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OK boys, this is the deal. I'm putting Guam to my back and heading back to beautiful South Carolina. The problem is that I have spent hundreds of dollars on lures such as Yozuri Bonito's, Braid speedsters, etc............ for wahoo fishing here in Guam. I don't have a boat big enough to get to the blue water back home in SC. Here, you can catch wahoo and tuna 200 yards off the coast. My question is, will they work for king mackeral? I've always slow trolled live menhaden for kings, but, i've never tried artificial baits for them. I know they probably work, but do they work as good as live bait? If they don't, it's not worth the time being that catching live bait back home is like stealing candy from a baby. Hit me up boys, let me know what's the dealio.
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Those mackeral will chase about anything. The Speedsters should continue to work for them also. I find that on the west coast, that we can use natural and artificial baits our macks. The best bait overall is to use "Mackeral" meat. Those little guys are even cannibals.[shocked]
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What you're saying makes alot of sense, and I never doughted the reliability of artifitials on kings. However, trolling lures is a more in depth process than just slapping one on and rockin' it. What is an ideal trolling speed when targeting Kings? What about color selection? I know wahoo can be hooked at trolling speeds of well in excess of 15 knotts. Purple and black, or red and black work superiorly, and you need to stay within 100-500 feet of water. I prefer 200-300 feet. Even though Wahoo and kings are similar, they are two completely different monsters, and that said, the tactics involved in targeting the different species will be different. My thoughts are this: A king Mackeral is a very strong and quick fish, similar to Wahoo, but not quite as fast and explosive. I'm thinking if you're trolling over 8 or 9 knotts, you're probably going too fast. The purple and red would probably work, but since you're slowing down the speed a bit, you could probably use the silver or blue, a little "bling bling" you know, and be fine. Of course, when you slow down the trolling speed, the fish can contrast the lure a hell of alot better, thus using a more detailed lure would probably be the best bet. All of the fish in the mackeral species have excellent vision, hints the reason they can accurately pursue prey at extreme high speeds. I know Menhaden are the prefered bait fish on the east coast, so i'd try to match my lure colors and shape to that. What i'm not too shure about is the prefered depth of water and prefered water temps. Two VERY important factors. Or, should I just use the same ethics as when I use live bait? Or, just stick with live bait all together? Which is more effective, live bait or lures? I know Lures are more effective for Wahoo, but since you don't go anywhere near that speed for kings, would it be better to just stick with the live bait?
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