Kingfish Jigging Trips, Japanese Vertical Jigging Style
Vertical jigging trips for Yellow Tail Kingfish are the most exciting trips we can possibly offer. Low stretch lines, short rods, long jigs and high drag settings are a sure way to get the blood pumping, so it’s no wonder the yellowtail Kingfish are revered in these waters for both their sheer size, and strength.
The majority of our vertical jigging trips for yellowtail Kingfish are either day trips or overnight trips, but multi day options are available. The penguin shoals, the astrolabe reef, Mayor Island, and the mighty rangatiras are our main target areas with fish ranging from 5kg – 35kg+.
The main target species for our kingfish jigging trips are the mighty yellowtail Kingfish. Kingfish are extremely stubborn fighters which don’t give up till the very end, with a fantastic ability to pull serious drag at a rapid pace, with little or nothing the angler can do about it. Though Kingfish are our primary focus, these aren’t the only fish in Tauranga waters which ill take a jig. Our by catch has included Snapper, the odd big Tarakihi, Hapuka, bluenose and gemfish, John Dory, as well as all the species of tuna. After Kingfish though, the most consistent adversary when jig fishing would be the bluenose, gemfish, Hapuka and bass which inhabit our deep water knolls. These predatory fish respond very well to jigs given the right conditions and are also fabulous to eat!
Places like the Rangatira knolls hold some of the biggest Kingfish the world has to offer, and that is no joke. We have been busted off on numerous occasions by unstoppable leviathans which would be pushing the magic 100lb mark.
Remote place like the Rangatiras takes fair amount of time to get to and to be an effective option for your vertical jigging trip, need to be at least an overnight trip, or preferably a multiday vertical jigging trip to allow the best chance to get out to these remote locations.
We can provide the required vertical jigging gear if you want, but most anglers prefer to buy their own. We recommend at least 50lb line, preferably 80lb when targeting the deeper areas, and invariably the bigger fish, too often we see customers getting dealt to by the big one through using gear that’s too light, so if in doubt go heavier. In shallower water, where fish will tend to be around the 10-15kg mark you will be able to get away with somewhat lighter gear, although we still recommend a minimum of 30lb, with 50lb being a preference if the big Yellow Tail Kingfish come out to play. We recommend a minimum of 100lb trace line, but in the more remote locations a minimum of 150lb line with 200lb being the preferred leader weight.
The jigs we tend to use are jigs from the likes of Zest jigs, Jigging Master jigs, Katch1 jigs, Blue fox jigs and an assortment of others. Most styles of jig work well, with the weight being the governing factor on which jig to use. As a general rule of thumb we use shorter 300g jigs for water under 50m, 400g longer jigs with some built in action up to 100m of water, but primarily stick to 500g jigs when vertical jigging for Yellowtail Kingfish.
Enquire now about our kingfish jigging trips.
Jigging Trip Details
What You Need
+ Lunch
+ Drinks
+ Jigging rod and reel (optional)
+ Jigs (optional)
Price List
Public Trip
+ $120.00 - Adult
+ $100.00 - Senior Citizen (65+)
+ $100.00 - Child (15 and under)
Full Boat Charter
+ $1000.00 - Weekday
+ $1100.00 - Weekend
Fishing Gear
+ $35.00 - Jigging Rod
+ $15.00 - $40.00 - per Jig
