The wild Wellington west coast can be challenging but the nimble jet ski affords great flexibility when fishing this exposed coastline.
Getting out and about quickly is one thing, but the added excitement of catching big fish from these tiny craft is akin to roping a steer from horseback in a rodeo! It certainly felt that way last September after I had gone three rounds with some scrappy little fighters.
We had headed out on an overcast day with intentions of mechanical jigging for a kingi. I was armed with an Okuma Tournament Concept matched with Okuma SLX 10CS reel, which I like because it has a decent handle, smooth lever drag and fast gear ratios, making it an ideal overall jigging unit suitable for kingies and hapuka. On the terminal end I was fishing with an Ocean Legacy 300gm deep contact pink glow jig.
Cruising around, we found suitable ground with promising sign on the sounder and set up a drift. Mechanical jigging gives you a good work out, especially when straddling a jet ski, but add an explosive kingfish to the mix and you are at the gym with the big boys. These sleek green torpedoes are powerful and scrappy fighters, capable of pulling the jet ski around and giving the arms a solid workout.
It was exciting, with me catching three splendid fish up to 20 kilos but releasing them to fight another day.
I certainly sported sore arms after this session.
