The search for Australia’s Greatest Fish: Yellowtail kingfish

There’s a lot to like about yellowtail kingfish. They are found in waters from south-east Queensland, right the way around the bottom of the country, and a fair way up the west coast. They are a very popular angling target and for good reason; you sure do know when you’ve got one on!

As the video shows, being bent over by a big kingfish is what makes these things so special!

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You instantly know you’ve got one on as they have power like few other fish, and the fight continues right till the moment you’ve landed it.

Not only that, they look great and taste pretty good.

Yellowtail kingfish is accessible for most anglers in the bottom half of the country. They are most commonly targeted on offshore reefs, but will also live around rocky headlands, or where there is current.

One key for finding kingfish is to find a spot with a lot of current. You can catch them off the rocks, or even off some jetties and they will come right up into estuary systems. They are greedy, so if you can find the bait, you can find the kings.

The other thing kingfish likes to hang around is structure. Bridges, pylons, even big floating bits of kelp on the surface can hold them.

The simplest way to catch a kingfish is on a lure. You can jig it, troll it or cast and retrieve it. Kings will eat a range of lures from surface stickbaits to big, heavy jigs dropped on deep offshore reefs.

Let’s start with the simplest method, casting and retrieving little metal slice lures.

It’s best to fish these around rocky headlands or shallow reefs. You can spin off the rocks or in a boat.

A fast retrieve works best. Sometimes you’ll see kingfish busting the surface feeding – this is the perfect time to cast and retrieve little lures.

Jigging for kingfish is all about using your sounder to find them.

Not many of us are fit enough to jig for hours on end, so if you are going to put yourself through the pain of an erratic jigging motion, make sure you are dropping your jig onto fish.

Use the smallest jig that can to get you to the bottom. Braid line helps with both keeping in contact with the jig and also with extracting the fish from the reef when you hook up.

Fishing surface lures for kingfish is a dark art but well worth the reward. The biggest tip we can give is get up early; the best bites on the surface come at first light.

Work areas with plenty of bait and hang on!

Lures do work some of the time, and usually when the kingfish are in a feeding mood. But bait is better at getting a bite. And the key is live bait or fresh bait.

When targeting kingfish in Sydney Harbour, for example, we wouldn’t even start fishing until we caught enough fresh squid that morning.

Sometimes it took hours to get enough bait together, but that’s how important it was to get super-fresh squid. Sure enough, it out-fished older bait 10 to 1.

The simplest rig for catching kingfish on bait is a running sinker rig.

As with jigging, only use enough lead to get you down to where you think the fish are. If you are live baiting, use circle hooks and wait for the kingfish to eat the bait and hook itself.

Again, if you are in a boat a sounder is key, as schools of kingfish will light up the screen.

One of the deadliest ways of catching kings, especially the big ones, is slow-trolling a live squid or live bait.

You can slow-troll it on a running sinker rig with a lot of lead, or ideally use a downrigger to get the bait in the fish’s face. When you slow troll, you can let the fish hook themselves.

Now let’s see how they rate:

Kingfish, are not the easiest fish to hook and land, but they are accessible in the whole southern part of Australia.

You do have to target them with fresh bait and appropriate tackle. Sometimes, when they are in a feeding mood, you can catch them on anything.

However, most of the time they take some targeting.

Gearing up for kingfish required fairly heavy and robust tackle. A rod and reel with at least 15kg braid line is probably the minimum, and in most cases people will use big spin reels spooled with 24kg or heavier line.

This is because kings fight dirty – even the little ones and will require some stopping.

Score: 6 out of 10

Yellowtail kingfish fight as well as any fish in the ocean. They are powerful no matter the size.

Some fight dirty by trying to bust you off on a reef, and they will fight all the way into the boat. If that doesn’t give them a top score for fighting, we don’t know what does.

Score: 10 out of 10

Yellowtail kingfish look pretty damn fine with that striking yellow tail, a green back and the silver sides.

A photo of you and a kingfish definitely is one for the pool room.

Score: 8 out of 10

Now, this is interesting. It seems to us that the colder the water the kingfish comes from, the better it is to eat.

Fish from north of the Queensland border, for example, can be a bit mushy, whereas fish from the south are firm and brilliant, particularly for sushi … the best way to eat one.

Score: 6 out of 10

There’s a lot going for yellowtail kingfish from the keen fisher’s point of view.

Yellowtail kingfish soars right to the top of the Australia’s Greatest Fish scoreboard with a solid 30 out of 40.

Next time on Australia’s Greatest Fish: The ghost of the beach – the mighty mulloway.

The latest season of Hook, Line and Sinker airs each Sunday on 7Mate. Check your state's fisheries website for bag and size limits, and closed seasons.