All along the East Coast of the United States the
King Mackerel is one of the most sought after game fish among small boat
fisherman. Powerful and strong, tasty and delicious, the King Mackerel has
made it's way in to many a Fisherman's heart. Juvenile fish move in schools
along the east coast moving North in the spring and South in the
winter. These are the fish that I call schoolies. They range from 5lbs
to 20 lbs and make up a large number of the King Mackerel caught every year by
both Commercial and Recreational fisherman. The biggest fish are thought
to be loners and the lead predator in the area. The big ones are the smart ones. They are much harder to
catch than the schoolies.
Recreational fisherman caught 75,853
King Mackerel along the North Carolina Coast in 1999. Total weight was
672,466lbs for an average weight of 9lbs each.
Commercial fisherman caught
1,082,419lbs of fish in that same year. Having worked on Commercial King
boats in the spring and fall each year, I can tell you that the average fish was
somewhere in that same 9lb range.
Growth Chart for Female Kings
Years down the left, length at the bottom.
As you can tell from the chart above, King Mackerel are not the
fast growers like Mahi Mahi with the average caught fish being around 5
years old.
I wonder how many baits one fish has
looked at in 5 years time. I bet it is a lot. That is where the fun of
King Mackerel comes in. These are not the dumbest fish in the ocean and if
you want to catch them on a regular basis then you better have your mess
straight. That's why you are reading this right? So let's get down
to some serious fishing info.
Trolling
King Mackerel are taken often on trolled baits.
Ballyhoo,
Menhaden
and large drone spoons lead the list, although
schoolies can be caught on almost anything with a hook. The water temp must
be at least 65 degrees with 68 to 76 degrees kind of being the magic mark. Look
for area with a combination of bottom structure and temperature riff that will
hold bait fish for the King's to feed on. 6' foot rods with a light end but
stiffer as you go down the stick work well, I use Key Largo Sticks (20-30lb
class) with Shimano
Speed Masters. The 6-1 gear ratio and 25 lb
mono make easy work of most Kings.
On a regular fishing trip I use
Rigged
Ballyhoo with a single hook treble rig, some with skirts some
naked. Troll a standard W spread with the the leaders back at
least 30 feet on the downriggers and move the outriggers back as far as
practical. I like to use premade chum boxes that can be bought with the
nets all ready on them. This makes the fuss and muss much easier. Troll
from down current to up current and be sure to shake the chum bag when you are
over the target bottom. Set the drags lightly (about 5 lbs) with the clicker on so they
will not freespool.
On a day when I want to turn up the
volume, I add fresh ground chum to the mix. I stop by one of the shrimp
boats on the way out and buy (they usually give me) a load of by-catch.
Be sure to keep the fish in a cooler and cold until it is time to turn them into
King Juice. Now where I live we have lots of eels and the shrimpers catch
lot of them. They are perfect bait for Mr. King. Use the same
type of rig as above but with 3 hooks instead of 2.
Slow Trolling
How to Rig Live
Bait
On the day that I want to hit the biggest and
the baddest of the Old timer King Mackerel, 20 plus years. There is only
one way to do it and that is by fooling the fish into thinking it is dinner time.
How? SLOW TROLLING and feeding him one of two of his favorite foods.
First Menhaden,
Catch Live Menhaden and keep them in a proper live well. Keep the baits as
fresh as possible. Also catch enough in a cooler on ice to grind into
fresh King Juice. It is hard to have too much. Use the lightest rig
possible with small gauge wire or no wire at all if you dare. Raise the
spread and (Hopefully) hold on to your hat 'cause we fixing to get busy.
You got to go SLOW. Real Slow. So slow that you barely keep
headway. About 1 to 1.5 knots max. The bait fish should be left to swim
freely and try to be kind of easy on the chum, if you use too much it will attract the
sharks and other undesirables.
Second, Live bottom fish. Have
your party bottom fish with small hooks. Take the live bottom fish that
they bring in and put them on the trolled lines. If you have a live well
go ahead and stock up on bait. This works real well. The oldest and
wisest of the fish are usually the hardest to catch, so you have to be careful
about what you do. That means : No radio, be quite and no dropping stuff.
You have to kind of sneak in to the hole.
Light Lines
King Mackerel can also be caught on
what are called Light Lines. I use light lines for different kinds of
fishing.
First while bottom fishing, get
the boat on the hole and get everyone else bottom fishing. While they are
bottom fishing take a rigged Ballyhoo or Live small bottom fish and let it out
behind the boat. Try to get the bait as far away from the boat as
possible. I will usually keep at least 2 and sometimes 3 light lines in the
water at all times when bottom fishing. The guests love it and it is a
good way to break up the monotony of bottom fishing.
Second
way is called balloon fishing. Use the balloons when light lining as
outlined above with dead bait. They are useful for keeping the baits near the surface
or you can use them to balloon fish with live bait. First you got to get the
boat in the right spot. Pick out your ledge or structure. Now figure
out what way the current is moving and move upstream from that. Here's the
hard part, you want the chum slick and parts and pieces to fall right down
onto the structure. This will bring them to the boat. So we are
anchored up and ready to fish. Put your live baits on double hook trebles
as outlined before and tie a small balloon about 20 feet from the rig.
This will give your fish some room to move around. Start at the outside
and farthest bait and work your way in. I will usually fish 5 lines.
Try to keep them spread apart to keep them from tangling. Keep the chum
steady, not too much or you'll get a visit from the sharks. If they show
up you might as well move.
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