ISH

Gloves for leadering stroppy kings at the boat is a good idea, note the circle hook doing its job in the corner of the mouth.

Kingfish are always a challenge, no matter if you have caught one or 100. They are the fish that most Kiwi anglers want to tangle with to test themselves and when you successfully land one, that cold beer at the end of the day tastes that little bit better.

On my travels around Godzone, I get to talk and fish with many people, and it often surprises me how many people say they are yet to land a good kingfish. They have usually scored a few rats and hooked bigger ones but got owned with the kingie earning its freedom. This is where you really need a plan to stick with before heading out in the boat, it is not like snapper fishing where a trusty old 10kg bait runner combo can land big snapper and you fill the bin easily. Kingfish are tough customers and deserve respect or you will find yourself facing a good beating.

Prep First

Doing your homework and prepping with your tackle before you get out on the water will increase your chances of successfully catching a kingie and you need to look at your options on where you intend to go to find them. They are a successful species that can exploit shallow water harbours and coastal areas, and out in deep water over reefs way offshore. Fortunately, in summertime kings gather in large numbers across most of the country and if you spend the time looking for them, your paths shall cross sooner or later.

I like to employ three key methods targeting kings and will run through these tactics for you to adopt in pursuit of landing a yellowtail kingfish.

Live Baits

Without a doubt the best way to tangle with a kingfish is to deploy a live bait. The NZ and World Record 52kg kingfish taken on 15kg line was caught on a live kahawai off Tauranga. If you head out and come across a school of kahawai or trevally on the surface, there is a good chance a kingie or several are below them.

Use a lure or small bait with hook to catch a kahawai or trevally, even try foul hooking one with a treble hook will do and send the live bait down on a 24kg ledger rig under the school of baitfish. A second livie can be used under a balloon on the surface. Keep the live bait(s) close to the baitfish, watch the surface activity and below on the sounder. Move the boat slowly when needed to keep closer to the schooling fish. Overhead lever drag reels are best as you want the live bait in free spool with the clicker on for that strike. Make sure you also use a circle or recurve hook too, these are the best for hooking in the mouth if you want to release the fish unharmed after a few quick photos.

I would recommend going on a specialist kingfish charter like Epic Adventures who put people onto kingfish off the Coromandel every week. They often spend up to two hours in the morning filling the live bait tanks with mackerel before heading out, caught with sabikis and small baits at change of light is the best. You will learn a lot from such a trip to grow your fishing experience.

My favourite live baits in this order are mackerel, grey mullet (west coast), kahawai and trevally. These are the hardiest live baits and high on a kingfish’s menu, whereas squid, piper and yellow eyed mullet are also dynamite if you find them but are harder to keep alive over long periods.

Spend the time gathering live baits and find the places kingfish inhabit and don’t give up if nothing happens for a while. Don’t get impatient and head off snapper fishing, stay the course and try berley to bring baitfish and kings into the area.

Jigging

Lures work well on kingfish and some of my best kingfish action has been when fishing by mechanical jigging over reefs in Northland and the Bay of Plenty. You need a quality jigging combo, look for a rod rated for 200-350gm jigs with matching narrow-spooled reel with a fast retrieve, at least 10kg of drag and spooled with 50-80lb braid (PE3-5).

Having multicoloured line is also key as the colour changes every 10m and you can determine how many colours to drop the jig down when in deeper water. E.g., If you are fishing over a reef that is 90m down and the bait school and kingfish sign is sitting at 60m, then you drop down six colours to start your jig action back up.

Sunline’s Siglon PEx8 Multicoloured braid is excellent value for money, with high strength and abrasion resistance. Its low diameter also helps provide a better knot. It is now the braid I use on all my jigging and lure fishing sets.

Fighting a good fish aboard Epic charters, the writer switches between live baits and jigs throughout the day.

Slow trolling live baits around headlands, reefs or rocky outcrops is a top way to target kingfish. This fish took a mackerel slow trolled at Little Barrier for the writer.