Sydney Harbour kingfish angler MJ has uploaded a tight dawn session that doubles as a walkthrough of the autumn live-squid playbook still working inside the heads: a Palomar leader knot, a 50 lb fluorocarbon dropper, twin 5/0 BKK hooks, and DeepInk squid jigs that converted three squid in three casts.
The brief was simple. "The goal is to catch live squid and send them out for kingies," MJ said as he pushed off with fishing partner Cass before sunrise. The kingfish rig was the heavy half of the boat: a Daiwa Saltist P4696 paired with a 10K Saltiga reel spooled with 60 lb J-Braid. "That's what we're going to be using for kingies today if there's any around."
The terminal connection was a Palomar leader to a pair of 5/0 BKK hooks - a setup MJ tied live on camera. "Let's tie a uni. Put it through there. Give it some line. Wrap it around. About six wraps. One, two, three, four, five. Pull this up and just give that some lubrication and just pull and it cinches down," he narrated. "That's a strong knot. That's not going anywhere." The 50 lb fluorocarbon dropper paired with the heavy rig gave him enough weight to hold a kingfish without spooking a live squid in clean morning water.
The day opened on a curveball. "While it was still the early morning, it was good for kings," MJ said. "We hooked onto a good-size flathead." Rather than scrap the plan, he pinned a fresh-caught squid head-first onto the kingfish stick and dropped it back down while the squid jigs went over the side.
The squid bite was the highlight. The first jigs were ravaged by pickers, but the next casts converted cleanly. "Many casts in our bag kept getting picked to P3, and straight away we were on," he said. "Three casts, three squid. No, three cast, three squid. Cass has got one." Every one of them came on DeepInk squid jigs. "All on the DeepInk. That guy's perfect strip bait for jewies, kings. Very good."
MJ ran a deliberate dispatch routine. The first squid took a quick chop to the hood. "Right here. Curry chop. Hood's white. They got the head. He's all white." The first two went into a livewell as kingie ammunition. The third, bigger Sydney arrow, was earmarked for strip bait. "This guy's a bit bigger. Maybe use this guy strip bait. Perfect for kings and jews."
The kingfish leg of the trip never quite delivered. Despite the rigged livie in the water through the prime dawn window, no kings came up. MJ closed the session with a verdict every harbour regular knows. "Unfortunately kings ended up getting some arrows. Going to use those guys for bait. We cleaned them, packed them up, and chucked them in the freezer."
The takeaways for autumn harbour anglers are practical. Live arrow squid remains the highest-percentage livie when kings are inshore, DeepInk jigs are converting reliably in the early window, and a Palomar-rigged 50 lb leader with twin 5/0 hooks gives you enough hook for a harbour kingie without killing the swim of the bait. And on the days kings don't show, fresh squid is never a bad consolation prize - clean it, freeze it, and the next jewie or kingie trip starts with a freezer full of bait.