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Outdoors

Diving birds will lead you to frenzied king schools

By ED WALKER
Published April 16, 2005

The big news this week has been the long-awaited arrival of migrating kingfish.

While they are several weeks behind their normal schedule, they're here in force now.

Scattered pods and solitary smokers have been encountered from 15 feet of water out to 100-plus feet. The largest concentration has been at 45-50 feet west of the Hudson and Hernando Beach area.

Earlier this week, giant schools of baitfish were found being assaulted by frenzied kingfish in this location. Large diving birds, gannets, have been the key to initially finding the most active spots.

The gannets can go as deep as 30 feet to grab a threadfin or Spanish sardine from a baitpod. These shoals are a primary food source for the marauding kings, and the two often are found gobbling up the unfortunate minnows.

Blake and Cary Gaylord and Kirk Kirkconell discovered one such area last Saturday off Hernando.

"As we were running, we could see lots of gannets diving up ahead," Blake Gaylord said. "When we got closer, we could see kingfish from 12 to at least 25 pounds skyrocketing into the air chasing the baitfish.

"I bet we saw at least 25 free jumpers in that one area alone," he said. "I've never seen so many kings out here." Slow trolling live baits is the standard method for targeting big kings. But when the schools are aggressively feeding, simply casting a live bait in the direction of the jumping fish works just fine. Spanish mackerel and bonito will join the fray to get their share of the baitfish buffet.

When targeting the biggest kings, extra-large baits such as big blue runners and small Spanish mackerel will help keep away snake kings. TITLE ON THE LINE: The Florida State Freedive Championship is scheduled for April 23 out of the Bayport boat ramp on the Weeki Wachee River.

The state's top spearfishermen will be heading out early in the morning and returning to weigh their catch later in the afternoon. The overall winner is determined by total points for a daily aggregate consisting of a combination of 5 grouper, 5 mangrove snapper, 5 hogfish, 10 sheepshead and 1 cobia or amberjack. No more that 20 fish are allowed to be entered per diver. Each fish is awarded one point, plus another per pound, with a 21-point maximum per fish. Last year, in addition to grouper, sheepshead, hogfish, snapper and triggerfish, several divers returned with big cobia. This time, organizers have added cobia or a single amberjack to the aggregate division. Prizes are awarded for the top three scores and weights of each species.

Most participants have little trouble holding their breath for several minutes and diving as deep as 80 feet. Due to terrible conditions offshore last year, however, Chad Carney produced the second largest grouper (131/2 pounds) in just 5 feet of water near Bayport. The same spot generated two other gags and a 40-pound cobia.

Watch for the dive flags, and keep a safe distance when you see one.

Freedivers often venture out from the boat, spending a lot of time floating on the surface to replenish their oxygen. That makes them difficult to see and could present a dangerous situation if boaters fail to recognize the flags.

[Last modified April 16, 2005, 02:45:13]