If you jerk the rod with a king on the hook, you are very likely to tear the hook out of the fish's mouth , and you will never see him. Simply crank the reel handle to retrieve line as you smoothly and gently lower the rod tip to about forty five degrees from the vertical, keeping the rod bent at all times. Now stop reeling as you smoothly and gently straighten up and bring the rod back up to vertical. Bonita, barracuda, cobia, shark, and other species also like 68 to 70 degree water, and they bite the same way. No matter what fish you catch, I guarantee that you will have a good time catching it, so either release it or put it in the box for dinner, and continue trolling for kings around the bait schools.
King mackerel are delicious when prepared fresh.
They have an oily flesh like Spanish mackerel and blue fish, but if grilled or broiled fresh, with some nice seafood seasoning, they are delicious. They also make a fantastic smoked fish spread. All original content on this site, Copyright 2000, Captain Charles Walker. Do not reproduce or distribute in any form without written permission from the author.