This season kicked off with good spikes in water temperature only to quickly shoot back down with the onset of the next cold front. The typical unsettled spring activity we experienced has now passed and we have good temps holding throughout the harbour. Loads of baitfish are prominent around key points with piper being the real standout – given these are regarded as kingfish candy it’s no surprise to see big sprays of bait getting chased around.
The new Scott Fly Rods Sector is living up to its award winning label.A nicely conditioned Kingfish that fell victim to a large well placed fly.
Stingrays are settling into their flats and the subsequent Ray riders are hanging on for the ride around the harbour. Whether they’re busting bait, snacking on flounder or sniffing about diggings they’ll take anything thrown at them currently, provided the presentation is on the money and the dreaded trout strike doesn’t creep in. Spending time staked out on the flats with the aid of the Minn Kota Talon has been great when you’re sitting in prime kingfish real estate, something I’m definately doing a lot when you feel it’s worth hanging about for some action to cruise past.
Parked up waiting for the party to arrive.The Lamson Cobalt and Scott Sector are no match for the New Zealand Kingfish.
The entrance has seen some really good fishing also, with sessions of multiple fish coming to the boat, most of them making it into the net but some being just to smart or strong to make the full trip alongside. This bodes well for the next few months as fish transition into the harbour to cause havoc amongst the baitfish. There’s some big fish among them, so we’ve had the Scott Sector 10 and 12’s rigged for the chance of a bigger model.
Putting the hurt on a good fish trying to hit some structure nearby.
Speaking of bigger fish there’s a few groups about the harbour that tend to follow the mullet schools around, it would seem they only eat once every day or three but when they do it’s pandemonium. It’s either a case of a big 6/0 semper styled fly on the 12 or a small snack on the 10 weight depending on the feeding vibe present. These fish are smart and really frustrating but the action they’ve provided over the years has been nothing short of heart stopping.
Even the smaller specimens will grab a bigger offering, often beating the bigger fish to the fly.
With all this life firing up it’s the perfect time to be chasing kingfish in the shallows, soon the Pohutukawa flowers will bloom and provide some of the most stunning backdrops the harbour has. We have dates available for December so if you want to come and tussle with some thugs drop us a line now. lucas@kingtidesaltfly.com
It’s been a solid year since we put our latest boat on the water last December, there have been numerous voyages with clients, family and friends all enjoying the fit out during that time. What strikes me the most is how little I have done to change it, all the hard work and planning over the years showing just what is needed, or in a few cases, not needed onboard. The boys at FC Boats have done a great job on all the custom items, in particular the casting deck. Their ability to turn an idea into a functional item and work within restrictions and other curve balls showcase just how dedicated they are to their craft, the fact that no major work has been needed after purchase highlights this point. As expected with lots of custom work a few required tweaks here and there are always going to show up in the first few runs, thankfully these were facilitated within a tight timeframe.
Since I hate unboxing reviews here’s a quick take on how things have performed over the year to this point.
Mercury 115 CT – this has been a solid workhorse, easily passing 200 hours of service without fault. Often pushing along some bigger loads with more gear and anglers I doubt I’ve heard it complain, it probably just growls a little more.
Minn Kota Talon – I was more than impressed from the minute this was added and have used it far more than I originally thought. Often clients don’t even know it’s deployed, neither do the fish. Being able to pull up to a dead stop at the push of a button is invaluable, especially for novice salt fly anglers trying to work out distance perception on moving targets.
Minn Kota – really glad I went and slightly overspec’d this as we charge around the flats often and the current when fishing markers makes it work that bit harder than most other users in a day. Battery usage has never gone below half the supply voltage and recharge time is negligible between trips.
Humminbird Solix12 – Coming from a background of visually spotting fish these units have lit up my underwater surroundings. Infact they’re so good we put the original one on the bow and added a new Solix12 G2 with MEGA+ imaging to the console then networked them together. Having the bow mounted screen now gives me an extra vantage point and recently highlighted how allowing clients to visualise what they have on offer gives them the extra motivation to keep casting.
