Catch and Release - a guide to GT care

Get the trophy shot, but release the fish in good condition should be your goal

Your weekend trip with mates has you connected to the biggest GT you have ever seen, the adrenalin is wearing off fast, replaced by huge levels of lactic acid making your arms, back & legs burn like wildfire. A few more pumps and the fish will be on the surface ready to be landed for that amazing trophy picture but are you prepared for the next 1-2 minutes? Your dream fish could turn into a nightmare when you return the prehistoric beast to the water waiting for it to power away, only to see it sluggishly kick away from the boat and roll on its side.  For most anglers your ecstasy will be quickly replaced by remorse.  A GT powering back to the reef in good condition is the goal.

Keep the fish wet, no matter what; buckets of water...

More buckets of water...

Deck wash...

Even on small boats - deck wash, just mind the pressure

 Spending a little time preparing for handling large fish will make the GT’s (and your) experience much easier. Following many discussions with experienced anglers, marine scientists & conservation enthusiasts we have put together some simple doctrines to follow to offer the released fish every chance of survival. 

Take your time, get the gaff in the right place

Gaff the lower jaw avoiding the tongue

Large landing nets are also an alternative

 Fish barbless hooks.

A pretty simple thing that often goes unnoticed by many anglers, especially beginner anglers is the damaging effects of barbs. There is no reason to fish barbed hooks if your aim is catch and release, just keep your line tight to avoid losing the fish. Simple as that!

De-hooking, tagging, weighing must be done quickly on on a wet surface

Preparation

Have a buddy prepare the dehooker/pliers (and a few items listed below) so it is not a mad scramble once the fish is ready to be landed. There is no elegant way to boat your prize unfortunately, but maximum care of the fish is paramount. I genuinely believe the time will come at No Boundaries Oman when we start releasing our fish in the water, but for the moment we bottom lip gaff the fish taking care not to gaff the tongue. Support the entire bodyweight of the fish while bringing it in the boat, if your gunnels are low enough to land the fish safely, make sure you do not bang/rub the GT against the gunnel or use it for leverage.   Large custom landing nets are also an option however they invariably will use a knotted net which will cause some damage to the slime coating however do an excellent job of supporting the fish.

A two person lift is essential

 

Spread the load - distribute the weight across your knees and use more people to help if needed.  DON'T DROP THE FISH!

As mentioned all fish have a delicate layer of skin on the outside of their scales and this can be damaged if mishandled. The team at Ebb Tide Adventures recommend an easy solution; have a wet down mat, towel or vinyl sheet ready to lay the fish on. Keep the fish off the deck of the boat where possible and ensure whatever surface comes into contact with the fish is already wet. This includes clothes, gloves, knees, towels etc. The aim is to not remove any of the fish’s protective coating whilst handling. Bruno Leroy from the Oceanic Fisheries program (New Caledonia) suggests wearing a vinyl apron when putting the GT on your body/knees for your life long pictures. The less time the fish is out of the water the better, every second counts.

Control the fish before attempting lip gaffing

Care
If possible get the salt water wash down in the fish’s mouth so water can run over its gills. Even pouring a bucket gently into gill plate will help. Do not panic when the fish starts to thrash a little upon water on the gills, it is their instinct to start swimming. A fish out of water is akin to a human holding their breath so be quick with the water! In addition, fish’s eyes are designed for constant saturation, it is good practice to cover the eyes/head with a wet towel to induce less stress and keep the eye from getting dry/damaged. Even immersion of the fish in a large bit or tank is acceptable to keep the gills wet but only for the shortest possible time as deoxygenation will occur quickly.  

When it comes to your trophy photos, remember that fish are weightless in water but now you have 30-60kg of GT resting its guts on your bony knees. With no rib cage your knees are pushing directly onto the fishes internals, be as gentle as possible. Avoiding trying to move the fish with your knees and cradle that thing like a new born so it doesn’t slip off and crash onto the floor, get a buddy to help with large fish and above all spread the load across your knees.  Do not ever pick the fish up only by its tail or mouth, always support the entire weight.

Two man lift, support the weight

When a few photo's have been quickly snapped and it's time for release we favor a head first drop into the water.  The rapid submersion usually see's the fish spring to life and power down.  On occasion a fish will return to the surface and flounder.  A very large percentage of these fish can be revived by spending more time towing them via a lip gaff behind a very slowly moving boat.  If you put the time in, they will come good on the vast majority of occasions.  Since launching the No Boundaries tagging projects for Giant Trevally and Bream I have been very lucky to receive support from far and wide. Commercial anglers, marine scientists and many other charters companies have provided us with a lot of sound advice which we have happily accepted and assisted in compiling this guide. As with fishing skills themselves, it has taken us thousands of releases to increase our knowledge and keep evolving our skills. Looking back on some of our videos/pictures there any many things we would do differently now which is why we wanted to share this information to hopefully help bring guys up to speed ASAP. More often than not, discussing GT’s will entice comments regarding the fish’s brutish nature and how it is one of the best C&R species to target - They rarely move once in the boat and more often than not swim off seemingly without a care in the world. There is always a passion to increase our long term knowledge of this wonderful creature, with angler involvement, science and the wider community to ensure the continuation of our loved sport and the fantastic species!

