There are only six rigs I use: running ball sinker onto the bait, whole bait on a set of ganged hooks, live baiting a whole squid, sliding snooded hooks, bait suspended under a bobby cork, or a bait suspended under a balloon. Try anchoring about 6-10m up current of a marker buoy or channel marker.
What size hooks for kingfish?
Hook sizes are typically 7/0 to 12/0 , depending on bait size. Livebait patterns are perfect for livebaiting, but any strong short-shank hook, including circle hooks, is fine. Overhead or good quality spinning reels with the line capacity and drag performance to handle kingfish can be used.
How long should a kingfish leader be?
The length of the main leader is usually around 24 inches , just long enough to prevent a cut-off should the fish strike the head of the bait.
How do you target kingfish?
Lures, live baits and well-presented dead baits are the most popular techniques employed to target kingfish. Fishers need to respect this powerful fish and use suitably heavy tackle as they have a well-known reputation for breaking gear, cutting lines on underwater obstacles and quickly escaping.
What Colour lures do kingfish like?
In New Zealand, this mainly means natural colours, like shades of greens, silvers, blues, whites, etc. If you’re targeting kingfish (either trolling lures or stick-baits), you’ll be wanting to replicate fish like jack mackerel, Blue Koheru, Piper, and even Squid.
What bait does kingfish like?
Squid, Slimie Mackerel and Yellowtail Scad (Yakkas) would be your most likely and readily available baits, though a live Bonito or Mac Tuna should not be overlooked. Where possible match the hatch! Catch the baits that the Kings are likely to feed on and present them as naturally as you can.
How much drag do you need for kingfish?
The reels also need to have good drags, offering at least 10-12kg of drag to help put the hurt on big kingfish. Again, you will need to tie an 80lb-120lb mono leader of approximately 10-15ft which is then connected straight to the solid, hook ring on the jig.
What size hooks for king mackerel?
The standard rig for king mackerel fishing is the two-hook stinger rig, made from 37# coffee-colored wire and two treble hooks. I like to use the 4x strong treble hooks when fishing, as these generally don’t break even with the largest king mackerels. Cut a length of wire (about 18 inches) off the spool.
What is the best bait for king mackerel?
Live bait fish work extremely well when fishing for king mackerel. Blue runners, sardines, herring, cigar minnows, and mullet are the top live bait fish. These bait fish are difficult to keep alive. Therefore, most anglers catch their bait fish the morning of the fishing trip using either a cast net or a Sibiki rig.
What size planer do I need for king mackerel?
Planers used for Kingfish start with a size one and go to size four The number of the planer dictates a 10 foot increment, and so a number one would dive ten feet and a number two would dive twenty feet, etc. The leader of choice is 80lb monofilament leader. Kingfish are caught every year with these baits.
What tides are best for kingfish?
High tide and the first two hours of the run out, early morning and late afternoon is when you will find them really feeding.
Do you need to bleed kingfish?
The heart will be situated directly behind the cut, and the blood will pump out in spectacular fashion. I suggest you place the fish upside down in a bucket as it bleeds out. A quick wash in sea water and it’s ready for the chilly bin. Trevally and kingfish will also benefit from this bleeding process.
How far offshore are King mackerel?
King Mackerel Description They are found both inshore and offshore, out to a depth of about 600 feet (but more commonly in 50-150 feet) They are migratory, so in some areas they are abundant at certain times of the year and completely absent at other times.
How do kingfish drift fish?
The best drift fishing technique for kings is using the good ole’ 2 or 3 hook drift rig Each long shank hook is hooked into the eye of the next hook, making a chain of several hooks. This keeps the razor sharp teeth of the kingfish from cutting the line.
Do kingfish eat mullet?
There is a wide selection of baits that can effectively be used for kings, including live slimy mackerel, yellowtail scad, salmon trout, garfish, mullet, herring, silver trevally, and of course squid. Of the above baits, live mackerel, salmon trout and squid are, in my opinion, the number one baits.
Do wire leaders scare fish?
Do Wire Leaders Scare Fish? As many leaders are coated or come in dark, low visibility colors, they do not seem to scare the fish you target I have run many experiments where I fished for predators with both thick fluorocarbon leaders and wire leaders, and the results were exactly the same on both materials.
Should you always use a leader when fishing?
A leader line for fly fishing is essential because the heavy colored fly line used to cast lightweight flies is too thick for tying on the small flies and is easily detectable by fish.
Can fish see leaders?
Fluorocarbon Leader Lines It doesn’t reflect the sunlight like monofilament so the fish are not able to see the line and makes your lure/bait look like its naturally floating or moving through the water.
What is the depth of a kingfish?
Kings are “green water” fish for the most part, traveling the band of water between the beaches and the indigo depths of the continental shelf. Preferred depths seem to be anything from 20 to 250 feet , with some big ones found at times on the deep edge of the continental shelf and over deepwater wrecks.
How do you catch big kings?
Fishing techniques are regional. Yet an across-the-board knockout tactic on big kings is to slow-troll a pair of Spanish or cero mackerel around those schools, or bump-troll them out over patch reefs and bottom structure Use downriggers in deeper waters.
How fast do you troll for kingfish?
When targeting kingfish, we always troll a little bit slower than usual. For many species, 6-8 knots is fine. For kings, 3-5 knots seems to be the sweet spot.
Is Ribbon fish good bait?
But, by any name, they are preferred baits for targeting large king mackerel Ribbonfish have a pretty whiten meat and are edible. The white flesh is seen often when a king takes a big chunk of one and magically misses multiple hooks.
Who is the pound leader for kingfish?
Around 24-37kg gear is recommended, connected to around 3-5 metres of 37-45kg (80-100lb) trace This is a long leader, but it needs to be.
References
https://www.sportfishingmag.com/12-steps-to-catching-trophy-king-mackerel/
https://www.amazon.com/kingfish-rig/s?k=kingfish+rig
https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/best-rig-and-bait-kingfish/