Ambers and Yellowtail

[Bwana]

Hey guys

As I'm sitting here the body is bruised and battered after yesterday's afternoon jigging session. We bunked work and headed out deep looking to bend a few rods and try a few new jigs. We didn't know what we were in for.....

The weather was pearler, light W wind, flat seas and good visibility so we headed to Protea reef to see if the bus tuna were around. As we stopped the boat to test the speed of the drift we noticed a few good showings below and dropped some jigs down to see who was home. The jigs didn't drop more than 15m before we were onto two nice tuna to "warm up." That took care of sashimi for dinner so we decided to make the most of the slow current +/- 1.5km/h and head out deep to look for some of the uglies.

We sounded around in 70+m of water until we saw showings on the finder and then dropped down. i hadn't set up my big stick so decided to drop down with my light rig (50lb braid, 80lb leader 200g jig) while my mates geared up the big guns. 8 winds up off the floor I got smoked but managed to straight stick the bugger and get him away from the bricks. Some good head nods and strong runs towards the bottom let me know I was way undergunned for what I had on! I fought that fish for 20 min and got it to +/- 20m under the boat under max pressure before SARS took their share and left me with a shredded leader. Well at least I know that my rig can handle some bend. I re-rigged my leaader, put on a new jig and dropped again - same result! This time the taxman did his job 5 min into the fight...DAMN!

We moved up on the drift and I brought out the 100lb rig with 300g jigs. First down Clint (skips) went properly on and after a 5min tussle boated a beauty Amber of 12kgs. Next down Bretto got smoked and reefed by a large fish. The sounder was full up with showings and as my jig touched the floor I went up 5 winds and got smashed. Luckily I held the first run and got a good few turns on the reel, got him away from the bricks and after a punishing 10min fight boated a fantastic yellowtail of 15kg - my first one on jig and a PB. These fish are brutes, so aggressive and unforgiving I have mucho respect for them. 

Well the afternoon carried on in the same way we hooked up another 10 YT and AJ's got taxed twice and reefed on all the rest, some real buses totally unstoppable even on 100lb rigs! We lost 10 jigs and came home in high spirits after our first proper taste of heavy jigging. What a jol! 

Now we are planning our revenge, last year one of the local guys got an AJ of 49kg in this area so they are around and I have no doubt we hooked fish in the 20-30kg range yesterday. See the pics below:   

 

[Bwana]

And another....

 

[Bwana]

Clint going bendo on a big AJ...

 

[Nepptune]

Absolutely fantastic report Bwana, what an epic day you guys must have had!!

So stoked for you guys, and VERY jealous too!!!

Look forward to seeing the report with the 30 kilo plus fish you guys hopefully put on deck soon!!

Mad respect guys, keep it up!

 

[ripplefisher]

Some lovely fish there - sounds like a great day on the water - good to see guys catching some more good fish..!

 

[Warwick]

Very nice!! need to make that trip, never mind not having to wear oilies in mid-winter!

 

[BluFlu]

Wow - enough said

 

[fedu]

Great report, you put all the detail in!!

Congrats on some beautifull fish.

What rods were you guys using ?

 

[Bwana]

Stella 18000 reels with Blue Rose XH and Trevalla XH rods. I got the 'tail on a Saragosa 14000 with Trevalla XH and 80lb braid. Also got smoked for fun on my Saragosa 8000 with Trevalla MH!

We need some more firepower to lift the bigger fish - local "pros" are using stella 20000 with 150lb braid.

What do you guys reckon is the right rig for this type of fishing? Our bottom structure is quite hardcore - lots of ledges and pinnacles for the AJs and tail to cut us off on so it's all about the tug of war, the first 5m of line won or lost is the difference between the fish IDB or snapped braid and a bruised ego...

 

[Bwana]

Stella 18000's with Blue Rose XH and Trevalla XH rods. I got the YT on a Saragosa 14000 with Trevalla XH. I also got smoked on my Saragosa 8000 with Trevalla MH just for a laugh!

