I had landed several 70cm+ 
snapper when softbaiting here 
over the past couple of years.
Scott had recast another half a 
pilly on his single KS 7/0 hook and 
he soon struck on a small take, 
with his Lanza rod bent, he started 
winding furiously as he felt the fish 
moving straight up to the boat.  It 
then stopped and headed back 
down to the bottom (20m) and 
took a lot of line.  With no apparent 
head shakes, and still taking more 
line than he could retrieve, we all 
agreed it was probably a kingfish.
It put up a good fight for several 
minutes, with Scott taking his time 
and as I got the gaff out ready, 
we soon saw a large red shape 
appear under the boat.  It was a 
big snapper!  I quickly put down 
the gaff and grabbed the net as 
Scott inched it closer.  I could 
see the hook was set just above 
its eye, in the fleshy part of the 
eye socket and just hooked.
Scott carefully worked the fish 
closer so I could safely net it.  It had 
been a good fight and no wonder, 
as the hook wasn’t in the mouth, 
so the fish really wanted to get rid 
of the annoyance no doubt.  We 
left the fish in the net in the water 
to help revive it, then took several 
photos, measuring it at 72cm on 
the U-DEK fish measure, with video 
of the release.  It was good to see 
the big moocher swim off happily.
were hungry, with a mixed bag of 
snapper and kahawai keeping us 
busy.  The current and berley had 
done the trick, and it was good to 
fish with the sun out, almost no 
wind and enjoy a long bite time 
up to low tide just after midday.
BIG MOOCHER
The pan-sized snapper were in 
good condition, but we hoped a 
larger specimen would turn up 
as I had chosen the spot because 
A kahawai pinned perfectly 
through the corner of the 
mouth by the KLT hook.
Scott waits after casting 
well out the back of 
the berley trail.
 /FISHINGINGODZONE  13

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