The “One Boat Network” that Humminbird is now rolling out is phenomenal, having the ability to control multiple facets of electronics from the screen is huge. Whether I want to operate the Minn Kota from the virtual remote (even steering it with your toes from the bow screen) , deploy/retrieve the Talon, plus the whole host of other compatible components that can be added into the mix.
U-Dek – A year on and it’s still looking good, despite the constant foot traffic its holding up really well. This is probably because its so easy to clean and can take a bit of punishment day in, day out.
JBL stereo – We had wired the boat for sound and only just recently completed this part It’s not only good for cruising and beach parties but will get some serious use alongside the Ocean Led underwater lights to help raise those inquisitive reef dwelling Kingfish to the surface.
FC Boats – this hull is a proven winner, it’s remarkably dry for an open boat, rides exceptionally well in all manor of sea states and has the stability to rival any alloy pontoon boat in the NZ market – with an 8 degree heel test and a survey tolerance of 15 it breezes through MNZ requirements.
Click here to read the original King Tide on water article.
If you would like to be a part of the fishing this Summer now is the time to get out there and into the action, simply drop us a line to secure your spot before Christmas. lucas@kingtidesaltfly.com
Over the years New Zealand’s salt fly flats have gained huge popularity, and deservingly so. The world class fishery we have right on our doorstep is a great attraction for fly anglers traveling from near or far. With this popularity comes a few points to note in regard to ensuring the longevity of these flats last for generations to come.
The pressure these fish now face is a lot greater than a few years back, it’s not a case of simply rocking up and throwing any bedraggled creation at an easy target. Interestingly so the biggest behavioural trait I have noticed over the last few seasons is not from the kingfish but from the stingrays we often seek. These rays are incredibly clever and have been seen rebelling from the encounters we anglers present. Charging around after them only upsets them and makes them wary of our presence. While it’s hard some days not to harass them for an eat from their counterparts the smart money is on trying to keep them calm and approaching with care. Especially so when wading, those tails are equipped with some heavy artillery [don’t insert Irwin joke here, I’ve heard a lot of them over the years].
Parting ways with a stingray that is absent of KingfishKingfish are incredibly alert, especially when the water is shallow and this calm
Boats are fast becoming mini game vessels and the amount of electronics onboard are mind blowing. I for one am lucky to be packing some great gear onboard, hence the 150kg of batteries I carry to operate it all. Once again the rays are in the sights here, their electroreceptors are capable of picking up electrical noise in the water and consequently disturbing their day. Upon noticing this we have been shutting off any units not required to successfully hunt the flats if the rays are showing signs of altercation. My Humminbirds are my eyes underwater, and when we’re off the flats they earn their keep then. The ability to distinguish what’s happening under the surface is key to presenting flies efficiently and I’d be stuffed without them.
Kingfish as viewed on Humminbird Side ImagingBronze whaler sharks shadowing kingfish, time to move onActive kingfish chasing baitfish up and down some structure seen on Humminbird Side ImagingThe stoke is real when it all comes together
Minn Kotas have opened up so many fishing possibilities for New Zealanders over the last few years, with fly fisherman being some of the early adopters. This time the rays are coping it from over zealous remote control boat drivers. Take it easy, line up the shot with the Minn Kota then try ease into the zone, better yet drift in. Maximum thrusting in close quarters is only going to upset the ray and riders, sending them scattering. If your shot is squandered try shadow the target and let them rest, position your boat in the best visible sight line for the ray and stay as far back as possible, another shot should line up shortly. If you loose them you’ll find they track in a pretty straight line if undisturbed, take a bearing or landmark they were last on and stick to that, you should find them again when the light allows, the whole time thinking of the best lay up for the boat and caster to take their shot when it comes.
Sitting back and waiting for a show on the surface gave us a point of reference to catch back up with this fish.The result of a patient game of cat and mouse.