These fish are seriously strong and the local jigging "pros" are using Stella 20000 with 150lb braid! We have some serious reef here with lots of sharp pinnacles and ledges that the AJs and YT use to cut you off.

The fight is won or lost in the first 5m and is a real tug of war - the difference between the fish IDB or snapped braid and a bruised ego. What do you guys reckno is the correct rig and terminal tackle and also what are your thoughts on overhead vs spinning reels for this application?

 

[Nepptune]

Hey Bwana,

My recommendation would be to look at beefing up and lengthening your leader before going to 150lb braid.... If these fish are cutting guys off on 150lb, its because of the stones, and then even 300lb braid will get sliced!!!

I can't really see the benefit of using anything over 100lb braid for jigging, as the current effects it too much, and there is no way you can snap 100lb braid, its more likely that you are getting cut off on sharp structure...

To combat this, a couple things you could try:

1 - Lengthen your leader to 8 to 10 metres... I know this is a pretty long leader ( I usually use 4 to 6 metres ) but this gives you a little more protection on the bricks as the heavy mono/flouro leaders will be much more abrasion resistant than the braid.

2 - Beef up your leader strength... bear in mind the guys in NZ who are chasing 30 to 50 kilo yellowtail ( and klapping them regularly as NZ is Yellowtail nirvana ) sometimes beef up their leaders to 300lbs when fishing really foul ground... Fishing 300lb 10 metre leaders on a spinning reel is a bit of a night mare, so I'd start around the 170lb mark and more up from there if and when you need to.
Bear in mind that flouro can also be more abrasion resistant, and harder than mono, so might be worth checking into... just be careful with your knots in Flouro...

What connections are you guys using from Braid to Leader?
Where are you getting busted/cut off? In the braid or the leader?


Once again congrats, epic fish!

 

[fedu]

Personally don't see the need for 150lb braid line, longer abrasion resistant leaders yes.

Braid allways cuts easy when streched around a rocky area, the trick is having the leader do that and not the main line.

The Trevalla MH has no backbone for those fish but I don't see any problem with either the Saragosa 8000 or 14000 has long has you fill it with the proper line, on those depths you can probably go up to PE6 on the 8000 and easy PE8 on the 14000.

 

[fedu]

Nepps was writing at the same time the same advice

I could even go with PE5 on the Saragosa 8000 and I have no doubt with a longer leader it will handle those fish.

 

[Bwana]

Thanks for the advice chaps. Like I said we are new to the game and are still learning. I feel that 100lb braid is more than enough and will definitely give the longer leader a bash - I have a spool of 150lb suffix mono that should do nicely. I also have to say that the 150lb braid those guys use sounds like overkill especially when your drag only goes up to 25kg max setting?

We are using a spliced end loop in the braid and then an eight turn french knot to join the leader. Strong as can be but have had one or two pop under max drag at the knot. Any recommendations?

What we have realised is it's all about who can pull harder at the moment of the hookup!

 

[Nepptune]

Bwana - Even with 80lb braid, the chances of your real actually being able to push enough drag to snap the braid is slim.... we all know that the top end reels ( Stellas, Saltigas on the spinning front, and Jigging Master PE Series, Alutecnos Gorillas and Accurates ) can push massive drag, but the likely hood of being able to hold onto a rod pushing 25 kilos of drag is slim and bugger all mate!!!
The reason for these reels have such extreme drag capabilities is for them to comfortably fish between 10 and 16 kilos of drag, rather than pushing them to the limit of the capabilities...

Regarding braid to leader connections, there are two options which I feel most jiggers are using today, and a 3rd option which is also cacthing on nicely.

1 - PR Knot - This is my personal favourite, and although it seems a little crazy and tricky at first, its incredibly simple in fact, and is a seamless smooth connection. The beauty of this knot is that it works on a chinese fingercuff principal, and therefore there is no knotting of the actual leader material, so no big chunky knot going through your precious guides...
Check out this link for instructions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbhvZi0fiM4

Second option would be using premade Windon leaders. Then tying a bimini/braid stitch loop in your braid and using a cats paw connection to join the bimini to the Wind on leader. Quick and simple on the boat, and works well..

