As we slide out of winter, I can hardly wait for the spring bite. It’s time to break out the kite gear and dust off the live bait set ups. Now is a great time to get your gear serviced, respooled and organized. I like to do a few shakedown trips to get my kite bridals all tuned in, check the release clip tensioners, look for any frays and check the electrical connections on my reels. Spending the extra time getting the kinks worked out will pay dividends when the bite turns on.
Whether you’re using a hand crank or an electric kite reel you should be certain that all of your connections are fresh. I like 75 feet between each clip and my first clip is 50 feet from the kite. Sometimes I’ll attach a small, barely inflated balloon on the back side of my kite just in case it decides to go for a swim. On charters, I’ll only run 2 baits off the kite. When tournament fishing or fishing with an experienced crew, we’ll run all 3 clips full and sometimes up to 3 kites. As the cold fronts push through, expect the days following to have a consistent sailfish bite with some winter mahi still mixed in. It’s very exciting to see a sailfish come in hot on a frisky goggle eye or herring splashing on the surface.
I prefer 7 foot, fast action rods paired with high speed ratio conventional reels. I have been using the Penn Fathom 40N spooled with Ande 20lb monofilament for several years now and they have served me well. There are many other manufacturers out there that are just as good.
Once my kite is up and stable, I’ll deploy a couple baits on the flat line side using the same outfits or 20 to 30lb spinning gear. One bait mid depth and one bait up on the surface. This will give me anywhere from 4 to 6 baits in the water at once. Now that everything is set up, it’s just a matter of managing the kite baits and waiting for the fish to show up. I prefer to start my first drift a little deep just to allow time to get things set up and to learn the drift conditions for the day.
Capt. Ryan Palmer
Family Jewell Fishing Charters
954-882-2631
www.fjsportfishing.com