Florida's Coast-to-Coast King Mackerel

All Hail the King! Statewide roundup of kingfish tactics from the Panhandle to Fernandina.

July 31, 2024 By Terry Lacoss

Seasoned mackerel fishermen believe that the rise of kingfishing at John’s Pass in Madeira Beach can be attributed to the legendary saltwater angler, Gene Turner. Turner often fished a mere 75 yards from the mouth of John’s Pass, along nearby beaches, reeling in several smoker-size king mackerel.

He would castnet live baits along the beaches where greenbacks (threadfin herring) and whitebaits (pilchards) were easy to obtain. The famed Gulf Coast boat builder and his son Chris would anchor just offshore from the beaches and begin chumming up larger-than-average-size kings while cutting up small greenbacks with scissors. The pieces of cut bait would create an oily slick, which eventually attracted kingfish to their hooked live baits.

Keeping in mind the stomach of a king mackerel is very small, Turner did not chum heavily. The small chunks were tossed into the water very slowly. Turner would wait until one piece of cut bait had totally vanished in the water column before another piece was tossed into the slick.

closeup of king mackerel — Big king hits the deck. (Photo by Tommy DiMattina)

During tournament season, Gene Turner, Chris, and their longtime friend Bill Miller fished aboard the tournament and charterboat Shikari. They won their first tournament back in 1968 by chumming up a 48-pound kingfish. The annual Suncoast Kingfish Classic is typically held in the fall, where the aggregate category is in memory of Gene Turner. For tournament history, results and information on how to compete, visit suncoastkingfishclassic.com.

Massive schools of king mackerel start migrating from South Florida to the waters of Clearwater and the upper Gulf during the months of March, April and May. In the fall, Gulf Coast stock kingfish begin their migration back to South Florida during September, October and November. This migration pattern explains the excellent kingfishing during both the spring and fall when ravenous macks are attracted to a massive hard bottom just off the beaches of Clearwater Beach and the baitfish-laden shipping channel located a few miles south at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

“The weather really doesn’t matter when targeting kingfish from Clearwater and John’s Pass,” Chris Turner said. “If there is a hard southeast wind, you can find calm waters at the Clearwater hard bottom. If the winds are hard from the northeast, you can find calm waters at the Tampa Bay shipping channel.

“When the new Skyway Bridge was constructed, the old bridge was left in place,” continued Turner. “The old bridge really turned into a kingfish magnet; it holds a lot of baitfish at times.”

Other popular John’s Pass kingfish waters include the 4-mile hump, the Steeples and Egmont channel buoys No. 5 and No. 6. The whistler buoy is also a good bet for attracting kingfish.

Starting in late March when water temperatures reach 68 degrees, Panama City Beach and the surrounding Panhandle waters provide excellent kingfishing. The hot bite continues through mid-November. The Panhandle boasts a variety of kingfish habitats, ranging from 20-foot depths out to 200 feet of water where baitfish are plentiful, holding over live bottoms, sunken wrecks and rock ledges. During the hottest portion of the summer, kayak fishermen launch right from the beach, paddle out just beyond the surf and jig up a few live baits with a sabiki. A small livewell keeps enough baits alive for a fun morning or afternoon on the water.

The Florida Keys also offer world-class king mackerel fishing. In fact, if you’re hoping to land that once-in-a-lifetime king, Key West is the place to be. Several IGFA line class records have been set there, with trophy-size kingfish infiltrating the tropical waters starting in early December and continuing through March.

The Atlantic side of Key West at Sand Key Light, where depths drop from 80 to 200 feet in a short distance, provides some of the best kingfish habitat in the Keys. Following diving birds and staying on baitfish schools marked with your sounder are crucial. Concentrating on the deep sides of the rock ledges is essential for catching sizable kingfish here.

king mackerel gaffed at boat — A quick, confident strike with a long-handled gaff is essential, particularly if the kingfish was hooked on very light hooks, as shown below. Fish are often lost by the boat, due to hooks bending or pulling out.

Chis Cone, stationed in Key West with the U.S. Coast Guard, landed a 78.66-pound kingfish while competing in the 2015 Stock Island Marina Village King Mackerel Tournament in January. He was fishing with his father, Charlie Cone, on their boat, Three of a Kind. The massive kingfish was caught slow-trolling live bait some 40 miles west of Key West where a ledge drops sharply from 40 to 130 feet of water.

Fort Pierce attracts a biomass of South Atlantic king mackerel during the fall, winter and spring. Interestingly, when Rodney Sarh targets SKA-winning kingfish in both Fort Pierce and Port Canaveral, he has enjoyed some of his best action for larger fish in areas where there is not a lot of baitfish showing up on his electronics.

Jacksonville, in Northeast Florida, is by far the most popular kingfish destination in the state. The Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament annually hosts over 300 boats and once showcased over a 1,000-boat fleet. In 1980, a group of Jacksonville businessmen, including John Lowe, Bob Gipson, Walt Murr, and Pete Loftin, decided to establish a fishing tournament. The inaugural kingfish tournament took place in 1981 at Beach Marine.

three king mackerel — These four anglers display solid kings caught in a Northeast Florida tournament.

