Kingies Have Landed!

[kjflyfish]

I just got this from Kane a few minutes ago:

"Kerry, Stu and I wagged work this afternoon.
And here is some proof Kingies are in the bay you needed a blind mans cane to detect them in the 1-2m vis as you can see from the water colour behind the boat!
I just did my fire arms licence and I am glad that they dont enforce some of those rules here.
But lucky the school was thick and well very close as you can imagine."

If only I didn't have to work!

[Gerald C. Perry]

Very nice fish! I have always wanted to shoot one of these. They are amazing! They look like gigantic mutant rainbow runners. I have a few videos filmed in New Zealand and Australia and it is just incredible. The whole school swims right under these guys and they dive bomb them. HUge!

Nice Work!

[virgili]

Congrat's very nice fish!
they dont enforce some of those rules here.
Only one Kingfish per day allowed... is it the same rule as years ago?

whole school swims
2 pics taken in 2004...;)

[kjflyfish]

MAF regulations allow three kingies per day, but almost every spearo I know sticks to a one per day "rule".

What Kane was referring to was the firearms testing and the rules - as in load the gun only when ready to fire, identify your target, identify your firing zone, etc...It's hard to do that in 4 feet of vis!

[Finbreaker]

Does anyone have any information on spearfishing charters out of New Zealand? I am here in Guam and looking to come over there for some spearfishing since the fish don't seem to be home here in Guam!

[kjflyfish]

Fin Breaker, check out the two main dive shops in Auckland, Ocean Hunter and Wild Blue. Both have websites and you'll be able to book charters through them.

Also check out the Spearo's Corner of The Fishing Website for general NZ-specific forum discussions: http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=11

[GUNRUNNER]

Looks like an AmberJack. Is this the same thing or a totally different species?

[Blake Schaff]

Looks like an AmberJack. Is this the same thing or a totally different species?

They are related, but a different species.

[kjflyfish]

Seriola dumerili - Amberjack
Seriola lalandi - Yellowtail Kingfish

They are very similar, but the kingfish is a Pacific fish that likes colder water, and has a few slight morphological differences.

[stevencabo]

Do the kingfish yellowtail from new Zealand stay over on the western pacific side? And on the opposite side, do the yellowtail on the eastern pacific stay over here, or is it one big merry go round migration?

[kjflyfish]

That's a good question. I've heard that there are a few subspecies, most likely due to geographical seperation. Most people here will argue that there are resident populations of kingies and that they don't migrate widely. I can't say for certain though. There's a few tagging programs around the country that probably have the answer.

[jdeirmend]

Do the kingfish yellowtail from new Zealand stay over on the western pacific side? And on the opposite side, do the yellowtail on the eastern pacific stay over here, or is it one big merry go round migration?

Same genera, different species. These are not fish that migrate the globe, as far as I know.

In fact, I remember hearing that in Japan, the yellowtail are even more localized, are smaller, and again, of a different species.

[campbellc0321]

That thing is huge. Do your Kingies have much blue color to them like our So Cal yellowtail? That's a lot of fish for an single band euro even at close range very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Chris

[kjflyfish]

In general, they tend to be more green than blue, and the bigger they get, the more subdued the color. That's a Riffe 120 with a 20mm band, so it's got plenty of punch for Hawke's Bay vis.

[Mullins]

Do you have a pic of Kane's 45kg kingy from a couple of years back, Kolt?

[kjflyfish]

Yep

[kjflyfish]

Kane said that he was really slabby and that with a kahawai or two in his belly, he would have made the WR.

[Herby]

That thing is huge. Do your Kingies have much blue color to them like our So Cal yellowtail? That's a lot of fish for an single band euro even at close range very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Chris

Yep, you can get a whole rainbow of colours coming off them at the right angle, blues, purples, pinks, greens......
The vast majority of our yellow tail (actually, the vast majority of all our fish) get shot with single band euro guns. Why do you Cali guys use such humunganoid guns, why not just get closer? Mullins, show them what a 120 can take down!

[kjflyfish]

Ha! Good point, Herby. Even stick-faces can't beat euro steel in the hands of a pro.

[virgili]

Does anyone have any information on spearfishing charters out of New Zealand?
http://www.cascade-fishing.co,nz

[tomol]

Why do you Cali guys use such humunganoid guns, why not just get closer?

Here's why I think your question can't be answered.

A friend of mine moved here (So. Cal) and opened a dive shop. He shared your opinion about gun styles. We argued about it a lot. One day he called me, and told me how bad he felt that he shot and lost the biggest wsb he'd ever seen. He had shot it with a 120cm gun. He hit it point blank in the spine. The fish initially rolled over but then woke up and took off. The shaft fell out, because the flopper didn't penetrate enough to hold well.

The next week he was on the phone to Riffe buying mid handle guns for his shop.

He still uses a Euro style gun.

I spoke to Jay Riffe at DEMA a couple of weeks ago, and in talking about the differences between gun styles (he makes both), he said emphatically, that they're just two different styles of gun. That's it. Just different styles.

I use a midhandle wood gun almost exclusively for game fish here in California.

I got my biggest yellowtail ever with a Picasso 110cm Carbono.:rolleyes:

[Herby]

Nice fish tomol, how big? ~25kg? How do your YT behave? Ours will swim right up to us most of the time, are yours a little more weary?
What is the style of diving you guys do? When you are after YT and WSB are you also after other fish, or are you exclusively after YT and WSB?
Pretty much all our fish that we regularly hunt here are small (sub 10kg) so a single band euro is perfect, but sometimes the odd YT swims past and euros take them down no problem.
If you were after YT and WSB exclusively then I'd understand the rationale behind using a big mid handle woodie...why not eh.
It sounds like your buddy was pretty unlucky! I've spined several YT from fairly long range (by euro standards) and the spear has gone right through on most, if not all, of them. The Aussies hunt for a fish they call mulloway, which are essentially a WSB, and they almost all use euros, but then again, a lot of the fish they shoot are small like ours and a mulloway is a bit of a bonus so it would be very impractical to lug a big woodie around all day.

[Not Nate]

Hey Herby,

The bigger mid handles are usually brought out for the YT and WSB as they're dedicated guns. Some reasons why we use the bigger guns for those species may be because the YT are usually found in clearer water, so the distances are usually greater. I don't know how many divers/spearos you guys have over there that chase these fish, but in CA there are thousands that hunt the regular spots. In recent years the fish seem to get more and more weary.

Nate

[tomol]

Hey Herby,

The bigger mid handles are usually brought out for the YT and WSB as they're dedicated guns. Some reasons why we use the bigger guns for those species may be because the YT are usually found in clearer water, so the distances are usually greater. I don't know how many divers/spearos you guys have over there that chase these fish, but in CA there are thousands that hunt the regular spots. In recent years the fish seem to get more and more weary.

Nate

What he said.:yup:

It's kind of a discussion point among Californians too. We don't always agree with each other on gun use.

[Not Nate]

It's kind of a discussion point among Californians too. We don't always agree with each other on gun use.

yeah, I prefer a longer euro for YT. Midhandle for WSB.

[Finbreaker]

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks for the great info on charters in NZ! I am definitely there!