The 3rd is using Hollowcare Braid like Jerry Brown Hollowcore or similar. This braid is hollow so allows you to splice the leader up the centre for a completely seamless connection, with zero loss of line strength and is seamless... it takes some practice, but is a great connection.
One can also splice a loop into the end of the braid and use wind on leaders. Again as its a seamless splice there is no loss in line strength... I am a little weary of the Bimini in braid, especially in lighter braids as I believe it weakens braid.

Personally I prefer the PR Knot and the Hollowcore splice methods, but thats a personal thing.

150lb Suffix is a great soft leader material, so seats well on knots to your Solid ring, and it takes a PR Knot very well.
If using Flouro, one needs to take extra care on PR knots, as the flouro is very hard and the PR kot requires the braid to "bite/grip" the leader, so one needs alot of tension/weight on the PR bobbin when tying a PR in Flouro.

Now get out there and lock up!!

 

[aquadementia]

great report what a day you guys had beaut yellowtail that!

 

[Ulua]

Bwana looks like you guys had some awesome action.

With regards to knots I have been using the braid stitch and an improved Bristol knot, which I think is also a called a Cairns Quickie by the Nomad guys in AUS. I have had this knot under some serious pressure with AJ's in Kenya and Doggies in the Seychelles and have full confidence in it.

Well done again.

 

[sibinnac]

My mate on sunday caught a 21kg amber on a kp with 150lb braid...who needs a stella?

 

[Bwana]

So many different names for the same knot! it seems the knot we call the French Knot (8 turns) is also the same as the Cairns Quickie that you mention. I've also heard it called the Yucatan knot but at the end of the day it's the strongest and easiest to tie on the boat without stitching or using bobbins etc. One trick I've found with the knot is:

1) take your bimini or end loop splice through the rod guides under tension and pull it towards yourself, insert your thumb in the loop to keep both arms of the loop under the same equal pressure

2) take your mono leader and make 8 wraps around the double braid going away from you towards the rod (the tension helps keep things straight and frees your hands up to make sure the wraps are equal

3) reach the top of the 8 winds then take the tag end back down to the braid loop and push it through the loop.

4) lubricate and pull tight so that the mono forms a beautiful tight barrel around the braid

5) trim the tag off, the advantage here is that both arms of the braid double will be the same length and take the same tension under pressure 

test this under pressure and it won't let you down

 

[Bwana]

August isn't the best month for offshore fishing down here - the wind howls and you only get small gaps to head out deep.

Friday afternoon was one such chance and I was stuck in the office- AAAARGH! Skips and my cousin Brett launched anyway and headed out looking for more ambers and 'tail. The conditions were perfect, small swell and variable 3-6knot E/ NE with less than a knot of current. I chewed my fingernails off at my desk waiting for updates and around 3pm they found the fish and i was getting regular updates of fish reefing the and eventually some positive news as Bretto got his first AJ out - well done to him after going 6-0 he finally pulled one up. See below :

With an eye on Saturday morning we decided to head out again and were greeted with a perfect windstill morning with flat seas at sunrise. Within 30 min we were in the zone and went down with 350-400g jigs to find some beasties. On our 3rd drift we went double up and Brett got his second AJ on deck, the other fish gave a serious battle and once it was close to the boat we realised it was a +/-50kg Raggie on jig! Never heard of that before! Anyway he got cut away without hesitation.

Things went quiet around 9.30 so we geaded inshore to search for some YFT which we got on rappies withing 10 min as well as a screamer (either couta or 'hoo) that bit us off after 2min fight.

On one of our shallow marks I got pressed hard by something (felt like a big GT) on a small 200g pinnacle jig. I had him beaten but then one of Protea's local tax men robbed me of my victory just 10m from the boat! That fish had weight and would definitely have been something to show off.

We are getting the hang of this jigging thing and are learning the art of getting the fish up off the bottom, thanks for the advice guys!