After a few years, the event shifted to Pablo Creek Marina before eventually relocating to its current site at Sister’s Creek. This new venue provided a significantly larger space to accommodate not only the renowned kingfish tournament but also various other events. Thanks to funding and grants from Florida’s Senator Jim King and the Florida Inland Navigation District, the park, docks, and fishing piers were developed to create a user-friendly site for years to come. Jacksonville Marine Charities holds a long-term lease to operate the facilities.

Senator Jim King also served as the event narrator for many seasons until his passing in July of 2009. Subsequently, the park was renamed Jim King Park & Boat Ramp in his honor. For more information, visit www.kingfishtournament.com.

Live bottom areas along the beaches just south of Jacksonville’s St. Johns River outlet attract world-class king mackerel during the summer. Popular beach kingfish hotspots include the Red Tops, which are condos, with red roofs, Sawgrass, the Desert, the Captain’s House, and the Gate Station, just north of the St. Augustine Inlet. Live bottom located directly off the beaches of Marineland consistently attracts king mackerel when the incoming tide produces ultra-clear conditions.

fishing boat off the beach — Tourists on shore at Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida, undoubtedly have no clue how many big, toothy kings cruise the coast there in the summer.

Key Northeast Florida offshore kingfish waters include FA Reef, which is located some 8 miles southeast of the St. Marys Inlet. A massive area of live bottom is located just 5 miles east of Nassau Sound. If the kings aren’t running there, navigate some 10 miles east to HH fish haven, which always produces a big kingfish bite at high noon.

The Elton Bottom is located some 40 miles east of Mayport and harbors tournament-grade king mackerel, year-round. Depths at the Elton Bottom range from 100 to 120 feet where two major live bottom areas are found. Butch Garvin, a renowned saltwater angler from Jacksonville, played a pivotal role in refining shallow-water kingfishing techniques alongside his wife Linda, establishing themselves as pioneers in the field.

Garvin looked for big kings to begin showing up during late May along the beaches of Northeast Florida, heralding a major migration along Jacksonville beaches and north to the St. Marys Inlet. Clear indicators of kingfish include diving seabirds, clusters of baitfish and active shrimp boats—the latter serving as the most reliable clue for locating smoker kings along the beaches.

Tides are extremely important when fishing the beaches for summer king mackerel in Northeast Florida. Slow-trolling kingfish baits close to the rolling surf during a high incoming tide is key. Not only does the high tide produce clear-water conditions, but baitfish also move close to the beach as well.

saltwater fishing — Tidelines outside inlets are excellent places to target large kingfish, especially in summer. But also some big ones are found out deep in the blue, like the fish being landed to the right.

Ribbonfish, also called cutlassfish, are prime baits when targeting beach kings. However, when slow-trolling menhaden, look for scattered splats on the surface made by larger menhaden before tossing your castnet. Where there are numerous splats on the surface, this typically indicates smaller menhaden. Turbo-size pogies are also prime slow-trolling live baits when targeting large beach kings.

Larger baits always troll faster than smaller ones, which normally spin when they begin to tire. The first live bait deployed is placed in the middle transom rod holder and trolled some 15 feet behind the prop wash. Two more live baits are trolled from T-top rod holders and fished at distances of 30 and 50 feet.

Look for some of the best beach king mackerel fishing to arrive along Florida’s First Coast during the middle of July, when a high tide along the beaches arrives during late morning. Here, fishermen can expect to find several boats trolling baits in a small area of the beach where kings often weigh upward of 50 pounds.

A typical kingfish rod, reel, line, and leader setup begins with a 7-foot trolling or spinning rod with a medium/heavy butt section and fast-action tip. A trolling or spinning reel should hold 200 to 300 yards of 20-pound monofilament. A good drag is a must where a medium-light setting offers a smooth drag when kingfish make that first smoker run.

The double-hook live bait setup is by far the most popular rig when targeting Florida king mackerel. To make a double-hook kingfish leader first attach a 20-pound barrel swivel to your double line (Bimini twist or spider hitch) using a palomar knot. Next, attach a 3-foot section of No. 3 coffee-colored piano wire to the other side of the barrel swivel using a haywire twist. At the end of that wire leader haywire a 6/0 VMC #7265 live bait hook. Next, a second live bait hook is haywire-twisted to the eye of the nose hook using a short length of No. 4 wire. The length of the stinger wire is adjusted so that the second hook can be embedded into the back of fish, just behind the dorsal fin and in front of the tail.

live bait for king mackerel fishing — A stinger-rigged goggle-eye is a strong, hard-swimming bait.

Kingfish exhibit a consistent behavior pattern, often revisiting the same locations year after year during their annual migration along the coastline. Keeping a record of successful conditions from previous seasons is a valuable trade secret among smoker specialists. Key factors to observe include depth, location, water clarity, water and air temperatures, type of bait and lunar phases. The regulations for kingfish stipulate a two-fish bag limit per angler per day in Atlantic waters, three-fish per angler in the Gulf, with each kingfish required to measure at least 24 inches to the fork of the tail.