Targeting yellowtail kingfish using sports fishing methods has really began to take off here in Victoria over the past few seasons as explained by Mark Gercovich.
With more anglers specifically setting out after kings, a fish once seen as being an incidental target, or only frequenting a couple of set locations, is now beginning to show up all over the state. Perhaps more so than any other species, kingfish are a fish that requires you to specifically target them. The techniques and tackle required for most species rarely cuts it on kings. If you are lucky enough to come across some kingfish and are adequately prepared for them, then you might be in for the piscatorial time of your life – but not always. Whilst kings at times can be voracious and aggressive feeders, at other times they show caution more akin to a big trout in clear water and often behaving with obstinacy in their refusal to bite; just like a shut down bream, bass or barra. It is these times the thinking angler needs to have a few tricks up his sleeve like the one this article is going to look at – pitching live baits.
Like many lure caught species, kingfish often succumb to a reaction bite. Whilst they might not be in a feeding mood, the commotion made by a surface lure seemingly can entice them into action, even if they have refused a juicy live offering. Having a big king smash a surface popper out of nowhere; watching one tailing your surface walker for a few meters and then obliterating it in a shower of spray; or casting your soft plastic slug over a school and having multiple kings climb all over it as it skips back to the boat are about as exciting sports fishing occurrences as you can get. It is this sort of action that drives anglers to spend the many days and hours on the water necessary to see it happen. However sometimes, after all that effort of trying to find them, they sometimes will follow a lure, but not take it. If the aforementioned experiences are awesomely exciting, then inversely there is nothing more frustrating than seeing a meter plus king (or ten) swim all the way to the boat with its nose behind the lure then turn away. Sometimes this happens after one or two fish have already been caught from the school, which is fair enough as big fish don’t get big by being dumb. However sometimes this happens as soon as you come across a school. This can be imminently frustrating as you pursue them under electric power across the sea, trying to get casts in only for them to be refused. The quick thinking or prepared angler who can quickly present a live bait into the mix before the fish depart the scene, can often be rewarded though in this situation.
A big king like this can wolf down a decent sized live bait.
So, hypothetically speaking, you have located the kings. Whether this is because you have spotted the school on the surface, had them come up your berley trail or they appeared out of nowhere behind some blind cast or trolled lures, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you have jumped one very big initial hurdle; actually finding the kings. This in itself is a major achievement for a variety of reasons that we won’t go into here. But despite the fact you’ve found them, they don’t want to play the game and eat your lures or bait. Fortunately though you have gone to the trouble to catch and keep some live bait (another significant achievement for a variety of) and are now ready to pitch one into the kings.
What you will need is a pre-rigged rod as generally there is no time for re-rigging. Your weapon needs to be able to lob a live bait out quickly and in any direction, therefore a spin rod is best as opposed to overhead or game tackle. The rod needs to be solid enough to lob a decent size live bait and of course stop the rampaging king that’s about to eat it. My favourite rod for this is a Daiwa Demon Blood 702MH which handles the aforementioned requirements with aplomb. A 4500 size reel (from a Saltiga to
Kings at time will follow all lures all the way to the boat before turning away… frustrating.
Phantom J depending on your budget) loaded with 50lb braid will do the trick. The rig is simplicity in itself. A good rod and a length of leader, just enough to get the attaching knot off the spool when you cast, is necessary as remember these fish are spooky; hence your need to pitch bait anyway. When casting lures at kings, a much shorter leader makes life easier but the longer leader is required when pitching as the fish has more time to assess the offering. At the end of the leader is a live bait hook like a Mustad Hoodlum in 8/0 or a Gamakatsu Big Bait in 6/0. Pin this quickly through the live baits nose area, no time for fancy rigging, and send him on his way in the direction of where the kings are, or where you last saw them. Try and keep feeding some line out to keep the bait swimming naturally and not being dragged by the drift of the boat. A combination of trying to keep some slack in the system, as well as a strongly pulling live bait, can often have you second guessing as to whether or not the bait has been eaten. However when it does you will well and truly know about it and there will be no second guessing at all.
Some pitch baited kings.
What advantages does pitching a live bait have over suspending it under a float or slow trolling it? A live bait that has been in the water for some time, whether suspended under a float or trolled behind the boat, reacts differently to a live bait that has just been pitched into the water. When a livey that has just left his secure, dark, safe live well and suddenly finds himself in the water, tends to emit a far more enthusiastic vibration than a livey that has been in the water for some time. Whether these baits that have been in the water are more relaxed, or tired, or a combination of both, I’m not sure. I’ve often seen a king that has been swimming lazily around these forms of live baits rush over to smash one that has just hit the water. Keeping your hard earned livies in prime condition is an important factor too. A good quality recirculation system like a Flow-rite live well system helps keep your livies happy – until their turn comes!
Another reason to keep livies for pitching is if you have struggled to obtain a good supply. Catching adequate sized and correct species of live bait can seem as hard at times as catching the target species. If you only have a few it pays to keep them in good nick for when you do come across kings. Use the casting as your searching technique to bring them up. If they eat your lures then that’s great, but if they want to play coy and just follow the lures then a lively wriggling plan B, in my opinion should be cast into the equation. Also at times other species can make short work of your hard earned livies. Snook and coota can be very unwanted consumers of these baits, as can squid. The squid though aren’t as unpopular, as with a bit of skill and effort, they can be turned into a live bait themselves. The squid will usually hold on long enough to a livey to carefully get a net under it, or you could a quick switcheroo by tossing a squid jig in as it releases its hold on the livey. I’m just hoping that the day a big king decides to get involved as we play the game of “getting the squid to let go of the livey and eat the jig” at the back of the boat that my heart holds out.
So if you’ve gone to all the trouble of preparing for a Kingfish session, nailed the weather forecast and been fortunate enough to find the fish; make sure you give yourself the best chance of being successful and a have few live baits ready to go if the situation calls for it.
Top quality big threadlines are the weapon of choice for pitch baiting livies at big kings.
Mark Gercovich is a school teacher who lives in the Sth West of Victoria at Warrnambool. Despite being a successful bream tournament angler he enjoys a wide variety of fishing scenarios from fishing skinny water for big trout to chasing meter plus Kings on lures and live bait. Mark has also traveled extensively having fished in every state of Australia as well as Vanuatu. Mark is sponsored by Dawia, BLA/Humminbird and Zipbaits.
