Was testing out the Navionics app on the water, looking for nice places where I think might hold some fish. Decided to test a spot marked "OBST" and kayaked towards it. As there was a bit of current, decided to anchor up. As I was releasing the anchor down, little did I realize that I was drifting over the spot that I intended to explore. Next thing I knew, my anchor was stuck! Try as I might, the anchor won't budge. And at one point, I nearly pulled till my kayak tipped over! Reluctantly, I made a 'donation' to the sea and cut the rope as far down as I could reach. Damn! Brand new anchor and rope some more. Not a great way to start a fishing session.
With the anchor gone, I knew it's going to be a tiring day drift fishing around the area. So decided to abandon spot 'OBST' just in case my line kena tangled up with the remaining anchor rope. Paddled to another spot which was relatively calmer and started to see some bait fish jumping out of the water. "Hmm...something is spooking those baitfish", I thought. So I cast towards the middle of the baitfish, and the prawn sank. In less than 5 secs, something swallowed the prawn and made a bee-line for open water! Whoopee! Fish ON! This fish was strong as it was taking me & my kayak for a ride! Then it showed its face, out jumped a Queenfish and made another 3-4 for more jumps in the direction of open water. I was hanging on for dear life, looking out for any boats/ships in the vicinity. I hung on and slowly reeled back the line. Again the queenie went on another dash. This time it went even further than the first run. It took me almost 15 mins to slowly reel back the line and even then it stayed all the way at the bottom, never surfacing. When it was finally tired out, I manage to bring it to the surface and was shocked by the size of it. Grabbed its lip and lifted into my lap. Took pics & some stats, weight-4kg, length-80cm! I wanted to release it so I quickly put it back in the water, hoping to revive it. Tried for 5 mins but it just floated and didn't move much. So decided to take it home. Tied it to the side of the kayak and looked up to see where I was. I was a good 500m away from where I got the strike, so had to paddle slowly back to the spot, with aching arms from the fight as well as paddling!
Continued to fish and had 2 small bites but didn't get a proper hookup. With aching arms, decided to call it a day and headed back to shore. My kayak's big fish virginity has been spectacularly broken by a 4 kg Queenfish!! Hooray!
A few lessons learnt today:
- be really careful where you drop anchor. If its really stuck, cut it loose. Don't risk tipping over and losing all other stuff! Anchor/rope can be replaced. Need to learn more about positioning the kayak.
- keep the live bait well chilled/cold. My live bait was dead after 2-3hrs fishing. Aeration helps too, I guess.
- fighting a fish for too long reduces their ability to be released.
Gear used:
Rod - Shimano Eclipse Telescopic 3-4kg
Reel - Tica
Line - generic 8lb monofilament
Bait- live prawn
Rig - Carolina style
Fish ID - Queenfish (Scomberoides spp)
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