Solid Kingfish Bite on The Edge

The summer months of Miami are known for one of the best kingfish bites of the year.  While luring these fish to the hook can be tricky, we’ve managed to stay on top of them for several trips.  Kingfish are extremely aggressive feeders when the conditions are right and with an ample supply of live bait, we’ve been boating a few nice specimens in the 10 to 15lb range.  The key to catching kingfish in Miami is to fish the entire water column until you locate a school, then focus on working that depth consistently.

Kingfish tend to roam between 90′ of water and 160′ of water, but we’ve been catching them in almost every depth you can imagine shy of 200′.  For the most part, our midwater and bottom rods have been getting hammered by decent kingfish.  Cigar minnows has been the bait of choice, and fortunately it’s in ready supply.  While a few of our kingfish bites have come on the flat lines, we’ve been focusing on fishing deeper as the water temperature heats up.

The vast number of wrecks off Key Biscayne have really been the ticket for us.  The “county wrecks” are one of the most popular fishing areas in all of Miami, FL – primarily because the structure holds lots and lots of baitfish.  When flat lining, it’s common to see large schools of blue runners on the sounder as we make our way from wreck to wreck.  While we’ve had to battle swarms of bonitas to find the kings, it’s steady action out there and enough to keep our customers happy.

The kingfish bite has been best first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. We’ve been fishing the edge most mornings then working our way offshore if time allows to look for schools of mahi-mahi. As we move later into the summer, it will be important to find good current, which changes nearly every day.  When the current is strong, the kingfish bite really heats up! We’ve even had a few late season sailfish make an appearance which is always an awesome experience!  While it’s certainly far from prime time sailfish season, it’s clear there’s a few resident fish which are sticking to the structure during the summer months!