We got up bright and early to go fishing around D’Urville Island. I had been begging Mum to take me for ages, so I was excited when she said it was happening and we were taking some good friends with us. It was a cold but beautiful morning.
After launching in Okiwi Bay, we started the long bouncy boat ride to our hopeful kingfish spot, with a short stop along the way to set up our rods. I had some new lures I was very keen to try.
After jigging for what felt like forever, suddenly my rod buckled over and the line started peeling out. Excitement ran through my body. I kept tightening the drag, but this fish wouldn’t stop. Every metre I gained, I lost again in seconds. Finally I stopped the fish running before it got to the reef – I gave a huge sigh of relief.
The fish was clearly getting tired and I was gaining line. However, I knew I had to keep the pressure on. After a long battle, I felt like the fish was finally coming closer to the surface. It gave what felt like one last run, but I managed to hold the fish and eventually saw colour in the water. I was extremely excited. The kingfish was so big that I struggled to get it in the net my friend was holding – but luckily we managed to net it. I couldn’t believe it, the kingfish was huge – my dream fish. I’d been trying to catch one like this all season. It was so fat. A beast. I was so happy and so were my friends on the boat with me. We were jumping up and cheering so loudly.
When I looked closely at the kingfish, I realised I was lucky to have landed the beast because it had bite marks on it. We think it had been attacked by a shark as it got closer to the surface which is sad.
We had a fantastic day. My friends got kingfish too which was awesome. We also got snapper and a trevally on rods, and some blue cod when we went for a dive.
Now I can’t wait for my next chance to go back to D’Urville.
