Adults are heavy bodied, with large mouth and razor teeth. Elongated body is greenish above but mostly silvery and unmarked, except in juveniles, which have spots.
School fish may run from 4 to around 20 pounds; individuals to 50 pounds, or slightly more, are not rare. Potential is from 75 to possibly 100 pounds. World record 93 pounds; Florida record 90 pounds.
Depends on taste of the individual. Flesh is rich and oily. Fine broiled or smoked.
Kings are about as fast as Wahoo, although they seldom get that acknowledgment. Re-gardless, they are strong and sizzling fighters at any size.
Trollers generally choose ocean outfits with lines testing from 20-40 pounds, but kings of all sizes can be caught on spinning, baitcasting and even fly tackle. Spoons trolled behind planers are good, as are rigged Cigar Minnows and feather-minnow combinations. Fishing with Pilchards as both chum and live bait could be the most productive system of all, but drifting with rigged baits, strips or live baits, including live shrimp, is effective too. For casters, spoons and nylon jigs usually work best. Fly rodders do well with shiny flies on sinking lines.
Drifting; Trolling; Still Fishing.
All Florida coasts; also the Bahamas and Greater Antilles, but not in such great quantity.
In the Bahamas, around reef dropoffs. In Florida, widely distributed from the edge of blue water all the way to the beaches. Runs of schooling fish occur on both coasts in spring and fall, with action possible throughout the summer in North and Central Florida and, throughout the winter in Southeast Florida and the Keys. The runs take place, usually, in water from 20 to 100 feet deep, which is fairly close to shore along the Southeast Coast; farther out elsewhere. The very biggest fish, however, are often hooked very close in and are referred to as “Beachcombers.”
King Me
Young angler shows off a nice kingfish.
Big Mack
Forum member piner_wahoo and friend got into some big fish in the keys on his flats boat.
King Me
Forum member youngguns2 with a smoker kingfish caught off of Tavernier on a live goggle eye.
Kings for All
Forum member Jfenn10 and team put a hurtin' on the kingfish recently while fishing the Bigdog Fatcat tournament.
Epic Day
Forum member clarosa and friends had an awesome day out of Tampa, limiting out on snapper, and catching other nice fish as well.
SUP Kingfish
Brandon Ingalls with a nice Kingfish he caught on his paddle board while trolling the shores of Greyton Beach.
Yaked Kingfish
Clayton Mays with a nice Kingfish he caught on his kayak while trolling the shores of Greyton Beach.
52 pound Kingfish
Florida Sportsman Forum Member Panhandler80 with this massive King of a fish.
Smoker of a Kingfish
Monster kingfish caught with West Central 4caster Capt. Ray Markham, Capt. Dave Mistretta, and Diane Martilez. This King of a fish tipped the scales at 66.8-pounds.
Jupiter Double D's King
Forum member Jupiter Double D's got out and popped this nice 30 pound king on the troll.
Jordan's Kingfish
Jordan, with her first kingfish, caught on a live pilchard off bakers haulover.
Cayman King
Cayman caught this smoker king fish out of cedar key using a live pinfish in the chum slick.
Smoker Kingfish
Josh Brown caught this smoker king while catching grouper off of Anna Maria Island.
Team Three Bouys
Two of the near 30 pound kings caught by team Three Bouys in the Mark Gerretson Memorial tournament
Bahamas Bottom fishing
Its always a great day of bottom fishing when your in the Bahamas; Trent Slattery and friends can adhere to that for sure. Trent is shown here holding a nice Cubera Snapper, Jimmy Keyes with a good kingfish, Taylor Pankey with the yellowtail snapper used for bait, and Isaac Ford enjoying the day.
1st Place King
FS member dscherz captained his two sons to this 41.4 pound kingfish in the 2013 Palm Beach County KDW Classic. The king was caught high speed trolling and won first place.
King Mackerel
This kingfish is shown here being pulled in after a long and dreadful fight using a buckhead jig offshore.
Smoker King
A Kingfish ready for the smoker that was caught offshore using live bait.
Kingfish
Nice Kingfish for the smoker.
