By: Capt. Philip Watson
April really starts kingfish and spanish mackerel. These fish will load up on any piece of hardbottom, ledge, or wreck. All you have to do is find the bait and you will find the fish. Typically, kingfish aren’t picky about what they eat. My favorite is a live spanish sardine, which usually doesn’t last long out there, but I always have great success with frozen sardines, threadfins, and risky pinfish. These fish however can become leader shy. When your flatlines are behind the boat and not getting touched try scaling your wire size down a little. I like to use a 30lb wire on the days when the fish are finicky, it will kink more on short strike and you will tie more leaders but at least it will increase your bites. Another tactic that has a lot of success is trolling for these fish. My favorite lures to use are Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow deep divers but your Rapala and Mann’s lures will work just the same. Planer Boards and spoons work well too, especially when you in the thick of the school. Troll these lures around wrecks and bait balls until you get a bite and mark where you get your bites. Continue trolling that area, as they usually don’t move far or fast. This month’s trip was with one of my regulars Manny, and I actually got to fish for once! We had the feeling that red grouper started their post spawn journey back to shallower water. We started that day and stayed in 90’ all day. Dead baits were the ticket, I like to use fish that are caught on the same bottom as the grouper. Tom-tates, squirrel fish, and grunts also work very well. We got our limit very quick with the big fish of the day topping 30 inches. We scouted some new bottom areas and released another 8-10 fish.
