Kite Fishing

When I say, "go fly a kite" down here, I mean go fly a kite. Not reverting back to my childhood, but rather Kite fishing is a very interesting and productive style of fishing. Anytime we can add vision to fishing it adds excitement. That is exactly what kite fishing does, the strikes are right at the surface and its a blast to watch. The cherry on top is that this is likely the very best method of presenting a live bait to many of our pelagic fish.

Local angler Andrew Atkinson shot this rare photo of a Mako shark off Ft. Myers Beach.

Kite fishing has a mystique that I don't feel it deserves. Kite fishing is really very basic in principal. The kite acts as an outrigger or a spreader to hold lines away from the boat. Your fishing line runs up to a release clip on the kite's main line. The advantage is when a kite is properly fished it holds your bait at the surface, keeping the entire leader out of the water. The swims frantically trying to dive or escape and struggles on the surface. When the predator (cuda, shark, cobia, king mackerel) attacks the helpless bait, the release clip pops and your battle begins. The two best things about kite fishing are that it is very hands on and is very visual. You'll see the fish eat the bait right on the surface. Quite often we'll tease the predator by lifting the bait out of the water right in front of it. Driving the fish nuts and soon he will strike at almost anything with a vengeance.

Live bait is the choice of most kite fishermen, although dead sardines, ballyhoo, or threadherring can be very productive under some conditions. A live mullet, blue runner, or threadfin herring is the bait of choice. The bait is attached to the hook and is suspended below the kite where it may be fished in several ways. When the fish of choice comes along, you may let them eat the bait at that time and catch that particular fish. You may also choose to pass on that fish and take another. You may also decide to tease that particular fish and cast to it with a fly or other artificial lure. The bait can be raised out of the water and lowered again, causing the fish to go into a frenzy. This is an exciting and highly visual technique that allows you to pick and choose your quarry.

Big Kingfish are spectuclar when they attack a kite bait!

While Kite fishing is not common in Southwest Florida, we often put up the kite while "Reef" or "Wreck" fishing when the season is right. It is a very productive way to fish, for Tarpon, King Mackerel, Cuda, and many others.

So what do you say? Let's "go fly a kite".

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