With the addition of a Minn Kota Talon on our new build there has been a lot of time just staked out in prime fishy “real estate”, hanging about waiting for passing stingrays and fish. Picking up the composite shaft and sneaking over to intercept their path when the time arises. Another prime example of its many uses is pulling up to a stop without the need to reverse hard on our Minn Kota as the gap closes quickly. This also gives more novice anglers one less moving part to the equation and aids their perception of distance when presenting flies.
Minn Kota Talon, a shallow water handbrake for your boat
Good luck out there this season, just remember to respect the fishery and most important of all have fun.
Check out NZ Fishing News reviewing a day out with King Tide Salt Fly
John Eichelsheim spent the day with unique salt-water fly charter, King Tide Salt Fly, aboard their FC535cc.
When fishing guide Lucas Allen decided to upgrade his boat, he had no hesitation going to FC Boats, based on his satisfaction with the smaller FC 430 tiller-steer model he was replacing.
Lucas runs a specialist saltwater fly fishing charter business called King Tide Salt Fly. Generally operating in and around Tauranga Harbour, Lucas’ new boat is surveyed to fish New Zealand’s harbours, lakes and inshore waters. Lucas used his previous boat as a starting point when customising King Tide, his new FC 535cc (centre-console). FC Boats in Hamilton were extremely accommodating, says Lucas, working with Lucas and Maritime NZ to meet stringent survey requirements.
At 5.35m King Tide provides the perfect amount of room for a stable fly fishing platform.
Lucas’s business centres on chasing Tauranga Harbour’s population of kingfish, especially those that hang around with stingrays, of which there are hundreds feeding in the shallows over the harbour’s extensive flats.
These ‘ray-riding’ kingfish are the main drawcard for saltwater fly fishers availing themselves of King Tide Salt Fly’s services, but Lucas also targets kingfish around the harbour’s numerous poles and markers buoys, as well as fish resident on reefs outside the harbour. In addition, anglers can expect to catch kahawai and snapper on fly, as well as other species in season.
Interestingly, kingfish only shadow short-tail black rays (stingrays) – we saw lots of eagle rays, but none had any kingfish with them.
King Tide Salt Fly’s guiding season usually extends from November until May, or sometimes longer depending on angler demand and kingfish numbers. As well as guiding, Lucas is a brand ambassador for BLA, which among other products supplies Humminbird marine electronics and Minn Kota trolling motors and associated equipment. When he’s not guiding, Lucas conducts Humminbird and Minn Kota training sessions all over New Zealand and provides customer support for BLA products.
King Tide is a purpose-built fly-fishing vessel. The FC 535cc platform was a great starting point: it’s stable, roomy and a dry runner, which is important in a centre-console. A centre-console was the obvious configuration for a fly fishing boat and Lucas, working closely with FC Boats, maximised the size of the raised casting platform in the bows. Covered in customised U-Dek flooring and incorporating masses of under-deck fishing tackle storage, this platform provides the perfect position to cast a fly through an arc of 270 degrees.
King Tides casting deck is the jewel in the crown of a well laid out fly fishing boat.
Three large deep hatches under the raised casting deck provide room for all gear. Keeping it out of the way of fly line and the elements.
The most obvious feature of the bow is the Minn Kota trolling motor. It’s a marine spec, 80-pound thrust Terrova model with iPilot LINK. Minn Kota’s iPilot features integrated GPS and SpotLock for precision boat positioning and the motor can be controlled either from the handheld remote control, or from the helm using the Humminbird Solix’s Minn-Kota LINK virtual remote.
The trolling motor is a vital piece of equipment for this specialist fishing application. This is a 24-volt system: two dedicated deep-cycle batteries provide enough juice to run the electronics for a full day. Two onboard Pro Mariner chargers plug into mains power at the end of the day, recharging all the vessel’s batteries overnight.
The 24v Minn Kota guides King Tide along the flats with ease.
