Decided to head out today and fish 60 feet again after striking out on kings last time. Put live bait rigs on all the rods and fished large menhaden behind the boat. 2 of the rigs had no weight at all and the other 2 had 1/4 ounce on them. Acres of bonita were everywhere eating tiny glass minnows. Ended up fishing about 3 hours total and put two kings in the boat. After about 1000 hours every fish was a sharpnose. Packed it up and headed home at noon.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
No they weren’t huge. I think 27 FL and 34 fl. Nothing crazy. Biggest was probably 12 to 15 lbs. The screen was covered in fish all day. No idea what they actually were but it looked pretty good. Tons of bait out there.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
See many kings on the screen</font id=“blue”>, or scattered?
Get your bait at the lighthouse?
“The big one’s still swimming, let’s go.”
See many kings on the screen? I have fished for a long time and never been able to tell the difference between a king and something else on the screen. You can?
Yes, they are usually NOT in schools, unless small ones, that seperates them from most inshore fish.
Typically, look for 2-5 fish per screen, and typically a little scattered. Also, typically NEVER near the surface, usually 20-40 ft. Down, depending on water temp and depth. That usually means you catch more kings on downriggers than any other way. If you have no downriggers, use 5 oz. Egg sinker above your swivel, and use line counter or pull line same length(measure arm) each pull until you are at your depth.
Apologies to the OP. Great report and catching. Couple of good fish in a couple of hours, good morning on the ocean, nothing wrong with that:sunglasses:
quote:Yes, they are usually NOT in schools, unless small ones, that seperates them from most inshore fish.
12-15 pounds are very small ones, MD We call them snakes and they do school heavily, just like Spanish, and often mixed in with them, bonito, jacks and blues.
Once they get over about 40 pounds, we call them smokers. They are more loners then, but still tend to hang together, just not as tight.
quote:
Typically, look for 2-5 fish per screen,
Wouldn’t that depend on screen size, display speed, boat speed, transducer frequency, and other variables? Personally I’d look for birds.
quote:NEVER near the surface, usually 20-40 ft. Down,
Right. Uh-huh. Funny. I’ve caught 500 of them them with a kite, but what do I know?
quote:
I am glad to share info for anyone who asks.
I hope they get a second opinion.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
AKA Ignorant County Boy and Jerk
Sorry to start something but I just have never seen a “screen” where you can tell exactly what kind of fish is under you. That is a top of the line screen. I have fished competitively for over 10 years in the SKA and have never heard of such. Also, I have to say I have caught a lot of fish on the downrigger but mostly caught them on the top. Not saying I am the best fisherman or anything like and don’t claim to be, always learn every time I go out but that just really caught my attention.
I also fished the SKA circuit for 10 years or more, from Jacksonville to Little River. If I’m trolling for kings I will put out a full spread with at least 2 baits deep on planers or down riggers, a couple with trolling weights, and a couple on the surface. In my experience, it’s about 50/50 which one might gets the first bite, but over all I’m sure we’ve caught more on surface baits than deep. Every day is different. Some days they like them deep, some days not. Find where they are biting, then change everything to match the fish of the day.
The man who beat me most often would fish with a kite and jumbo live shrimp or menhaden, barely skipping on the surface. I switched to kites and live bait after getting my azz beat by him too many times:smiley:
OK guys, many ways to king fish, when I referred to kings never on the surface, I was referring to on the screen, not biting, of course, on the screen there are exceptions to every rule, the catching more on downriggers was referring to deep hanging kings, accordingly that was the subject at that point.
My memory is getting fuzzy, but I think I remember catching small Kings right behind the boat back in my offshore days. Dad went to a kingfish seminar years ago taught by a guy from Florida, if I remember correctly. He learned how to put out “meat lines” in the propwash. This consisted of a small diameter rope/cord tied to a rear cleat with a piece of surgical tubing “shock absorber” that held part of the rope all bunched up and kept the hook from pulling. I can’t remember the terminal tackle & lure/bait used, but it was not far behind the transom. Evidently this is how the commercial boats used to catch them in areas where they were thick. Probably only worked on small Kings. I can still remember the surge tube rigs tied to the rear cleats. Not very sporting, but it worked.
Most of the Kings I catch come from the surface on live baits . Granted I can see fish on my sonar 20 to 40 feet down around clouds of bait. I’m assuming they’re kings but they don’t seem to have a problem coming up to eat.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
that can’t be right. macdaddy says they never near the surface. he’s never wrong, ergo you are. please see End Times Thread 1-2, invisible war, and somebody’s gonna get shot threads. he’s not wrong. you are.
“I am not involved in this thread, only helping Fred understand who he is dealing with.”
We call them snakes and they do school heavily, just like Spanish, and often mixed in with them, bonito, jacks and blues.