Big kings are holding just off the beach under and around bait pods, and are going through their summer spawning cycle. Big kings can be found from just behind the breakers out to sixty feet of water. Small "snake" kings are still holding over near shore artificial reefs and wrecks, but the really big fish are close in.
My son Tom took a busman's holiday and went by himself looking for a smoker earlier this week. He did just fine, thank you, and the fish we grilled Monday night turned out just fine as well!
Pogies are all up and down the beach in North Florida, and reports from Georgia and the Carolinas show the same thing. Bait is everywhere!
Tom went out from St. Augustine Inlet and quickly caught enough pogies in his cast net to last the day. He started slow trolling just beyond the breakers and headed north from St. Augustine. As he moved north and east, he watched his fish finder closely, looking for bait fish pods below. The easterly slant to his troll took him further from the beach, and when he reached forty feet of water he began marking bait under the boat.
Another trolling boat close by was obviously hooked up to a king. The telltale, lone figure on the bow with a doubled over rod is a dead giveaway. So, Tom eased that direction and immediately hooked up.
Thirty seconds doesn't seem like a long time, but if line is screaming from your reel for that long, you had better be chasing a fish to get some line back! Being alone in the boat made things particularly difficult. The downrigger had to be retrieved, along with two other flat lines that were out the back, and all this while holding onto a screaming fish!
He managed the task at hand and got the lines in so he could chase the fish. Going at more than a fast idle, he almost couldn't keep up with the fish. But he managed to get the fish boat side and gaffed a 28 pound smoker.
With one fish safely in the fish bag, he started to put lines back out. Before he could get the second line in the water, the first line began screaming again. Same routine - same result. Only this one weighed in at 22 pounds.
With his limit in the fish bag, he headed in, trailered the boat, and was headed to my front yard at 10:30 in the morning - a pretty good day by anyone's measure!
He managed the same trick Tuesday, and he and I both are going on Thursday!
We fish with a typical kingfish rig consisting of number five coffee colored wire leader wrapped to a size five treble hook. Another eight inch wire trailer is wrapped to another treble hook. We hook the live pogie across the one with the first treble, and then hook the trailer somewhere along its back. Most of the fish we catch are hook with the trailer. Seldom is a kingfish hooked inside its mouth. They charge a bait so hard, trying to cut it into pieces, that they get hooked outside the mouth.
Because the treble hooks are small and will pull easily, a very light drag is necessary. A kingfish has to be fought somewhat gently compared to other fish.
We usually fish two baits freelined and one bait below on a downrigger. We sort of probe the depths until we find the right one.
Kingfish spawn near shore in late summer, and they have to feed. The trick to catching some really big kings this month is to find the bait. As soon as you get your bait, head directly offshore from the bait pod and fish in water from thirty to sixty feet deep. Look for baitfish on your fish finder, and hold on!
