Portland Kingfish.
- kingfish of this size have been landed at Portland over the past few weeks.
When it comes to howling reels and back breaking battles, then look no further than the southern seaside town of Portland for some red-hot kingfish action over the coming weeks. As the sting of summer warms the water, these pelagic sportfish haunt the reef strewn North Shore in pods of fish reaching sizes of 15kg or more. Reports of good catches are already starting to filter through with multiple hook ups for those lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time. Anglers fishing either live squid or gar under balloons have encountered a few fish as have those fishing strip baits and unweighted pilchards down a burley trail. The latter can be done at anchor and provides other opportunities like snapper and school or gummy shark. Trolling lures can at times be a successful ploy with shad styled minnows like Rapala x-raps and Halco laser pros working best. Both lures will stand up to the punishment inflicted when a kingfish smashes them. Surface poppers are also worth a try and are a good way to draw fish to the boat if nothing else. Kingfish are very inquisitive and will often come to the water disturbance created by these lures or just to have a look at the boat itself. If you are fishing unweighted baits back in the trail, then chances are these same fish will hone in on your offering. For the land based angler, the Lee break-wall at Portland does occasionally yield kingfish for those who put in the time. Fresh squid strips are a favourite as are lightly weighted pilchards or garfish. Some very good snapper are also landed from the break-wall with fish up to and above 10kg landed most seasons. Salmon, travelly, and squid are also likely to be encountered. Rods around the 10ft mark and above are the go when fishing this location as you will need to stay clear of the rocks should you hook a good fish. Thread line reels that can hold around 300 meters of thirty pond braid should out do most kingfish encounters. Early morning is the best time but kingfish do have the uncanny knack of turning up out of the blue. Talking about blue, rumour has it that the first of the southern blue fin tuna have started to show offshore providing boat fishos with a double bounty. Over the next few weeks as the hot weather peaks you could do far worse than head to the Portland coastline for a little bit of yellowtail kingfish action. For more info on what’s biting drop into Portland bait and tackle and talk to Chris or one of the staff for all the latest fishing news. Contact (03) 5523 5213
