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St. Petersburg King Mackerel Fishing

A bag limit of St. Petersburg kingfish King mackerel or kingfish are highly anticipated every spring and fall all along the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay coast. Captain Wade Osborne is a live bait specialist when it comes to kingfish. Osborne fights the fish all the way to the leader not a planer.

Every spring as the water temperature creeps toward 70 degrees, kingfish migrate northward with the baitfish on their annual trip to the Florida panhandle for the summer. The kingfish usually show up around St. Patrick’s Day in the spring and Columbus Day in the fall as they follow the baitfish southward back to the Florida Keys for the winter. Kingfish prefer water temperatures between 68 to 72 degrees. Local weather conditions have a lot to do with how long kingfish stay in the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay area, but four to six weeks is normal.

St. Petersburg sunset kingfish Kingfish charter fishing with Afishionado is live bait only. Live bait attracts the largest fish and produces some of the most spectacular action. At times, it’s hard to set out more than two baits at a time because of all of the activity.

Once the charter boat reaches its location, often no more than a few miles offshore, Captain Wade Osborne lowers two baits on downriggers and puts two baits out on a flat line. Baits vary from Spanish sardines, cigar minnows, blue-runners, ladyfish and even Spanish mackerel. The “bigger bait, bigger fish” theory definitely works here. Shortly after, drag smoking action then erupts. The big kingfish are called smokers because you can actually see the reel smoke as hundreds of yards of line screams off the spool. While slow trolling live baits, kingfish chase the bait and skyrocket often as they devour their prey.

Wade Osborne and Ben Sheaffer enjoying some kingfishing King Mackerel: Kingfish
Season: Spring and fall.
Bag Limit: Two per person, per day.
Size Limit: 24 inches to the fork of the tail.

The St. Petersburg / Clearwater / Tampa Bay area of Florida is one of the greatest fishing areas in the United States. The primary reason for this is the idyllic weather. The sub-tropical climate allows fishing charters year round, and the pleasant temperatures make it enjoyable to be out on the water any time of the year.

Highs usually stay between 65 and 95 °F (18 and 33 °C) year round, and lows rarely go below 32°F (0°C). Summer can be humid with afternoon storms, which typically last a very short time. Spring and Fall are perhaps the nicest times of the year, but winter months are generally very pleasant also.

While the fishing certainly varies with the time of year and the weather, a good Tampa Bay fishing guide should be able to put you in fish just about any time of the year. That's the beauty of the St. Petersburg / Clearwater / Tampa Bay area.
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