Ribbonfish are hooked in a similar fashion, only instead of one stinger, there are usually three. The first hook is a standard, bronze colored, short shank 2/0 hook. This hook goes down through both lips of the ribbon, sealing them together. The stingers are then hooked at intervals into the bait. The choice of hooking the trebles under the fish on along its dorsal is again a personal arguable choice.
Live cigar minnows and Spanish sardine baits are hooked in a similar fashion. Dead cigars are fast trolled and usually hooked up on a two or three hook trolling rig. Three standard hooks, each hooked in the eye of the next hook, are used with a trolling nose cone or skirt. That nose cone serves a couple of purposes. The color acts as an attractant, and the cone protects the bait and keeps it from ripping off when trolling. This kind of trolling will run the baits at five to six knots or more.
Sometimes a small egg sinker is added at the front of the nose cone to take the cigar deeper. Otherwise, a downrigger will take the bait deep.
Nose cones and trolling skirts are used on all of the baits above. They usually come in colors of white, chartreuse, pink, yellow and several combinations of these colors. Again, they act to attract the kingfish and to help keep a bait alive in the water.
Even with a slow troll, pogies tend to weaken and open their mouths after being trolled for a while. As they do, they look unnatural and will begin to slowly spin. Trolling skirts, while they can’t totally prevent this often allow the bait to be trolled for a longer period.
The Spread
Fishing for kingfish almost demands multiple rods. We fish a spread we call two up, two down and one in the wash. By that I mean we have two baits on downriggers, and two baits swimming up on top of the water.
The two downrigger baits – usually ribbonfish – are at two different depths and one is back farther than the other. In sixty feet of water we put one bait at twenty feet down and one at thirty feet down. The two up baits are a long distance behind the boat swimming freely. Generally I will put a trolling skirt on one and leave the other “naked”.
The one in the wash is a short bait – usually a live pogie – that we keep less than twenty feet from the boat in the prop wash. It is surprising how many fish we catch on that bait!
Other boats, using long outriggers, troll as many as eight rigs at a time. Without downriggers, four or five is about as many as you can handle and keep from tangling.
On all the rigs, make sure the reels are set in free spool with the clickers on. Once a strike happens, the free spool can be shut down and the fight will begin. Use a very light drag – lighter than you would normally use. Remember, these are small treble hooks, and even though a kingfish has a tough mouth, these hooks will pull on a heavy drag. That means chasing a fish around before bringing him to gaff, but trust me – you will pull the hooks on a heavy drag.
Whatever method you use, and whatever bait you use, make sure to check your baits often. Some boats troll for long periods of time with no strike only to find that their baits either got hit, came off or simply died.
Catching kings can be easy, and it is a relaxing day on the water if you can stay out of the sun! Hope you find some kings this summer!
