Ok there's one fish Ive mentioned as being my favourite all time scrapper, the yellowtail kingfish. These things pull harder than any other fish Ive ever caught and never give up, they also don't suffer the effects of pressure change so can fight deep or shallow continuously.
These are tough what ever way you catch, so having caught plenty on rod and line my daughter was keen to try for a big one free-diving (breath hold). These fish are tough to stop with the 20kg being the ultimate target among the spearfishing community. These things when speared drag divers down to what ever depth they can, they also swim fast around divers often entangling divers ending not so good.
So with a new sponsor and a challenge in my 16 yr olds mind off we headed towing the boat 200km south in search of the big guys. First day she saw a few but didn't manage to get within range, she also got chased to the boat by a large shark 4-5m long. After 6hrs in the water and another 2hr drive home we headed home with our tails between our legs.
That evening we made the decision to head south again rather than target the smaller ones in our local area.
Day two was looking like things weren't going to go our way again after 5hrs in the water (which has cooled down a fair bit now heading into winter). Small legal sized kingfish taunted her swimming just in front of her but once again the only big fish stayed out of range.
With only around 1 hr of daylight left I called her to the boat to offer her a quick try where we had seen the big shark the day before (I dont mind sharks when Im in the water to spot her but on her own not so keen). We pull up just as a huge swirl on the surface attracts lots of birds to pick on scraps (hopefully fish not shark).
Over the side she heads only to see a school of bumper kingfish. First drop down and she takes her first shot for the weekend and the joy screams start. Next thing I see is her being dragged through her float line getting a bit tangled before disappearing under, I quickly move the boat in to clear the lines to give her more freedom to fight.
For about 15 mins she gets dragged down but all the time trying not to let the fish get among the reef. A few times the fish wraps the heavy spear mono around and drags her down which she calmly sorts out while underwater (if all goes wrong she can cut her way out). Eventually she makes her first grab of the fish that shakes her about and manages to get free from her grasps, this happens several times before she gets it into a bare hug with its head up next to hers.
The screams of joy and disbelief once again start up once I have my arm up through its gills and haul it to the boat. Being a low sided rib I lay on the thrashing fish as my daughter tied a rope down through its mouth incase it flipped overboard. We got the bugger, a fish that few even extremely hardened spear-fishermen have have landed, a true fish of a lifetime (or next time ).
One very tired girl.
BLACK PIG
Piglet
breezy
Red Mist
Sula
