TREASURE ISLAND — Kingfish have a one-track mind. Find food. Eat food. Repeat.
They are constantly on the lookout for baitfish. When their prey move up and down the gulf coast, the kingfish follow. This time of year they can be caught just offshore or out in the deeper central Gulf of Mexico waters.
As a sport fish, kingfish are right up there with some of the best. A member of the mackerel family, they can exceed 60 pounds and rip line off a reel in no time flat.
"They are eating machines," said Ryan Farner, a local fishing captain and tournament director of the Suncoast Kingfish Classic. "And they skyrocket right out of the water with the bait in their mouths. They make big, long, fiery runs. It's an awesome fish."'
The Suncoast Kingfish Classic started in 1991. There were no other such tournaments around at that time, according to Sid Rice, a Treasure Island native whose father moved to the area in the late 1940s.
In fact, kingfish weren't really a popular sport fish in those days. And as for eating, there are many other species preferred by the public. But kingfish is especially tasty smoked or in fish spread.
Rice, 65, decided it would be a good idea to have a tournament targeting kingfish. So in November of 1991 the tournament was born.
"We did the tournament over five days back then not thinking we would catch any kingfish," Rice said. "Nobody had been targeting them. But by the third day, if you didn't have a 35-pounder you weren't in the top 20. We weighed in 15,000 pounds of kingfish in that first one. That was the birth of the Suncoast Kingfish Classic."
Where to go
Where fish are biting is usually a closely kept secret. Not so much with kingfish. There are certain well-known places from the North Suncoast down to Venice. And a dead giveaway is when birds are diving into pods of bait fish.
Farner named the hot spots that will surely be targeted during the tournament:
Clearwater hard bottom, Redington Long Pier, John's Pass pocket (area just offshore to the Redington Pier), Blind Pass (off St. Pete Beach), the Drop (just off Blind Pass), the parking lot (off St. Pete Beach), the 90-foot hole off Egmont Key, Egmont shipping channel (the ditch), the Sunshine Skyway bridge, Long Boat Key, Venice.
What to use
It is important to use the same bait kingfish are feeding on. The bait inshore will be different than the bait offshore. The most common live baits inshore are ladyfish, Spanish mackerel, bonita, shad and mullet. Offshore baits are typically Spanish sardines, threadfins, cigar minnows and blue runners.
Mackerel live a very short time after being caught, so if they are used for bait they must be put right back into the water. Ladyfish can last longer, as long as you don't touch the slime on their bodies and put them right in the bait well.
It's important to know that bait caught inshore should be used inshore and vice versa. Kingfish are hungry, but they aren't going to strike a bait that isn't natural to the fish they are chasing.
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Explore all your options"You have to match the hatch,'' Farner said. "That means whatever is in the bay right now feeding on the smaller bait fish. That's Spanish mackerel and ladyfish and little bonita. So we catch them and put them right back out. The kingfish are eating that, not the smaller bait fish. It's dog eat dog.
"You don't want to take a blue runner or a cigar minnow and fish it in the bay. The fish inshore are eating something different. And if you took that inshore bait 30 miles offshore to fish a wreck, those fish aren't even going to know what it is. Bait is key."