King for a day

Catch more king mackerel with these tips

Having recently earned his captain’s license, Capt. Robert Connelly is just now hanging out his metaphoric “Open for business” shingle as Sea Bear Charters (910-231-9283) aboard his twin-diesel engine, 28-foot Luhrs. The Hampstead resident has been fishing the southeastern North Carolina coast since he was a toddler and learned from his father, Ned Connelly, and lived in Wilmington.

“I have been fishing since I was old enough to remember,” Connelly said. “I was on a boat before I could hold a rod. We caught just about every fish there is to catch. But I really enjoy fishing for king mackerel, especially tournament fishing.”

As testimony to that fact, he was fishing aboard Capt. Will Bridges’ Boat, JAMAICAN ME CRAZY, when the pair of anglers won the Jolly Mon king mackerel tournament out of the Ocean Isle Beach Fishing Center, not once, but two years in a row in 2021 and 2022. 

“I fish a lot of king mackerel tournaments, but I also like fun fishing for kings, whether it is associated with a tournament or not,” Connelly said. “We do a lot of pre-fishing ahead of the tournaments and I really like fishing in September. Bait is easy to catch, the weather and water are getting cooler, and king mackerel like going in and out of the cooler and warmer water temperatures.”

Hit the reefs

Connelly studies sea water surface temperature charts before heading offshore. He also checks maps of manmade structure areas and other good fishing spots like live bottoms and ledges he has plotted into his GPS.

“If you want to catch kings, it’s hard to beat the artificial reefs because they are put there to attract game fish,” he said. “If I am fishing out of Hampstead or Wrightsville Beach, I want to try AR 372 (5-mile Boxcars), AR 376 (10-mile Boxcars) AR 382 (Dredge Wreck) and AR 386 (Lennon/Hyde). Which one I pick depends upon what the sea water temperatures look like and whether I can get there under the weather conditions. I want to fish a reef at a temperature break, where the lines stack tightly together like a wall to concentrate the bait at the structure.”

He picks spots that line up like a kid’s dot-to-dot puzzle. The closest spot that has a temperature break is the one he hits first, then he works his way out.

“Kings are going to be feeding from close to shore, to well offshore in September. But if you hit the right combination of temperature and structure, the first strike won’t take long,” he said. “If we are only fun fishing, we might stick with a spot that has lots of schooling kings. But, if we are pre-fishing ahead of a tournament, or fishing in a tournament, that’s a different kettle of fish. I get out of those small fish to keep from wasting fishing time, and move to another area.”

However, he said moving to another spot is always a gamble. There may be no kings at the next structure area. Still, he soaks his bait for 30 minutes if he sees bait nearby on the screen, and if temperatures are in the 70-degree range.

“Typically, in September, we don’t find schools of big kings running like they do in the winter when the water is colder,” he said. “We are usually looking for that big tournament winner hanging out alone.  The bad thing is, we might catch the big one while we are pre-fishing. Then he’s not going to be there the day of the tournament. But it also means you have found the right spot to catch a big king, so we will try to catch another one there on the day of the tournament.”

Pick your day

Weather plays a huge role in success. A tournament is usually fished as captain’s choice, with one fishing day selected for the weekend. But certain tournaments allow fishing both days.

“If it’s captain’s choice, we try to pick the best day for fishing weather,” he said. “The kings actually prefer stormy weather, but anglers, not so much. I want a day that has a little ripple on the water, hopefully with a wind of less than 10 miles per hour. Then we can just put the baits out and start trolling when we get on top of the structure. I troll around the structure with just enough throttle to keep the lines tight. Too much tension on the line drags the baits and they won’t swim naturally. When it gets windy, I try to go into the wind to hit my number (structure location on the GPS) and go past it a little. Then I drift back, giving the engine just enough throttle to keep the bow into the wind and waves. I let the wind push the boat back over the structure until I see the bait showing on the screen again. If I don’t get a strike, I head upwind and do the same thing all over again until I do.”

