Queenie

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EugeneC

Sealiner
Went for a short early morning session this morning, got there an hour before sunrise, water was calm, good temperature, pushing spring tide, no wind etc. Basically it was one of those days when I just felt anything could happen.

Got a small kingie to kick off the session, then quiet for a while. Just before sunrise the water started boiling and a queenfish smash unfolded right in front of me. I got two in two casts, both close to 100cm on a beat up old sardine Onda.

The fish fought very hard and unfortunately I couldn't revive them, in spite of spending a long time standing waist deep in the water trying to get them going again. If I hadn't spent the time trying to swim the fish I would have caught lots more, the smash lasted a good 45 minutes before they moved off.

During this time a local guy pitched up and also quickly landed one. His tackle was a little light though and he got smashed up properly on his next cast.

Very sad to see these beautiful fish die, so a bit of an anti-climax to an otherwise awesome day, but I'm stoked to finally get my queen.
 

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EugeneC

Sealiner
The photos aren't so great, the old phone doesn't take such nice pics. There was a German tourist watching and he took a load of pics with his camera, which he promised to e-mail me, so hopefully I'll get some nice ones.
 
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EugeneC

Sealiner
Thanks Pirate, I set myself a couple of goals for this year and a 10kg+ queenie was on the list, so I'm pretty stoked to get off to such a great start! Next on the list is a big shad, so fingers crossed.
 
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EugeneC

Sealiner
Thanks gents. I only kept a side of one of the fish, the rest I gave away to friends, it's far too much for my wife and I to eat. We'll be putting it on the braai tonight, so I'll let you know. I have heard they're not good eating, so I'm not holding much hope.
 
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Pslatarix

Sealiner
smoked is best boet. not good eating at all imo. lol. but yes they are tough to revive for some reason. They fight bloody hard and are very acrobatic
 
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EugeneC

Sealiner
Pslatarix wrote:
smoked is best boet. not good eating at all imo. lol. but yes they are tough to revive for some reason. They fight bloody hard and are very acrobatic
Click to expand...

You're right on all counts there Pslatarix. I gave one of the fish to a friend who's a chef, he invited us over for dinner, so the planned braai never happened. He cooked the fish for us and to be totally honest it wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't pay for it. Considering he's a decent chef with more than 30 years experience, I doubt anyone can make it taste amazing.

Anyways, as for reviving them, it's a little sad. I tried very hard to get the fish going again, but to no avail. I did notice however that the hook set on both fish was rock solid, so I reckon next time I will apply a lot more pressure to try and shorten the fight and hopefully that will help with the release.

The Omani's think I'm nuts for spending 15 minutes in the water trying to revive a fish when meters away from me it's total chaos with baitfish literally leaping onto the rocks to try and get away from the school of hungry queens waiting for a lure to hit the water. That is even more sad than not being able to revive the fish...c&r hasn't reached these shores yet and sadly I don't think this amazing fishery will last very long like this.
 
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