southern kingfish or king mackerel

[7deadlyplugs]

They get them by trolling in circles, interesting.


http://www.boats.com/news-reviews/ar...iller-kingfish

Hooking Killer Kingfish
Live bait is key to smoker kings

by Chris Dummit
The Palm Beach Post


From early January through March, anglers took their limits of kings as heavy as 50-plus pounds off the reefs between Lost Tree Village and Juno Beach. But unfortunately, nature hasn't completely turned back the clock.

The temporary return was probably because of colder water temperatures up north and six weeks of southerly currents, Hartig said.

But now it's time for Round Two.

Kingfish begin gathering along the reefs to spawn in late April or early May, Hartig said. The larger kings, averaging 15 pounds, appear about two weeks before the full moon of May. They are followed by schools of smaller fish that stay in numbers through early June.

Anglers hoping to hook a sizzling smoker should put their faith in live bait — as long as tournament rules allow, of course. Hartig, a Jupiter fisherman who has won the Arthur Smith KDW, and captain John Schulz of Lantana, whose boat took first and second place in the kingfish division of last year's West Palm Beach Kiwanis Club tournament, are live bait believers.

Because kingfish have a habit of biting off the back of a bait, trailing hooks are often used to help ensure the catch.
The trailer can be a single hook slightly smaller than the lead hook or a treble hook. It is attached with a short piece of wire to the eye of the lead hook. It can either be embedded in the bait or swing free.

"I've missed more fish on double hooks than on a single hook," Schulz said. "The less hardware, the more natural the bait looks."
However, Schulz said if he is fishing a large bait such as a blue runner, sometimes the second hook is a necessity.

Schulz and Hartig fish their baits on the surface hooked in the nose or on the back, in front of the dorsal fin. Other anglers, who don't have the extra baits to chum the fish to the surface, swear by downriggers to get the bait down to the fish. However, the boat needs to be making slow headway to keep everything from tangling.

Depending on the speed of the current, Hartig will slow troll, drift or power drift — bumping the boat in and out of gear. He also likes to toss occasional handfuls of chum such as cut greenies or sardines.

Hartig will troll in circles, a pattern commonly used by commercial fishermen. While the boat is circling, the bait will move at different speeds, which seems to excite the kingfish, he said.

When the boat leaves a productive zone, the anglers bring in the lines and move back.

The fish will generally hold in water from about 90 to 120 feet, although Schulz has caught kings in 45 feet of water off Boynton Beach.

The best time to fish in the summer is sunrise to about 9 a.m. Unfortunately, that same combination of location and hour can also mean bonito will hear the breakfast bell. The pesky fish will snatch the live baits and it will be a constant battle to keep lines in the water.

Kingfish Facts

• KINGFISH ARE separated into two migratory groups: the Gulf and Atlantic stocks.
• THE ATLANTIC group is near South Florida in the spring and summer and migrates to N. Carolina and Virginia for the fall and winter.
• KINGFISH SPAWN off Palm Beach County from May through October.
• FEMALE KINGFISH attain sexual maturity when they are approximately 34 inches long and 4 years old. The largest females can carry 12 million eggs.
• KINGFISH may live 20 or more years.
• THE ALL-TACKLE world record for kingfish is 90 pounds, caught in Key West on Feb. 16, 1976, by Norton Thomton.
• THE KINGFISH bag limit is two per person per day.
• THE MINIMUM length is 12 inches in state waters (within 3 miles of shore on the east coast) and 20 inches in federal waters.

Sources: Mark Godcharles, National Marine Fisheries Service; International Game Fish Association.

[albiealert]

Girl brings in a nice king mackeral. You should see her carry and toss it on the pier. Tough girl lol.