When it comes to big kings and samson fish, South Australia probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But as Alistair McGlashan discovered on a recent expedition, it’s home to some true monsters of the deep. STORY & Photos: Alistair McGlashan

The massive floodlights of the Calypso Star illuminated the black ocean around us. Attracted by the light, hordes of yakkas danced about on the surface like a swarm of bees.
Occasionally, a big arrow squid would charge into their midst sending the bait scattering, while down deep on the edge of the light, large and unidentifiable shadows moved menacingly about.

It was a surreal, almost eerie scene that seemed more fitting in a ghost movie than a fishing adventure. However, what made it truly unbelievable was that we were targeting kingfish - yellowtail to the rest of the world - in the dead of night.

It was 5.00am and bitterly cold when suddenly one of the Tiagras on the starboard side burst to life, its ratchet shattering the stillness of night. Geoff, who had persisted all night, was on it in a flash and quickly set the hooks on what was obviously a solid fish.

The fish powered out to sea before abruptly changing direction and heading back into the bay past our anchored boat. Seeing as this didn’t work, the fish then changed tactics and sulked down deep.

It took a good 10 minutes before, to my great surprise, a massive kingfish materialised in the floodlights and reluctantly came to the boat. Our guide Steve Morris, technical director behind the innovative Top Shot Tackle Company, made short work of the fish with the gaff and hoisted almost two metres of kingfish onto the deck.

Pulling the scales down to 31kg (nearly 70lb) it was a true monster, and easily the biggest king I had ever laid eyes on. What an unbelievable welcome to South Australia!

STEVE’S DARK SECRET
Just before this trip came to fruition I had received a call from Steve informing me that they were getting some monster kings to 35kg. This started to get me excited, but when he added that he was catching them all in the dark at the anchorage, I thought he might be stark raving mad.

Kings don’t bite at night, I told myself. But a week later I was suddenly humbled by what I still didn’t know about a species I thought I understood.

Steve had invited BlueWater to tag along on a five-day liveaboard charter to the remote waters at the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula. He promised some unique and exciting fishing, and after a start like that I certainly wasn’t arguing.

There were six anglers on this trip: Mat, Scott, Roger, Graham and Geoff from Adelaide as well as my old mate Ian Bowden from Meridian Lures. Steve was there to guide us, while Andrew and Rolf Czabayski ran the boat.

Flying into Port Lincoln, which is famous for its tuna farms, we piled a mountain of gear aboard the beautiful 57ft Calypso Star and were soon on our way. Our destination was Greenly Island, some 85 miles south-west of the peninsula.

DECENT EXPOSURE
Completely exposed, Greenly Island and the smaller Rocky Islet suffer the full might of the Southern Ocean for most of the year. During autumn the winds subside, giving adventurous fishos a small window of opportunity to explore these unspoiled waters.

The cold, nutrient-rich currents in this part of the world are an extremely fertile home to all types of seafood, from the southern bluefin tuna (SBT) to massive kings and samsons as well as snapper and groper.

On our first afternoon we pulled up over a distinct reef to see if we could find a samson or two. Rising up from 90m to within 40m of the surface, it was certainly an impressive bit of structure made all the more exciting by the big schools of pilchards that breezed about on the surface.

Eager to fish, the guys wasted little time, sending both baits and jigs down into the depths.

It took a bit of searching but we eventually found the fish. One moment everyone was relaxing in the afternoon sun, then seconds later they were struggling with rods doubled over.

The deck turned to instant bedlam as big samsons charged about in all directions, forcing our team of intrepid anglers to dance and weave around each other in an effort to stay attached. It was quite comical to watch, and after all the smoke cleared three massive samson fish lay on the deck.

Ranging from 16–21kg they were certainly impressive.

Wasting little time, Rolf quickly repositioned the boat for another drift. This time only Roger scored and, after torturing his outfit, the biggest samson - a 25kg beast - was hauled aboard.

