There’s a silver king in our waters right now but I’m not referring to “The” silver king, I’m referring to the King Mackerel. I normally do not even think of fishing for kingfish in March, but with our water temps being as warm as they are, the kings are here and they are being pretty cooperative. If you have never fished for them you are certainly missing out on a fantastic opportunity. Kingfish are one of the most exciting fish to catch, due to their tremendous power and long drag ripping runs. They are sometime referred to as smokers or smoker kings.
Along with their great sporting appeal, Kings also make great table fare. I did not realize just how good they were until I brought one home and gave it to my neighbor, who is a professional chef. Wow, what a difference it makes when you know what you are doing. It was a great deal for me, I just gave him 12 kingfish steaks and he did all the work and brought me back six of them ready to eat. He soaked them in lemon juice, salt, and ice for 16 hours and then marinated them in Italian dressing for 5 hours. Once they were marinated, he put them on the grill with Cajun spice seasoning. The fish was fantastic, to say the least. I wish I had taken a picture of the steaks just so you could see how he prepared them. Even if you are not much on eating fish, kings are still fun to catch. I know that there are several rigging styles used for king fishing but I can only tell you what works best for me.
I use an 8′ medium/heavy action rod with a 750 series reel. It is a good idea to spend a little more “dinero” and get yourself the right rig for king fish thus avoiding lots of potential frustration. I spool my reel with 50 lb. braided line and use 50 lb. fluorocarbon leader. I get my share of break offs, but I have tried using bigger leader and the number of hits I get drops dramatically. I also strongly suggest a 3x long shank hook. I have been using a 1/0 but I change it up depending on the size of my baits. That brings us to the bait selection. I prefer to use scaled sardines and threadfins for kingfish bait. This is what works best for me. That’s not to say that they will not hit anything else. I hooked the biggest kingfish I have ever seen while shark fishing on a piece of cut Spanish mackerel. This just goes to show that anything goes in saltwater.
This should provide a good starting point for you. You might be able to tweak a little here and there and get a better system than I have, it just depends on how much time you want to spend on it. You are probably wondering where is the best place for all of this to take place. The location depends on the water temperature. I have recently been fishing for kings from 5 to 9 miles out but I have even seen a few kings skyrocketing out of the water at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. They seem to like water temps in the 70’s or lower 80’s. The best way to figure king fish out is the best way to figure any species out, go out and spend some time chasing them. Until next time, good luck and be safe on the water. Remember: don’t let your kid be the one that got away, take them fishing.
Captain Ric Liles owns and operates Reel Simple Fishing Advertures. Please check him out at ReelSimpleFishing.com or learn more by calling (813)601-2900. K9 FISHING RODS ~ feel the bite! K9Fishing.com. Host – Tampa Fishing Outfitters Radio Show, ESPN and Writer with The Tampa Times, Captains Corner.
When I started lake Michigan finhisg for salmon back in the 60s, yes I’m that old, I bought a new 15- foot, row boat style, Aero Craft with a 25 hp Evenrude on the back. I trailered that boat all over the state for many years. It had home-made manual downriggers of dryer spools, welded steel, and pipe. My point in telling you this is that you can go out on the big lake in your boat if you stay close to home, like on the first bank, which is just a mile out. You don’t have to do what I do and charge all over the lake. In fact I’ll bet you have as much or more fun than I do and that is saying a lot. I used to fish weekends all day for two days and was happy if I caught two fish. Now if I do that in a morning I feel bad. I think I was better off then, don’t you? Get in your boat, pick your good weather moments, and go finhisg and let luck take care of the rest. You’ll be the winner no matter how many you catch.
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