Connelly typically runs four rods. His favorite rigs are Neuse Sport Shop Live bait rods with Shimano TLD15 reels filled with 20-pound monofilament line. The leader is seven-strand or solid wire, usually No. 5, with two 4x strong trebles tied about 6 inches apart, more or less, depending upon the size of the bait. He occasionally adds a Sea Witch or other style trolling skirt ahead of the bait, with white, red/black and any chartreuse combination of colors. 

“I run one long line down the middle, one line in the propwash and two short lines on the sides,” he said. “The reel drags are set just heavy enough to keep the bait from pulling the line and making the clicker sing.”

Be ready

If the fish are deep, he runs a downrigger with a fifth line. He goes with an 8-pound ball to keep the downrigger line and bait close to the boat so they don’t interfere with the other lines.

“I set the downrigger line at the depth I see bait schooling, or at half the distance to the bottom if the bait is showing from the top to the bottom. The release clip tension is as light as possible, but not so light that a change in boat speed or a swell can pop it free.”

If all goes according to plan, a big king mackerel strikes. The hookup is solid and the fish runs off a hundred yards or more of line, making the reel scream.

“Everybody knows what they are going to do before the strike,” he said. “The rod man picks up the rod and moves to the bow to fight the fish. I am usually driving the boat. If a third angler is along, he moves rods and lines out of the way and watches for the fish to show. I am turning the boat into the fish, circling it left or right. I am coordinating with the rod man in the bow as we try to keep the fish near the bow so the line doesn’t get wrapped in the engine.”

The goal is slowly closing the distance between angler and fish until the fish is exhausted enough to be landed. The line must be reeled and pumped smoothly by the angler, and released smoothly by the drag when the fish runs, to prevent the hooks from pulling free. That’s because they may be only lightly embedded in the skin and not in the gills or jaws. The fight usually takes 10 to 40 minutes, depending on how frisky the fish is, the fish’s size, and where the fish is hooked. A fish hooked in the dorsal fin or flank can run forever. One that has swallowed the hooks may come to the boat in a handful of minutes.

“When the king is close enough, I hand off the wheel to the third angler or put the engine into idle if it’s only me and the angler. Either way, I grab the gaff and look for a good shot,” he said. “Ideally, I strike the king just behind the head because that makes the fish easy to haul aboard and handle, and it doesn’t penetrate an area that would result in heavy bleeding and cause weight loss. Then we put it inside a fish bag filled with ice. If it looks like a potential winner weighing 35 pounds or more, we might head for the weigh station right then. But, if we’re having a good day with plenty of fishing time left and feel confident there’s a bigger fish there, we might stay. It’s a gamble. Strategy can save you ounces or cost you ounces. And a single ounce can make you or break you at the scales.” 

Catching bait

“I want a livewell full of big, fresh, frisky, menhaden,” Connelly said. “I also use bluefish if I can catch them when I am catching menhaden. I don’t use ribbonfish, squid, cigar minnows or any of those alternative baits some tournament anglers swear by.

Menhaden go by other names, including pogy, mossbunkers or bunker. The shiny, slick fish form huge schools as they migrate through the coastal waters of the Carolinas in September. He uses a 12-foot cast net to catch them.

“A guy who is good with a cast net can get an invitation to fish for kings, anytime,” he said. “I use a Betts because it has heavy weights to get down to the fish fast. It takes practice to throw the net correctly, especially from a bobbing bow.”

He is on the water as early as possible in accordance with tournament rules, looking for baitfish in the ICW and inlets. Clues to menhaden schools include birds diving, dolphins finning, and boats lined up with anglers holding or throwing cast nets. He shares information with other captains who share information with him. The best sign is actually seeing menhaden flipping at the surface. If they are scattered, he shuts off the engine and listens for a flip.

“If I can’t find bait inside, I try the ocean,” he said. “But it has to be calm enough so you can see them to be able to catch them in the deeper water.”

Despite his dependence on menhaden, he keeps Sabiki rigs aboard along with a spinning rod for using them. Menhaden are fragile. If the livewell pumps die, so do they. Baitfish such as cigar minnows can be jigged with the multiple-hook Sabiki rig from the same offshore structures where king mackerel lurk. The baitfish are, after all, the reason the kings are there.