One final drift earned us another smaller (only 18kg!) samson, which was successfully released. The setting sun saw us powering off to the anchorage, but not before Ian picked up a nice little SBT on the troll.

KINGS FOR A NIGHT
Our anchorage for the night was a neat little bay tucked away on the northern side of Greenly Island.

Battered into submission by the relentless southern ocean swells, rugged, inhospitable Greenly Island is home to nothing more than a handful of fur seals. With a flat seabed it was hardly kingie country.

However, as I discovered, it was certainly big king country when we nailed that 31kg beast described earlier.

With Geoff’s big king on the deck everybody started fishing with renewed interest, and before the sun illuminated the land we boosted our tally with two more smaller kings - 15 and 8kg - before the smell of bacon and eggs lured us all into the cabin.

After breakfast we went exploring with the tuna lures in tow. It was late April and the first schools of SBT that had made it past all the longlines and nets were starting to migrate through the area. Hopes were high that we might encounter a few fish.

Working around the southern side of the island we bumped into a few SBTs, which were all around the 15kg mark. Interestingly, nearly all the tuna encountered on the charter were in the 15–20kg range. But each year they are steadily increasing in size and there is hope that the big SBTs, annihilated by professional fishermen years ago, may again return.

ROCKY ROADS
Our next stop was Rocky Islet some 12 miles south. A very fishy chunk of granite, Rocky rises up out of almost 100m of water and is surrounded by lumps of reef.

In the past it has always been a reliable spot to jig for samsons, however we found the fish far from co-operative. Despite working over the grounds thoroughly we headed home empty handed.

Again that night we prepared to do battle with the mighty kings of Greenly. Like the previous night, the action didn’t occur till the wee hours of the morning. At 4.10am everyone had fallen asleep except for Steve, who was rewarded with a big king that absolutely screamed off more than 100m before he pulled up.

With no reef to bury you in, these South Aussie kings fight quite strangely. In fact they battle more like a tuna, preferring to make long runs then slogging it out down deep. It is almost as if they seem confused and don’t know what to do, which can be used to the angler’s advantage, knocking them over in a short time.

Steve was all over his early-morning king and had it to the boat in no time, an impressive effort considering it pulled the scales down to 26kg.

With the action now hotting up, everyone awoke quickly and set baits with renewed spirits. Roger was rewarded an hour later with another king that took a liking to a squid head suspended just off the bottom. Having never caught such a big fish, he was pretty excited as the king howled off into the darkness - but Steve coached him through the fight and 10 minutes later 28 kilos of monster king came aboard. There is certainly no lack of quality in the South Oz kings!

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES
Nowhere else have I experienced such bizarre kingie fishing. In fact, before this trip I had never even heard of anglers catching them at night. The fact that no one caught a king during daylight hours made this nocturnal fishing all the more intriguing.

Looking back over my notes it was interesting to see that all the fish were caught on fresh squid heads (caught the same night) and not livebaits, which were also fished every night. Additionally, we never had a multiple hook-up, which is so common with kings, and in most cases the bites were about an hour apart.

None of this behaviour seems normal for the species, but it certainly raises a few questions for new techniques to be employed on kingfish populations in other areas. I can assure you that I rode a steep learning curve on this trip and came away with a new-found respect for them.

Day three dawned grey and overcast, and despite fishing numerous reefs the samsons still managed to avoid us. This was certainly through no fault of the guys, who worked their bums off trying to find the fish - but as all good fishos know, some days it doesn’t seem to matter what you do.

Luckily, at day’s end we found a school of SBTs and after a couple of runs over them we tallied up four fish, including one for yours truly. Somehow I ended up cranking in the lightest outfit in the spread and it got nailed midway through the retrieve.

Now, I have no patience for drawn-out battles on light tackle, so when the tuna decided to do a lap of the boat I was forced to follow it bitching and moaning all the way. Ironically, despite having travelled all over the ocean that day, we found the tuna a few hundred yards from our anchorage!