Ed Nicholas – No Boundaries Oman. 
Special Thanks to – Andrew Smith & John Cahill - Ebb Tide Adventures. Bruno Leroy – Oceanic Fisheries.

Spear them in head first, 99/100 swim away strong in the first instance

Our Southern Summer = Kingfish

Our Southern Summer = kingfish
By John Cahill

The summer kingfish hunt is on in earnest across the state.  Excellent reports have been flooding in from Portland in the west through to Sydney and beyond.  Summer and water temps in excess of 18 degrees usually sees the fish return from deeper water into more accessible areas and the chance of fired up fish and often enough a top water bite being much more more likely.  Sydney in particular has been fishing quite well for some months already.  Customers of Ebb Tide Adventures Sean Tieck and Michael Bonicci have been doing very well in NSW on a host of methods including live baiting and casting stick baits.  

Sean Tieck and a stickbait caught Sydney hood

Keen to get in on the action soon after the new year good mate Gawaine Blake and I reserved some days in our schedules to go and take a look ourselves and as luck would have it we were met with reasonable weather too.  Three days of fishing provided an opportunity to explore three locations in the east of the state and across the border into NSW.  We used a variety of techniques from traditional speed jigging, micro jigging and top water lure casting including stick baits and poppers as well as the old favorite soft plastics.  The good news is that we managed to find kingfish at most inshore locations where we thought we would, the fish are very well spread.  Predominantly the fish are small - 55 to 75 cm's although we encountered better fish in the meter or so class but we blew our chances on them unfortunately - it happens sometimes...

Stick bait caught kingfish - Strategic Angler Frantic getting the bite

What was clear on this trip was two things; timing was vital and the need to fish pro actively.  A bite will not be all day pretty much anywhere and on this trip if you were not on water early you missed your shot.  That can change day to day of course and is location moon and tide dependent, it is just how we found it this time - one thing is certain time on the water is required.  Live bait was very hard to find, most locations we found kingfish the area was loaded with what we thought were desirable baits but in fact turned out to be either leather jackets or barber perch, not a slimy mackerel or yakka to be found by us which was frustrating.  When on the hunt, casting splashing stick baits or poppers almost always resulted in the eventual arrival of a school of kings keen to take a look.  It was then a matter of extracting a bite - sometimes they want a dead lure suspending, sometimes one ripped across the surface, they are a moody fish.  It pays to be proactive when searching for kings that is almost a given, a flashy teaser is almost essential too.

Only rats but still a load of fun

Micro jigging is a great way to trigger a bite and is great fun

Gawaine had a ball converting opportunities with micro jigging - fussy kingfish seemed happy to take a swipe at the small slow pitch and soft fall jigs that are in good supply through tackle outlets these days.  He enjoyed some great sport on some ultralight tackle, you can only enjoy the fish that are there right?  His tackle choices ensured that he had a ball - and plenty of bites.  Micro jigging kings is a very legitimate technique for these fish it just takes a different mindset from the standard heavy tackle speed game.

Blue Blue Sea Rides attracted plenty of attention

A quick word on sounding - as kingfish can be found anywhere in the water column quality electronics are vital - don't consider putting in solid kingfish time without a dialed in unit - the Lowrance HDS9 has been working brilliantly for Gawaine and unless the kings were up high in the water, we usually had a sonar fix on them.  If you are struggling with your electronics its well worth booking in a guide with Gawaine - he can be easily found on Facebook.

Kingfish above bait on a Lowrance HDS9

Resulting in these guys on the lures - plenty of fun

It is important to remember a few things about kingfish sizes.  Firstly because you are plagued with rats, don't take this as an indication that only rats are around.  Often enough a better school of fish will be attracted to the commotion and crash the party, it's a reasonably common event.  It can get a little repetitive catching the little guys (we turned over something like 40 undersized fish) and then a better model will show up and lower your pants, so keep at it.  Secondly be very aware of the fisheries minimum size variations in NSW (65cm) and Victoria (60cm) - be careful about keeping fish measured just on the size limit too as they will shrink over the course of a day sitting in your kill bag or esky.  Fisheries don't care that it was size when it was fresh.  I would consider 68cm and 63 cm safe minimums when you consider this.  Make sure you treat your catch well and keep it on ice in the shade for some of the finest sashimi available.

Ice them down and out of the sun for the best eating quality

Some of the best

Kingfish can evoke some crazy reactions from anglers in their fever pitched pursuit - whilst it is good to be excited by fishing remember your manners and pay respect to the conditions and locations we fish, in particular anglers must show discretion in sensitive area's to ensure longer term access.  The hunt continues.  If you need advice on topwater lures for kingfish take a look here or contact the crew on email

Be prepared on the open ocean for a variety of sea conditions