Sydney Kingfish

Lisa Sthalekar is a bona fide Aussie cricketing legend. Arguably, Australia’s greatest female allrounder, Shaker, as she’s affectionately known, was the first woman to make 1000 runs and take 100 wickets.

“It started with my father. Indian born, out to Australia, just out in the backyard. I guess I was daddy’s little girl and whatever my father did I wanted to be part of it, and so that was out in the backyard playing a bit of cricket, and then he took me to the SCG, I would have been probably 7 or 8 and I loved it”.

For someone who has spent so much of her life outdoors, Lisa’s a bit of a newbie when it comes to boating, camping, or fishing. So Scotty decided to fix that, and take her out to chase Kingfish off the Sydney coast.

In Spring and Summer, large numbers of juvenile Kingfish come in closer to Sydney, following the bait and warmer water. This means there are normally dozens of fishermen out when the weather is good, chasing these beautiful big fish.

George from Wahoo Charters is one of a handful of charter operators, working around Sydney. He focuses on Kingys, but has boats equipped to chase anything from Whiting to Marlin.

If you’re new to the game, heading out with someone like George is ideal. He know all the best spots, and can tell you exactly how to land your own Kingy.

These fish respond well to a number of different fishing techniques, but for us today, it’s live bait on paternoster rigs.

Lisa had never caught a fish before, so hooking into a Kingfish in 70m of water is an awesome way to start.

For any of the gear we used, head to your local BCF store or shop online here.

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