RESOLUTIONS BROKEN
One our final night at Greenly everybody who hadn’t cracked a mega king vowed to stay up. However, when it came to the crunch most of the team (myself included) had crashed!
When the strike finally came, only a few souls were persevering. Graham took the strike and quickly set the hook as the fish charged away. Unlike the other kings, this fish decided to play dirty and powered off to sea before abruptly changing directions and sneaking around the bow.

With no alternative, our poor old angler stumbled around the side of the boat and disappeared into the darkness. After a lot of cursing and swearing he reappeared, rod in hand, on the other side of the boat to continue the battle in the cockpit.

Wind-on leaders are absolutely essential for fishing from large, immobile boats like a mothership - particularly during the final stages of the fight. In Graham’s case he had to lead the fish around the boat and then back into the cockpit to put the finishing touches on it.

A few last-ditch dives for the bottom, which saw the wind-on snake through the Aftco guides a couple of times, and it was all over for another South Oz king. Weight-wise it was certainly a beast, pulling the scales down to 31kg. It seemed fitting that we opened the kingy account with a 31kg specimen and ended it with one exactly the same size!

With the weather deteriorating we decided to edge our way back home. Along the way we visited the Hummoc Islands, scoring more SBTs as well as some huge blue groper on the bottom.

Our final night was spent in Memory Cove, which is the same place Alf Dean used to hunt the huge white sharks for which the area is famous. It seemed an appropriate end to the trip.
You may not be able to fish for the whites anymore, but South Australia still has some monsters worth catching. Get down and have a look!

TRAVEL TIPS

The Southern Ocean is not renowned for its welcoming weather, and there is only a small window of opportunity when it comes to fishing the remote islands of the Eyre Peninsula.
Late April through to early June sees the calmest seas and mild weather, which makes it the best time to travel. You can still expect cool days, so pack some decent polar fleeces and a decent waterproof jacket.

When it comes to tackle, the tuna are best targeted with a 6–10kg light game outfit. Incidentally, the most productive lure we had was a Meridian Demon in orange and black.

Jigging and livebaiting over the deep reefs is best done with a lever-drag reel, like a TLD 20, matched up to a stiff 15kg jig stick and spooled up with 50lb Platil braid. The big midnight kings, although somewhat quieter than their east-coast cousins, are still mostly targeted with 15–24kg outfits,. However, serious record chasers would be in with a very good chance if they wanted to fish 6–8kg.

Don’t worry about bringing wind-on leaders - Top Shot make some of the best in the world, and all sizes are onboard for you to freely use.

The Calypso Star is based in Port Lincoln, which is the closest harbour to the fishing grounds and minimises travelling time. These days anglers can fly to Adelaide relatively cheaply if they book in advance from any major city in Australia - and then it’s roughly $250 return to Port Lincoln, which takes just under an hour.

CALYPSO STAR

Dividing its time between diving with great white sharks and long-range fishing charters, the 57ft Calypso Star is perfectly suited to exploring the remote waters off the Eyre Peninsula.
Captained by Rolf Czabayski, renowned worldwide for his knowledge of white pointers, the Calypso Star is a fast, stable craft loaded with all the latest in electronics. It is fully equipped for liveaboard charters, with everything from a cappuccino machine to a DVD player and even a dryer. Spacious and well laid out, it can comfortably accommodate seven anglers and three crew.

Having a guide like Steve Morris onboard is a relatively new trend in long-range charters, but it’s certainly going to become increasingly popular in coming years. Having a dedicated guide means the skipper and the crew members can concentrate on running the boat and the guide can focus all his attention on the clients to ensure they are in with the best chance to catch fish - which, of course, is what it’s all about!

Catch and release is encouraged, but the guys are more than happy to knock a few fish on the head for you to take home. They will even clean them and ice them down.

Anyone keen on checking out South Australia’s best-kept secret should give Steve Morris from Topshot Tackle a holler. For more information or to find out trip dates, tel (08) 8356 5926 or email stevemorris@topshottackle.com.