4WD Touring Australia – June 2018

068 | 4WDTouringAustralia

While kingsh specialists can manufacture encounters with these titans

almost year round, they really become a viable target for the angling

masses from late spring through summer and autumn.

When the East Australia Current starts pulsing down the eastern

seaboard in late spring, the masses of baitsh that turn up in the hot inshore

current herald the start of the season proper.

Kings are not particularly fussy feeders and will happily dine on yellowtail

scad, slimy mackerel, pilchards, gars, whitebait or any other baitsh that

presents an easy feed.

The majority of the kings on offer at the start of each season are ‘rats’ –

mostly undersize juvenile sh in the 50-70cm range.

Most of these young kings are underfed and quite slender. As the season

progresses and the schools of kingsh gorge on masses of baitsh, their

average size and condition improves rapidly.

Through the autumn months it’s not uncommon for the average size of

schooling kingsh in many areas to be up around 80cm and many of these

sh will be in great condition.

Kingsh are capable of growing to huge proportions in the right

environments. Fish well over a metre long weighing over 20kg are caught

each season, although these larger sh generally patrol deeper offshore

waters.

Record specimen weighing over 40kg are known to turn up in a few

select locations, although most anglers never encounter beasts of this size.

KINGIE SEASON

When targeting kingsh from the shore, the most effective techniques

are spinning lures or pre-rigged dead garsh, and presenting livebaits

under a oat or balloon.

Smaller kings can be fooled quite simply using articial lures like metal

slices, stickbaits, soft plastics and poppers. The key to catching good

numbers of kings on lures is to target them from prominent headlands in

deep water at dawn and dusk.

Picking a spot that holds plenty of baitsh is a good starting point, as

kings will likely already be in the area, with the bait schools acting as burley.

Metal slices weighing 40-65 grams are a good starting point when targeting

smaller ‘rat’ kings.

Big soft plastics and stickbaits can sometimes tempt better sized models,

while oversized poppers are the lure of choice for those trying to connect

to huge kingsh.

Fresh garsh rigged on ganged hooks can be spun in a similar manner

and offer a consistent alternative to articials. Lure-shy sh often can’t resist

smashing a seductively swum gar.

You want to use large gars at least 20cm long, rigged on 4-5 ganged

hooks or a pair of snelled livebait hooks. Only the freshest garsh will

get a look-in from fussy kings, so make sure to catch your garsh fresh or

purchase food grade gars from your local sh market and keep them in

excellent condition.

The most effective technique for targeting the biggest kingsh is to

present a livebait underneath a oat or balloon. Live yellowtail, garsh or

slimy mackerel are top-notch baits and will attract hits from kingsh of all

sizes. A live squid is the supreme bait in many instances.

If you’re only targeting the biggest kingsh, a live frigate mackerel is the

way to go. These sh are caught on site by spinning small metal slices and

often weigh up to a kilogram.

They’re simply too large of a meal for most average sized kings, but

they’re the go-to bait for record hunters.

TACTICS