 50W two speed overhead reels. This reel was spooled with 24kg Sufixmonofilament and top shotted with 100m of 37kg mono. These reels are durableand have a smooth dual force drag system, capable of running more than 30kg ofdrag if required. On this trip we fished around 20kg of drag on this reel atstrike (so don’t think for a second I was being kind to the fish or myself) andas a result we used a Black Magic gimbal and harness set for comfort. Apartfrom locking me in for the battle, it gave Gilbert Jackson something to holdonto so I didn’t get pulled out of the boat! The use of mono line for this kindof fishing is more forgiving than using braid on heavy threadline tackle as youcan see by the way I was being manhandled by the fish on the DVD. I can stillhear the sound of Troy laughing up the front while I was getting pulled allover the back deck.
The rig we used involved a two-metre length of 150lb monoleader tied to a crane swivel and attached to the mainline via a double andCat’s Paw. While the selected leader was more than enough to prevent the fishchafing the line near the hook, it was primarily selected for abrasionresistance on the rocky reef – and on many occasions we needed the strength! Toconnect the hook and swivel to the heavy monofilament leader I always preferusing a Nail Knot. One of the reasons the Nail Knot is so strong is thatthe tag end runs up the inside of the knot, which helps give almost 100 percent knot strength.
Techniques
There are two techniques commonly used on the island whenlivebaiting and both involve slow trolling the likely kingfish haunts.Honestly, it doesn’t take long for the fish to find your offering when you’rein the right location and the Jackson brothers have a number of places theyguarantee hook-ups. With names like “Hoodlum City” and “Hold Your Pants Rock”it’s easy to see why. Trolling the livie near the surface about 15m behind theboat hooked with a single 9/0 VMC livebait hook through its nose or upper jawwas dynamite. As you can see on the DVD, the kings would come up around theboat wash and were straight onto it. When we were in the right spot the baitwas eaten in 30 seconds or less, depending on which fish got to the bait first.That’s why you need to be organised before you drop your bait in. I’m sure onone occasion it only took 10 seconds to get one of the fish on once the baitwas deployed.
If the weather was a bit rough on the windward side of theisland or if the fish were sounding up deep, the livebait was fished off adownrigger. This was particularly effective when fishing drop-offs around SouthRock on Phillip Island where the water reaches 50m in depth.
Jigging
Although a little harder on the body than livebaiting,jigging for kings is one of the best ways to target big fish in deep water.Gilbert’s special location, which is aptly named “The Jig Graveyard”, islocated about 20 miles to the eastern side of the island and consists of aseries of pinnacles in around 60m of water. Put simply, these pinnacles arekingfish magnets. The only problem is that this habitat makes them difficult toland. For this reason you need quality heavy jigging gear if you’re to have achance of landing the best fish the island has to offer. This means using heavybraid and tough reels that can run plenty of smooth drag for extended periods.I have no doubt I was running at least 15kg of drag on the Okuma Salina II16000 reels we used; just look at the thud of the tail on the rod as the fishcome up to the surface in the DVD. Near the end of the battle I was worriedsomething was going to break, and it wasn’t the gear I was worried abouteither, as my arms were burning and I could hardly wind the handle. There’s noother way to fight a big king in deep water over reef – they never ever giveup. I guess that’s why people love kings!
Jig Rigs
The Okuma Salina II 16000s used on this trip were matched upwith heavy Salina II jig sticks and were spooled up with 250m of 80lb SufixMatrix Pro coloured braid, which is colour incremented every 10m. Like manykeen jiggers, I prefer using coloured braid for this sort of fishing so you cantell exactly where the fish is at any stage of the fight and work out how muchline you have out. To the end of the braid we attached about two metres of150lb monofilament leader using either a double uni knot (eight wraps in thedouble braid, two in the heavy monofilament) as demonstrated on the DVD or theSlim Beauty (with two wraps in the monofilament and five wraps up and fivewraps back in the doubled braid). I prefer standard monofilament leader overfluorocarbon for this kind of work as it is important for shock absorption asthere is no stretch in the braid. You’ll lose less fish and ensure a littleself-preservation as jigging all day can be hard on your body. Jigging glovesand rod buddies or gimbal belts are also essential items and help make for acomfortable day’s fishing. The last thing you want to do is wreck yourself onthe first day of a week-long trip. Hooking fish is not the problem at Norfolk;it’s the landing of them that causes the trouble!
Jigging techniques
While fishing in water depths of 60m combined with up tothree knots of current we selected 400g knife style jigs to ensure the jigsreached the bottom and the fish quickly. Most of the fish were holding up overpinnacles which we sounded up and it was important to get the jig right ontothe mark. For this reason we used thin narrow jigs like the WilliamsonBenthos and Williamson Abyss models shown on the DVD. These are weighted at thebottom end of the jig and with their slim profile they basically sink like abullet to the fish-holding areas. The other good thing about this style of jigis that because they are narrow they don’t create too much drag when retrieved,which means you don’t over exert yourself when you’re jigging. That’simportant, because you need every bit of energy you’ve got for fighting arampaging kingfish – trust me on that one! There’s a range of ways you can workthese jigs. In my experience they respond best to a “fast burn” (by windingquickly) or the more mechanical technique (fast wind and rip with the rod).
Flutter style jigs like the Williamson Vortex 300g modelswere also particularly effective and we used these on the midwater schooling10-15kg fish with plenty of success. The action of these jigs is different tothe standard knife style jigs and with subtle long lifts of the rod the jig isthen allowed to flutter back down. Sometimes a different jig can set thefish off or help to bring them back on the bite so it is always a good idea tohave a few different models in the jigging wallet. They were dynamite on theschool fish as you can see Gilbert in the DVD trying to rip a 10kg fish out ofthe kelp beds.
Jig rigs
To connect your jig to your heavy mono leader simply tie theleader directly to a smooth solid ring or attach to a heavy crane swivel whichis attached to the jig by a 150lb split ring. Never tie your jig directlyto a split ring. Make sure you carry plenty of spare assist hooks as well, aswe had a few run-ins with some big bronze whaler sharks.
When travelling to remote destinations it’s important to beprepared and choose the tackle you take carefully, because you usually alwayshave luggage weight restrictions. On this trip to Norfolk Island nearly threequarters of my luggage allowance was jigs, so choose carefully and make sureyou ask the local operators what you can expect, so you can choose the tackleaccordingly. Jigs are something you don’t want to run out of at Norfolk!
This recent trip to Norfolk was my fourth over the pastcouple of years and each time I have enjoyed different fishingexperiences. One thing is for sure – if you love fishing for big kings avisit to Norfolk Island is a must. I’m already planning my next trip!
