Alabama’s Target-Rich Mackerel Waters
Places to Catch King Mackerel
Editor’s
Note: Anglers on the Gulf Coast will find a target-rich
environment there for hunting big kingfish. The State
of Alabama has the largest artificial reef-building
program in the nation, and many of these reefs have
big king mackerel swarming over them. The Department
of Conservation's Marine Resources Division has charted
hundreds of public reefs with Loran coordinates and
DGPS coordinates at www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/tides-weather/.
You also can pull down maps of the area at this site.
For each public reef you pinpoint on the map, three
to 10 unmarked and unnamed reefs may exist within the
designated reef-building area. The state permits individuals
to carry reef material out to the reef-building zone
and deploy that material without having to tell anyone
the exact location. When you’re fishing for king
mackerel, keep your depth finder on, and search for
hidden reefs as you go back and forth to the reefs you
plan to fish. Artificial reefs attract baitfish that
will draw in big king
mackerel. Generally the bigger reefs will attract the
larger mackerel. However, anglers may locate big-king
honey holes on the many small reefs that most fishermen
will overlook.
Anyone hoping to locate kingfish on the Gulf Coast
won’t have far to look because of the amount of
structure in the water and the area's plentiful king
mackerel. However, they will have a hard task pinpointing
where the biggest kings live. Many anglers will bet
on the big reefs like the battleships, the tanks, the
bridge rubble and other well-known public reefs. Probably
some fishermen can't resist the lure of the gas-and-oil
rigs just out of the mouth of Mobile Bay near Fort Morgan.
These big structures will attract many baitfish and
king mackerel. If you believe you must catch numbers
of kings to discover that one big mackerel, then you
may want to concentrate your fishing on these sites.
Try the slow-trolling tactic – often used in
deeper water to take bigger kings. When you fish using
this trolling strategy, have your motor running as slowly
as possible. Put the motor in gear, and then take it
out of gear as you attempt to move the boat slowly across
the region you want to fish. When utilizing this fishing
technique for really-big kings, put out two fly lines
and two downrigger lines. Rig the baits the same way
as for fly-pole fishing. Leave 10 to 15 feet of line
coming from the downrigger ball clipped to the bait.
You want the bait well behind the downrigger. Then when
the king mackerel attacks the bait on the downrigger,
the line will pop out of the clothes-pin-like clip that
holds it close to the ball on the downrigger, which
enables the angler to fight the king mackerel in open
water uninhibited by the downrigger ball. The hit-and-run
anglers also will have numerous targets. Small isolated
reefs that you locate out in the permit zone that
aren't on any charts or maps may home fewer kingfish
on them. But, if you fish enough of these smaller reefs,
you may surprise a really big king on a reef that receives
less fishing pressure. Regardless of which tactic you
choose, you never can fish all the reefs in the permit
zones. But if you like to catch king mackerel, you'll
catch them in the target-rich waters.
For more information on the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention
and Visitors Bureau, visit www.gulfshores.com,
or call 800-745-SAND.
To learn more about fishing the Gulf Coast, contact
the Orange Beach Fishing Association at 251-981-2300,
or visit www.gulffishing.net.
Tomorrow: Kings of the Night
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