King Mackerel

Family Scombridae, MACKERELS and TUNAS
Scomberomorous cavalla

Description: color of back iridescent bluish green; sides silvery, streamlined body with tapered head; no black pigment on front of dorsal fin; lateral line starts high and drops sharply below the second dorsal fin; young fish often have yellow spots like those of the Spanish mackerel.

Similar Fish: cero, S. regalis; Spanish mackerel, S. maculatus.

Where found: NEARSHORE and OFFSHORE, occasionally taken from piers running into deep water.

Size: common to 20 pounds.

Florida Record: 90 lbs.

Remarks: schooling fish that migrates from south Florida waters in winter to more northerly waters in spring; Gulf population thought tobe separate from Atlantic population, with considerable mixing in winter from Cape Canaveral past Key West; spawns in midsummer OFFSHORE; feeds on small fish and squid. 

The king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) is a migratory speciesof mackerel that lives its entire life in the open waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It is an important species to both the commercial and recreational fishing industries.The king mackerel is a slender fish, only slightly compressed (flattened) from side to side. The entire body is covered with very small, hardly visible, loosely attached scales. The first (spiny) dorsal fin is entirely colorless and is normally folded back into a body groove, as are the pelvic fins. The lateral line starts high on the shoulder, dips abruptly at mid-body and then continues as a wavy horizontal line to the tail.Coloration is olive on the back fading to silver with a rosy iridescence on the sides, fading to white on the belly. Fish under 10 pounds (5 kg) show yellowish brown spots on the flanks, somewhat smaller than the spots of the Atlantic Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus maculatus. Its cutting edged teeth are large, uniform, closely spaced and flattened from side to side. These teeth look very similar to those of the bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix.

Distribution and Habitat

The king mackerel is a sub-tropical species of the Atlantic Coast of the Americas. Common in the coastal zone from North Carolina to Brazil, it occurs as far south as Rio de Janeiro, and occasionally as far north as the Gulf of Maine. Nonetheless, a preference for water temperatures in the range of 68 to 85 °F (20 to 29 °C). may limit distribution.King mackerel commonly occur in depths of 40 to 150 feet (12–45 m), where the principal fisheries occur. Larger kings (heavier than 20 lb or 9 kg) often occur inshore, in the mouths of inlets and harbors, and occasionally even at the 600 foot (180 m) depths at the edge of the Gulf Stream.

Life History

Eggs and sperm are shed into the sea and their union is by chance. Depending on size, a female may shed from 50,000 to several million eggs over the spawning season. Fertilized eggs hatch in about 24 hours. The newly hatched larva is about 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) long with a large yolk sack. Little is known about king mackerel in their first year of life. Yearling fish typically attain an average weight of 3 to 4 pounds (1.4–1.8 kg) and a fork length of 25 inches (60 cm). At age seven, females average 21 lb (9.5 kg), males 11 lb (5 kg). King mackerel may attain 90 lb (40 kg), but any over 15 pounds (7 kg) is almost certainly a female.

Feeding Habits
King mackerel are voracious, opportunistic carnivores. Their prey depends on their size. Depending on area and season, they favor menhaden and other sardine-like fish (Clupeidae), jacks (Scombridae), cutlassfish (Trichiuridae), weakfish (Sciaenidae), grunts (Haemulidae), striped anchovies (Engraulidae),Cigar minnows, threadfin,northern mackerel and (blue runners).

Fishing Gear and Methods
King mackerel are among the most sought-after gamefish throughout their range from North Carolina to Texas. They are taken mostly by trolling, using various live and dead baitfish, spoons, jigs and other artificials. Commercial gear consists of run-around gill nets. They are also taken commercially by trolling with large planers, heavy tackle and lures similar to those used by sport fishers. Typically when using live bait, two hooks are tied to a strong metal leader. The first may be a treble or single and is hooked through the live bait's nose and/or mouth. The second hook (treble hook) is placed through the top of the fish's back or allowed to swing free. When trolling for Kings using this method, it is important to make sure the baitfish are swimming properly. Typical tackle includes a conventional or spinning reel capable of holding 400 yards (370 m) of 20 lb (9 kg) test monofilament and a 7 foot (2.1 m), 20 pound (9 kg) class rod.

Chumming

When it comes down to chumming there is no option if you want to catch an abundance and quality sized kingfish.

A little creativity and ingenuity will maximize your efforts to stimulate a kingfish bite. For starters, you can spread chopped baitfish and freshly ground chum a little farther from your boat by tossing it from a homemade launcher made from a mop handle with a 2-liter plastic bottle attached to the tip. Cut off the bottle's bottom, load the chum, and give it a two handed heave. (Live baits can be tossed like this as well).  When anchor fishing you can cover different depths by staggering your chum line. Put one bag on top tied to a side cleat, as well as tying another chum bag onto the anchor line about 20 feet from the chain. Then tie a third chum bag onto a downrigger ball or weight and drop it down half way (this works well when slow trolling for kingfish too). You can also use the wire mesh chum cages they sell at your local tackle shops.

Live bait

I have found that live cigar minnows, mullet, Spanish sardines, pogies, menhaden, greenies, blue runners, goggle-eyes, tinker mackerel, and pinfish seem to all work if your in search of catching big kings. As many old timers say, "When the baits at home, look for the kings".  But, my advise to you is to get an assortment of both live and dead baits and try them all.  Another great technique to really get those kingfish biting is to anchor up current of the kingfish school. If you don't have a great fish finder then just look for the commercial "bugging boats", (those are the guys that have one arm on the tiller and one arm on a fishing line just jigging all day long). These guys will be making tight circles in and around the entire kingfish school. Anyway like I was saying, just anchor up current of the school and then put out your chum and start "live chumming" baits. Stunning the bait in the bait before pitching them works well too, then they hang around the surface fluttering until enticing a nice big king to come up and feed.

Dead bait
Dead drifting baits work well too. My all time favorite king mackerel bait is a rigged dead cutlass fish, also known as ribbonfish or silver eels. These baits are deadly to catching the bigger kings. It's like tossing a piece of candy to a small child, when that bait hits the depth that the kings are cruising get ready because your about to get bent.  We also like to fish dead sardines when drifting for kingfish in tournaments.

Hooks, Wire and Rigging

Now when it comes to fishing for king mackerel your tackle choice is extremely important. I'll try to match the rod, reel, line test, hook, and wire to the size of the bait I'm fishing at that time. For example; the smaller the bait, the lighter the rod and reel, wire and of course the smaller the hook. Drag pressure is also very important when playing out a big kingfish. I've seen many a kingfish get right up to the boat, turn and burn, and the hooks pull due to the angler having too heavy a drag pressure. When it comes to big kingfish, like many lean, slender fish, are not fazed by side pressure, but you can tire them by pulling from above. I usually fish a double hook rig in my live baits. Kingfish like to chop the bait in half, usually taking off the tail. For this I use a "ha-ha rig" (as it's called in the Florida Keys), a second hook dangling near the tail or hooked in the anal fin or underneath near the tail of the bait. If your fishing tournaments the second hook must be inserted somewhere in the bait for it to be a legal catch.