King Tide carries 160kg of batteries: two 130-amp deep-cycle AGMs for the Minn Kota, one cranking battery, another 130A AGM house battery and a battery to power the auxiliaries. Auxiliaries include the VHF and nav lights for survey requirements, and the transom-mounted Talon anchoring system.
Using the Minn Kota, Lucas moves quietly over the shallow flats stalking black stingrays. Almost silent and able to operate in a metre of water or less, the Minn Kota lets Lucas get his clients close enough to sight-cast at any kingfish travelling with rays. The Talon allows him to stop the boat dead in the water and hold it in place, effectively ‘staking out’ any areas of interest.
This was the first time I’d seen a Talon in use. It’s an electrically operated, extendable pole with a composite end section that penetrates the bottom substrate to hold the boat in place. The 8ft model allows a maximum depth of just on two metres. It works really well, allowing Lucas to hold the boat in place at the push of a button. The Talon is also linked to the Solix 12 interface.
Using the Talon to pin the boat to the ground came in handy on a lot of occasions. Lucas uses this to great effect when fishing the shallow sand flats of Tauranga Harbour.
Tauranga Harbour is vast – over 200 square kilometres in area – and much of it is made up of shallow tidal flats covered in eel grass and shellfish beds. We fished an area reasonably close to town, and there was no need to travel any further, but Lucas is spoiled for choice when it comes to fishing locations.
Although the sky was at times overcast which made spotting fish difficult, we were fortunate enough to find a few rays with kingfish in attendance. One ray in particular was flanked by three nice kingfish. They were unusually green in colour, making them hard to see over the eel grass.
Every time Lucas got the boat into a good position, I cast my fly close to the ray, which elicited a few kingfish follows but no bites. We followed the ray for perhaps 10 minutes, changing flies a couple of times, and just when it looked like we might have to find another ray, a surface popper did the business. The smallest of the three kingfish sucked it off the surface like a brown trout eating a dry fly.
John playing the kingfish expertly over the vast sandy flats
John holds his prized flats kingfish, taken on a small popper after a few stubborn refusals.
Lucas supplies good quality fly fishing tackle for his clients. I was using a Scott #8 saltwater fly rod and a Hatch reel with an Airflo Intertip fly line. He also carries #10 and #12 outfits with floating, intermediate and fast-sink lines. The flies are all hand-tied by Lucas.
Assembled fly rods are stored in racks under the gunwale either side of the cockpit, the tips sliding up into a custom compartment under the raised foredeck. King Tide can accommodate three assembled outfits per side, plus three more stored vertically against the side of the console. Additional gear is stored under the foredeck, accessible via three large deck hatches. Four through-coaming rod holders cater for traditional rod and reel combos.
Loads of well thought out rod storage keeps gear tucked away but readily accessible when needed.
The Scott Tidal #8 outfit handled my kingfish just fine, though the fight was as tough as one would expect from any kingfish. Over a clean bottom like this, you can take your time bringing the fish to the boat, and with 14-pound leader, it doesn’t pay to be too heavy-handed. The fish was boated, photographed and released.
Mission accomplished, we squeezed over a fast-drying flat on the electric to a channel where we could fish through the bottom of the tide. King Tide draws only 400mm of water with the outboard tilted up and the Minn Kota set as high up on its pole as it can go.
The FC 535’s console offers a decent storage locker, grab rails and enough room on the fascia for a variety of instruments and gauges, including volt meters (two), USB chargers, a 4” Mercury VesselView display, battery isolation switches (two) and a Cobra VHF. The stainless steel wheel looks very smart and a big Icey-Tek chilly bin behind the console also serves as a seat. A clever tie-down system facilitates its easy removal, leaving a snag-free rear deck with nothing to grab a fly line or stub your toes on.
The helm features all the finer details to ensure Lucas can access everything at the push of a button or glance of an eye.
