Dawnbreakers D’Urville Island initial trip fishing trip may have been cancelled earlier due to weather but, the Members Mini Comp was extended and, we weren’t missing out — so we made the call to head up to D’Urville over ANZAC weekend with our mates Annie and Stu.
We left Havelock early ANZAC morning and pushed out, with Saturday shaping up as the best weather window. Straight to Stephen’s Passage we went — it just looked too good not to.
Now many a good yarn includes a long lead in – but not this one because before I knew it, Shannon yells out, “Lis, get your line down — there’s good sign!” So down it goes… one jig off the bottom… BOOM. Fish on before you could say ‘Tight lines’!
At first it felt light, like a barracuda mucking around — then suddenly, weight… Serious weight… Line peeling, drag screaming weight Even at max drag(18kg) it just kept going. Rod bent like I’ve never seen before. This was no small fish… shark maybe? What a battle.
About 10 minutes later — colour.
And as it came closer… it just kept getting bigger and bigger. Not a shark — a monster kingi.
Raikkon spotted it, stepped aside and said, “Dad, you bring that in — if I lose that at the boat I’ll never hear the end of it from Mum.”
Adrenaline pumping — because let’s be honest, it’s not real until it’s in the boat.
Shannon pulled it in… and then the celebrations began.
Absolute best day on the water. Personal best kingfish and still buzzing.
