KEY POINTS:
Kingfish are the boy racers of the briny. If they grew to the size of a marlin you would never land them, as their power, speed and cunning would blow you into the weeds.
Over summer, kingfish will come into harbours and estuaries, hunting for schools of kahawai and bait fish to feed on. They are often caught by accident rather than design, but after just one tussle, landing one quickly becomes an obsession for most anglers.
Kingfish are a school fish, with the size of schools varying from half a dozen to many hundreds. The biggest school I have seen was at the Elisabeth Reef off Whananaki. There must have been 1000 of them, all around 5-7kg.
Most people think they have to travel to remote locations to target large kingfish, yet some of the biggest specimens have been in the inner Waitemata Harbour. Several times I have been snapper fishing close to the foreshore of Rangitoto Island and have seen kingfish weighing close to 30kg swim past the boat.
These large fish in populated areas seem to break away from the school and pair with a mate - only in places such as White Island and the Three Kings do you see a lot of large fish in one place.
Catching one of these yellow-tailed boy racers can be a challenge, as they are notoriously fussy eaters. Many anglers will have seen a kingfish lurking in their berley trail and and scoffing scraps of bait. Yet when they drop a bait the same size with a hook in, the kingfish will turn away.
Kingfish also seem to have a malicious streak, as often when you have live bait set out behind the boat a kingfish will swim along and just harass the bait fish for the sake of it.
You can target kingfish in several ways, from trolling a lure and live baiting to tossing poppers, but no matter which method you choose, your gear must be up to the task.
You must use a trace that is at least the length of the fish you are targeting. When the fish is powering away from you, its tail, which is rough and hard, will at times smack the line, which will easily break.
Kingfish will always take you into the rocks or around any obstruction they can find.
Unless you are a skilled angler, having the right rod and reel is critical.
The minimum breaking strain of your main line should be 24kg - trying to get away with anything less will only result in tears.
If you think you are up to tussling with a kingfish, drop in to your local tackle shop and talk it over with the experienced staff, as local knowledge will be of huge benefit.
