(^22) FLYLIFE
yours!” I yelled, as Lucas began strip-
ping line to make the cast. He made
the shot and a kingfish leapt from the
ray to gulp the fly. Two from two, we
were on a roll.
At this point the temperature was
rising, and along with it, an increas-
ing number of stingrays with kingfish
on board.
“Check out this school bus!” Lucas
called, pointing at a large stingray fol-
lowed by a multitude of yellow-tailed
passengers. One cast with the popper
and the entire area was reduced to
froth as eight or so kingfish fought
for the fly.
The excitement may have been a
little too much for us. Three from
three, turned out to be three from six.
But we had so much fun that after-
noon.
PICTURE PERFECT
Day three was one of the most excit-
ing days fishing I’ve had in a long
time. Again, we started early. This
time we headed up to one of the
larger creek inlets and began search-
ing for early morning bow-waves. We
waded some of the shallow mangrove
areas, but very little showed.
Lucas made the call to head to a
new flat and by the time we arrived
the sun was up with not a single
breath of wind. “I’ve been waiting for
this day all season,” he said.
This particular bay was beautiful
and the picture perfect conditions
helped set the tone. The rays were
following an edge where a clear sandy
strip joined a dark weedy area, and
we often saw the bow-wave of the
kingfish before the ray itself. Lucas
took the first of the day and mine
came on the next drift.
My fish was quite an interesting
take. It followed the first cast but
wouldn’t commit. On the second cast
I varied the retrieve, and only when I
stopped the fly dead in its face did it
have no option but to eat. We cheered
in astonishment as the reel screamed
to the backing once again. Not every
NZ kingfish is simply a matter of cast-
and-retrieve as fast as you can.
That day we ran into Gareth Bayliss
and local legend Dick Marquand. Dick
is one of the most committed guys I
have ever met, fishing the flats just
about every month of the year. He
recently landed a 1.2 metre kingie off
the flats in Tauranga. Gareth jumped
on the boat to come and check out a
few of the channel markers with the
change of tide.
ONE CAST WITH THE POPPER AND THE ENTIRE AREA
WAS REDUCED TO FROTH AS EIGHT OR SO
KINGFISH FOUGHT FOR THE FLY.
Northern Kings... continued
Releasing another king into stunningly clear water.
Mt Maunganui watches over, as Lucas stalks kingfish in the morning light.
lu
(lu)
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