b'KINGFISHTie your knots carefully and test/ up around the channel and general area. SOFTBAITS EFFECTIVEinspect them after landing a few fish. IfAcross the water I noted a particularEven though I had tried using small 40gm you are fishing off the stones and yourwork-up lasting longer than 10 minutes.stickbaits, in both floating and sinking live bait swims along the ledge and pullsIt was taking place in a bay on thepatterns, it was a softbait more closely the line onto the rocks, check it asap andeastern side of Rakino Island andresembling the anchovy/bait fish that replace it if necessary. instinctively I knew the activity wouldwere being predated upon that fooled This year schools of kingfish have beenhave a good chance of attracting morethe kingfish. A couple of hours later, I too invading the Hauraki Gulf and manythan just kahawai, so my wife (Anna) andhooked a kingfish on the same Z-Man in have fallen to softbaits. If you are aI motored over to have a look. I workedamongst some kahawai activity. My fish regular softbaiter then this could be youra stickbait while Anna worked a Z-Manwas a bit bigger and helped me preserve chance to hook a hoodlum while catchingPaddlerz in Pearl colour. No takes ona bit of dignity as my wife had been snapper for dinner. Finding the bait fishthe stickbait nor any sign of kingfish,out-fishing me in both the snapper and being harassed by marauding kahawaihowever Anna had a solid take. Thekingfish stakes (although truth be told I can often be the activity that attractssuspected decent snapper was soondid hook it on her rod, ahem.)kingfish as well. I was recently fishingthought to be a kingfish due to sustainedSoftbaiting for kings can be effective around the back of Motutapu Island andpowerful runs. A good 10-minute fightso if this is how you often fish, changing was watching the kahawai and terns asin 7m of water ended with Annas firstyour approach slightly by looking for the sporadic patches of feeding activity boiledkingfish in the boat. kahawai workups and persevering maybe 20FISHING IN GODZONE MAY/JUN 2021'