Jason Kemp tests the new Viking Tempo 2 with a Long John Slider and a pack of hungry kingfish

A test of the new Viking Kayaks Tempo Two loaded with Long John Sliders was just another great reason to hit the kingfish.

The plan was simple: Two anglers, the new Viking Tempo Two, my PE5 Catch jigging outfit, a Long John Slider and reef loaded with hungry kingfish.

Jason Clendon and myself set out from Wellington’s Bay (Whangaumuto), Ngunguru, nice and early to see how the new yak would handle a serious session. It’s a relatively short paddle to the reef (less than 2 miles) so we were quickly on station with everything looking good for a successful mission.

I had my Catch PE5 Pro Series outfit set-up with a 200-g Long John Slider, while Jason chose to work a 150-g Shady Lady. It’s just as well the cameras were rolling because the bite was immediate. Pretty quickly we’d boated about 30 rats with a horse king taking me to the reef after a 5-minute scrap.

Keen to test the stabilty of the Tempo Two further I switched to a standing stance. First drop and bang, another solid hook-up standing up. Quite a laugh from Jason’s perspective, no doubt.

Thoughts on the Viking Tempo Two

This new two-man yak certainly proved super stable, especially with both anglers hooked up to kingfish on the same side. In terms of paddling speed, we cruised comfortably at 7-8 kph and could push it up to 10 kph without too much effort. I see huge potential in this new battleship watch this space for further updates.

After a few more hook-ups it was full tide and, of-course, the bite stopped. Happy with our work we headed home for breakfast.

Summary of New Zealand Kayak Fishing Group Open Day – Feb 5th 2017

Once again the weather god’s really turned it on for us and it was a great start for our first NZKFG open invite for 2017.

Personal Bests were smashed, rods were broken rods, arms were stretched arm’s and and I even towed a newbie back in for fun.

Congratulations to Todd Davies for taking out “the fish of the day” and a new PB snapper of 8.54 kg. Wicked!

Big thank’s to Tawhana Terry and Richard Dudley for the use of their barbecues and gazebo, and all the rest of the guys that helped out.

Huge photo credits to Nikki-Jay Hunia for the awesome on-shore pics and for supporting a great cause, as usual.

Aside from the fishing, a main highlight for me was seeing kids playing on the beach waiting for their fisho parents to come in. The social side is always great, with the newbies and regulators talking all things kayak fishing. It’s also great to see the girls weighing in fish and walking away with cool prizes.

Topping it off was the yum sausages (which definitely filled the gap), from our local Aussie Butcher.

I would like to extend special thanks to the sponsors for supporting such a great meetup. The prizes they put together are outstanding so please support them.

These sponsors are: