Kings!

[Brian]

The false albacore fishing was very slow this year, the worst trip I can remember in years. We had a calm day last weekend and decided to run offshore a ways and try for king mackerel. I had never caught one before so was figuring it out as we went.

We were fishing live menhaden and the bite was ON FIRE. We ended up with 13 hookups and 3 in the boat.

Lots of cut-offs. I learned that you need a heavy leader longer than the fish and you need a long steel leader, at least 12" if not more. I had 50lb leaders about 3' long and they always came back all roughed up sometimes frayed nearly in half. My steel wire leaders were about 6"-8" long and one fish had inhaled the bait and was chomping on the swivel.

Also, there is a reason you gaff them rather than net them. First, they are too big for even my striper net. It was pretty hilarious when the first one hit the bottom of the net and bounced out... The second reason is the big hole one of them chomped in my net.

[drag4striper]

Nice trip Brian!  Love those King steaks.

[formula180]

Nice catch.

If you want a forecast of the week, look at The Fisherman.  They give a weekly report for bay area, MD,NJ, and Delaware.

The Fisherman

Looks like they had a good week.

Video

[Deleted]

Sounds like a blast. Way to overcome the lack of your target and shift to what was possible. Agility.

[mwardncsu]

Nice report Brian!

[Brian]

Nov 1, 2015 12:08:15 GMT -5 Yam said:

Sounds like a blast. Way to overcome the lack of your target and shift to what was possible. Agility.

That's what I love about saltwater fishing. You always have options.

Another day on the same trip, the wind was blowing 25-30 mph which meant the waves/chop was totally unbearable and potentially deadly in a small boat if you ventured more than a mile or so from a lee shore. The target species wasn't to be found, so we went into the marsh and got into a school of redfish. We had a blast catching 22 in one spot!

Now I have to get my head back into freshwater fishing... It's a loooong time until my spring cobia trip. At least on the lake I can leave the cast net hooked to my wrist and not worry about netting something bigger than me

[Brian]

Nov 1, 2015 11:55:13 GMT -5 formula180 said:

Nice catch.

If you want a forecast of the week, look at The Fisherman.  They give a weekly report for bay area, MD,NJ, and Delaware.

The Fisherman

Looks like they had a good week.

Video

We were fishing around Cape Lookout, NC

For that area, Chasin' Tails gives a good summary of the week past and a guess about what the next week will hold (I wouldn't call any speculation about how the fishing will be a "forecast", that implies science is involved )

chasintailsoutdoors.com/fishing-reports.php

[Bert]

Nice report, what brand is the boat pictured above.

[Brian]

Nov 1, 2015 21:03:07 GMT -5 Bert said:

Nice report, what brand is the boat pictured above.

Avenger 261 by Maycraft

[Gator]

For what it's worth, I always used #5 or #6 wire for live bait kings and you want a long leader 36"-48" because they will tail whip the heck out of your line and break you off. When using BIG pogies (menhaden) a stinger hook will get you hooked up much more frequent and you'll have less baits cut in half. I will say that we did not use trebles but they are much more "sticky" than a single hook. But trebles are also much more visible. Once we marked a good ledge holding bait and kingfish we would mark it with GPS and troll circles around it tighter and tighter and some days you'd catch 30+ fish. Nice report!!

[seajay]

Great report and that is a sweet looking rig you have there.

[Brian]

Gator, do you use a long 36"-48" wire leader, or a shorter wire leader and a long, heavy mono leader?

[Gator]

Wire

[Gator]

We also had to contend with big barracudas in S FL. They would cut a 30+ pound King in two like it was nothing.

Wire only helps, it doesn't prevent all cut offs. If a kingfish gets the wire between their teeth it's like a pair of wire cutters. They have sharp teeth. I've seen some nasty kingfish cuts where it took several stitches to close. Oh and keep the net at home and break out a sharp gaff.