Venice Kings; A Real Jim Dandy

King Mackerel, Cero Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel
Photo by Thisha Anderson

“Kingfish are hardcore predators, so moving baits really get them going. Keep them fresh and active is the ticket to successes as we slow trolled the beachhead for that first screaming bump.

Hard bottoms equal tails of sizable kings off Venice beach in a Jim Dandy of a deal while trolling for smokers ahead of the pack. Lever-drag reels are easiest to use, with a 200lb trace at least three yards in length, attached to twelve-inch thirty-eight pound test wire leader. The wire is there because of the razor sharp teeth on a kingfish. Wired to the 10/0 circle hook is a smaller 6/0 circle hook we call a “stinger”. Circle hooks must be used now when angling for Kings in a boat for they are considered Pelagic and have a new set of rules about them. The wired 10/0 live-bait hook set up also is connected by a ball-bearing swivel. This may all seem like overkill, but even with this gear, I have lost fish. Kingfish will turn up when it suits them. Like big sharks, they feed when hungry. However, one very definite pattern I have seen through the years of angling for Texas to Florida King Mackerels is that the prime time to be on the water is around low tide. I’d guess around 70% of kings we see and hook is present during this period of falling water. Combining a midday low tide, away from a full moon, is a recipe for success in catching smoker to schoolies kings. Full moons are great for bass fishing and werewolves but really suck in the catch department in saltwater angling, period!

When slow trolling, almost all the baits are hooked the same way. Kingfish candy or Bluerunners get the main hook through their nose. This hook is wired to a piece of number four or five leader wire, the stinger attached to the other hook of choice and attached the top back of the fish or as some prefer just to dangle. Top speeds will range between 1.5 and 2 knots, a brisk walk, at best. Slow trolls are best in keeping your baits alive longer but all will drown eventually and be dead! Save them all for later for as you run out of live baits and have but only dead, one needs only to speed up the boat and dive the baits deeper by use of egg weights above the leaders or on planers or Nose cones and trolling skirts. They usually come in colors of white, chartreuse, pink, yellow and they act to attract the mackerels. No smokers as of Sunday but we sure caught the schoolies fever at around forty or so CPR’ed not to mention the hundreds of Spanish that followed and cut us off all daylong. The great thing about it was we were using straws and yard flies for baits only this time we had a number one Eagle Claw hook inside the yarn bunch. Loads of fun, lots of action and there it goes again…”FISH ON!”