Yellowtail kingfish have a reputation for humbling anglers, and an offshore session out of Sydney from the 2Blokes Fishing pair showed exactly how. After a string of bust-offs and reefed leaders, the duo dragged a frustrating day back from the brink, landing two quality kings around the metre mark on strips of fresh squid.
Their plan was to drift over reef in light swell, offering fish a mix of baits — a 10-inch garfish on a two-ounce jig head alongside squid jigged earlier that morning. The mantra was "big bait, big fish." The reef, however, had the upper hand early, with solid hook-ups repeatedly ending in lost fish and shredded leaders. "We've been absolutely railed, so I went and bought some bigger gear," one angler admitted.
The breakthrough came after a long, cold grind. Fighting a big king carefully away from the structure, one of them finally slid a metre-class fish onto the brag mat, taken on a strip of squid and a 10000-size reel. "I'm so happy that I landed that. I can't even speak," he said. "On a strip of squid, 10K locked up on the Certate. Amazing."
The fight left him stunned at how casual it all looks online. "You see videos on YouTube of people catching fish this big and they just do it so casually," he said. "I don't know how, because I'm losing my mind right now."
They weren't finished. Dropping bigger squid baits back down, the pair hooked up again and landed a second king on the Certate paired with a Spartan jigging rod. "We've been out here for so long trying to catch these fish and we finally landed him," one said. "Honestly, this is like the best session I've had."
Conditions were never easy. A light but persistent swell, cold water and reef that seemed determined to claim every hooked fish made for a punishing day, and the early lost fish would have sent plenty of crews home empty-handed. That the pair stuck it out long enough to turn the session around was the real story, and a reminder that kingfish reward the stubborn far more often than the lucky.
For kingfish hunters, the day underlined a few essentials. Fresh, locally jigged squid remains one of the most effective baits going around. Heavy tackle and quality leader aren't negotiable when fish hold tight to reef. And persistence — refusing to pull off the spot after losing fish — is frequently the difference between a blank and a brag-mat photo. Light on ice but running on adrenaline, the pair summed it up: "You just got to be happy with what you've got."