King of Kings
Aaron Hearn caught this king mackerel 3.5 miles off the St. Lucie inlet; it weighed in at 65-70 lbs.
King Mackerel
Florida Sportsman member, Double Threat, caught this king mackerel and three others during a fishing trip with friends.
Choppy Wins it all
I have been fishing in South Florida since I was a kid but we started fishing the local tournaments a few years ago. The boys have done very well as Jr anglers. We have had several top 2 and top 3 finishes but we have never won it all. Well, we finally did it. I posted a little overview on the SE forum titled KDW Classic Team Choppy. 1st place overall biggest fish, 3rd place Jr angler and 5th place Jr angler. From left to right: Bob Dees, Butch Demaline, Capt. Chris Perry, Jett Perry and Chase Perry. We live in Lake Worth and fish a 25 Contender "Choppy". Chris Perry
Chris's 47lb Kingfish
Chris Hoffman caught his 47 pound kingfish in Key West off of a live blue runner.
Mother's Day Mackerel
Fishing off the coast of Sarasota, FL. Cathy Lee Neubauer caught this kingfish 10 miles out using live bait.
Quintero Family
The ladies of the Quintero family show off their kingfish and snapper catches after a good day on the water.
King Mackerel
Jennifer holds up her kingfish, caught off Fort. Pierce.
Kingfish Party
This king is getting quite its share of attention.
Fort Pierce King
What about this kingfish catch wouldn't make you smile? A stud for the box, but it doesn't look like there is much room!
Marissa's Mackerel
Marissa caught this kingfish off Miami Beach while home for the holidays from Georgia Tech.
Someone's Hungry
Lady angler shows off a nice kingfish, while a suspect in the background looks ready to have some red grouper for lunch.
Jupiter King Mackerel
Lindsay caught this kingfish while fishing off of Jupiter Inlet.
Kingfish
Kingfish on light tackle spinning gear.
Eric's Kingfish
Eric caught this fun sized kingfish while trolling on what looks like a bit of a choppy afternoon.
Andrew's Kingfish
Andrew and his dad were fishing in a 19 foot deep hole off the Wacassassa Reefs and caught their kingfish with cut mullet.
Cobia and Kings
Florida Sportsman member thecollegekid had a great day offshore with cobia and kingfish on display.
King Mackerel
FS Member Cooney's Fishin' FL posted this kingfish from off Pensacola.
St. George Kingfish
FS Member Circle-Hook posted this kingfish photo from off St. George Island.
Jacksonville Kingfish
FS Member elpolloloco caught this kingfish near Jax.
West Central Kingfish
FS Member jewfish7 posted this smoker kingfish from the "Pipeline".
Tampa Kingfish
FS Member timbo615 posted this kingfish from off Tampa.
Dolphin and King Combo
FS Member ACME Ventures Fishing posted this kingfish/dolphin batch from off PC.
PC Kingfish
FS Member ACME Ventures Fishing posted this kingfish from off PC.
Kingfish Triple
Member ACME Ventures Fishing posted this kingfish triple photo from off PC.
Boynton Beach Kingfish
Florida Sportsman member LethalJared posted this kingfish caught from off of Boynton Beach.
Key West Kingfish
FS Member Got TA Go posted this kingfish catch from off Key West.
Summerland Key Kingfish
FS Member rapchizzle posted this kingfish photo, from off Summerland Key.
Tuna, Dolphin and Kingfish
FS Member JimboT posted this mixed bag of tuna, dolphin and kingfish, caught off Key West.
Huge Jupiter Kingfish
Florida Sportsman member Stetson Law posted this large kingfish photo from off Jupiter.
10,000 Islands Kingfish
FS Member tg caught this kingfish offshore from the 10,000 Islands.
Naples Kingfish
November 7, 2011. Team Top Down landed these two kingfish to place them in first in the small boat class of the 2011 Naples KMT.
Panama City Bounty
FS Member Panhandler80 posted this large mixed bag of grouper, kingfish and jacks from Panama City.
Kingfish Hug
Sometimes a hug is needed to handle oversize kingfish.
Kingfish
Kingfish of this size draw plenty of attention at the docks.
Great King!
The king of mackerels are a fun catch for offshore livebait fishermen.