We used the Talon to anchor King Tide on the side of a channel while we waited to ambush any rays moving into the deeper water off the flat. While we waited, I caught a succession of feisty little kahawai, which passed the time very nicely.
A 115hp Mercury Command Thrust provides the primary motive power for King Tide. This is a high-thrust variant with a heavy-duty gear case running a larger-diameter propeller. The Mercury easily copes with King Tide’s usual operating load and gives a top speed of 34 knots. A 65-litre underfloor tank easily allows three days guiding on the harbour between fills.
Occupying the full width of the console, a bracket-mounted Humminbird Solix 12 features Humminbird’s MEGA Imaging high-definition display. As well as GPS chart-plotter functions and Minn Kota trolling motor and Talon integration, the Solix’s fish-finding tools include Side-imaging, Down-imaging and conventional sonar.
A stop at one of the harbour’s many navigational marker poles graphically demonstrated the Solix’s Side-Imaging capabilities, clearly showing a group of kingfish hanging behind and to one side of the marker. The Solix identified not only individual fish, but how far they were from the boat and from the bottom.
Humminbird’s MEGA Side-imaging scans 30m to each side of the boat, down to a depth of 30 metres, displaying structure and fish with remarkable clarity and definition. A simple change to lower frequencies provides even greater depth and range capability.
Fishing the poles with #10 outfits, including a couple of markers outside the harbour, raised a few lookers but no takers. I was quickly reminded how physical fly fishing big flies with heavy gear can be, especially if it’s been a while (years!) since you’ve done it. My arms wearied long before Lucas got tired!
Lucas working one of many markers with a popper fly. A highly exciting way of targeting the kingfish that reside on them at times.
The tuna require fast boat manoeuvring and long casts onto the leading edge to score a bite when the conditions are this calm.
Our final hurrah involved a run of several miles out to sea, the FC 535 proving a dry and comfortable traveller, despite a slightly messy sea. Our destination was a reef offshore where we hoped to target kingfish on deep-sinking fly lines. However, the sight of skipjack tuna splashing on the surface changed the game plan and we spent the next couple of hours chasing them.
Chasing skipjack on fly demands a fair bit of patience, since they move very fast. Intercepting them is not easy and often you only get in one cast before they’ve moved past. We did plenty of moving, but managed to hook several fish, landing a couple. Kingfish pull hard and are a great opponent on fly fishing tackle, but skipjack tuna make an 8-weight reel scream like no other fish!
Lucas with a small skipjack tuna, a total rocket on an 8# fly set.
With the autumn afternoon drawing to a close, we finished our day close to the Mount where we encountered mixed schools of skipjack and kahawai. The skippies eluded capture, though we each hooked a couple, but the kahawai were easier to fool. Much bigger than the ones I’d caught earlier inside the harbour, they pulled like trains, leapt and ran. The deep line burn on my index finger is testament that they strike hard too!
I had enjoyed an interesting and exciting day aboard a superbly set-up fly fishing vessel with an engaging guide who really understands his stuff. Lucas knows Tauranga Harbour like the back of his hand but can also be engaged to fish other waters around New Zealand. He works closely with selected charter/guiding operations, freshwater and salt, to organise fishing itineraries for local and visiting anglers.
And while many of Lucas’ clients are from overseas, the fishing experience he offers is something every Kiwi fly fisher should try. Fly fishing for ray-riders is highly visual, making it very exciting, and the quality of the kingfish available may also surprise. Some of them top 15kg or more – quite a catch on an #8 fly rod.
For more information on guided fishing for ray-riding kingfish, or to contact King Tide Salt Fly, email lucas@kingtidesaltfly.com
Recently King Tide got onboard the Scott roster alongside some bloody great fly fishos. I love a good bit of kit and these rods are no exception, constantly delivering cast upon cast and making most of our clients look good! Check the link below for the line up and a sweet range of fly sticks.
Saltwater Fly Fishing guide. Tauranga, Bay of Plenty 