Swandives

As you can see, Swandives is in the middle of a renovation. The swan is gone, as they say (fitting really, given this blog’s title), replaced by a picture of a magnificent rainbow trout. That’s right - we’re changing identity to all things fishing. I’m still working out whether and how I’ll archive content but expect to see more piscatorial prattle from now on.

Speaking of which, the rats (that’s fisherman speak for young kingfish) are still running in Sydney Harbour. My husband and I watched a marauding kingie only two metres off the shoreline from Kurraba Wharf in Neutral Bay a few days ago. And one sliced through my line while I was reeling in on Sunday. I was after bream so wasn’t geared up for a kingfish. Minimal lead, long shank hook and some frozen squid were the order of the day. Of course, I immediately whacked on a wire trace and live yellowtail (a type of baitfish that kingfish love) but by then he was long gone. The day I land that elusive kingie will be a very proud moment.

The only other time I’ve actually hooked a kingfish was when I was 10. My sister and I had been allowed out by ourselves in the tinny for the very first time. That in itself was very exciting! We anchored off Smedley’s Point in Manly Cove and dropped over our handlines. About halfway down … bang! It was as if a whale had taken off with my line. Of course, I pulled too hard, snapped the line and the fish got away. But the fish then swam around underneath our tiny tinny for what seemed like hours but in reality was probably only 10-15 minutes. I have a vivid memory of peering over the side to come eye to eye with a giant kingfish! It looked giant to my 10-year-old self anyway. In the end we upped anchor rushed home to tell mum and dad, who weren’t half as excited about it all as we were. I suspect dad was a bit upset that we’d hooked this fish when he wasn’t there to help us.

We didn’t have a landing net in the boat, otherwise I’d have given it a red-hot go, but I still lie awake at night and think about whether I’d have been able to wrestle that fish into the boat. A real one-that-got-away moment.