Welcome to How to Catch Kingfish around Melbourne & Victoria. Catching big kingfish is something that local anglers dream about. The fishing for Yellowtail King Fish around Melbourne and Victoria has continued to get better and better in recent years. It’s welcome news for local anglers. Perhaps it’s temperature change or breeding patterns, or investment in artificial reefs and structures, but whatever the answer might be, it’s making landing a king more frequent and accessible. We are now able to consistently target these fish outside the heads of Port Phillip Bay, Western Port and Port Welspool in Summer and offshore in places such as Portland, Port Fairy, and Wilsons Prom. Seasonally, we see them in the bay caught in spring spots such as the Docklands, which are so close to the Melbourne CBD, as well as runs around the junction channel markers in Wester Port and popping up all around Port Phillip.
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Kingfish are unparalleled sports fish that possess immense power. For this reason, are rapidly growing in popularity as a species to target. Kingies can grow over a meter in length, have amazing fighting qualities, generally school up in big numbers, are also a renowned table fish and are a very welcome bycatch for those who may have been out in deeper waters targeting species such as Tuna.
Targeting Kingies can be tough, venturing into quite challenging destinations, which will likely require a decent boat. Kingies school up in big numbers, and patience will be key for anglers who may catch many small kingies around the 60cm mark, which are often called rats. However, that patience will finally pay off when the big Kingfish come out to play. There is a bag limit of 5 kingies, with the legal-size limit being 60cm. From the boat, vertical jigging has been one of the most successful techniques, which is done by dropping a vertical jig and hopping it up and down, trying to get the attention of a big aggressive king passing by. Just keep an eye out for seals that turn up from time to time, eager to spoil your fishing session.
Kingfish Facts & Catch Limits
- Kingfish has the scientific name of Seriola lalandi.
- They are renowned table fish.
- The minimum legal size of 60cm
- Daily bag limit of 5 over the minimum size.
- Kingfish can grow well over a meter in length,
- Small Kingfish are often referred to as rats.
- Kingfish will often school up in big numbers
Best time to catch Kingfish ( Seasons )
In Victoria, Kingfish are generally caught in Summer and Autumn. They are often best targeted at Dawn/Dusk and on tide changes.
How to catch Kingfish
We encourage you to read our detailed guide on targeting Kingfish around Melbourne. There are multiple ways to catch this powerful sports fish. You can use flesh baits and live baits. You can also use topwater lures, stick bait, vertical jigs, and even troll-bibbed lures. It’s an exciting species to target with such a variety of ways to catch it. Kingfish is a renowned sports fish, and a heavy-duty setup is required. Starting with a 10-15 or 12-24 kilo rod paired with a 6000-20000 size reel. Some good options include the Penn Slammer, Shimano Saragosa, Daiwa Saltist, Daiwa Saltiga, or Shimano Stella spooled with a 20 to 50-pound line. Kingies are generally active between December to March and can be located during most hours of the day
Check out our day trip up to Portland on the kayaks, tangling with some big kingfish.
Land-based King fish options
Local land-based anglers have received a lot of attention around Melbourne, and well-publicized catches of kingfish have been found around Docklands, Williamstown, and Port Melbourne. It can be more challenging for land-based anglers with much patience, persistence, and skill required to land big kings. Particularly when fishing off a pier or jetty as they will head for structure in the dying stages of the battle which can be heartbreaking to lose one after a long fight. For land-based, throwing out a big bait such as a full squid or pilchard is a recipe for good results. Kingies are generally around for Melbournians from December through to March.
There are many ways in which you can target Kingfish, such as down-rigging live baits, slow trolling, casting out baits, trolling, vertical jigging, flicking soft plastics, and casting heavy jigs. Let’s focus on those styles in a bit more detail.
Catching Kingfish with bait
The following baits will be your best bet. Often I will place a running sinker with a full live squid and just adjust the sinker weight to get the bait down to the right depths. If bait fishing from your boat then keeps an eye for bird activity, birds will often fly overhead of schools of Kingies busting up on the surface. Use berley as a way to bring the schools of Kingfish. This can be a mix of Tuna, Pilchard,
Kingfish are predators that feed on smaller fish within their environment. Therefore, live bait is a top choice when targeting mulloway, with the live bait carefully pinned behind the neck to allow the bait to swim freely or like a wounded fish. Staple easily accessible dead baits also work well on Kingfish. A running sinker rig to a single 5/0 – 8/0 hook or a double-snelled hook to present the bait nicely. Recommended options include.
- Squid
- Yakkas
- Mackerel
- Scad
- Mullet
- Salmon
- Pilchard
- trevally
- garfish
Catching Targeting kingies with lures & soft plastics
Targeting Kingies with lures is an enjoyable method, it also saves you the hassle of needing to catch live bait and keep it alive. What has become very popular is casting heavy jibs between 80 to 120 grams. Casting out with a quick retrieve is a great strategy, or jigging up and down on top of the school. For soft plastics, large flick baits and large paddle tails are great choices. Generally coupled with 1/2 ounce jig heads. Cast, then let the soft plastic sink, then do a number of aggressive up and down lifts to imitate a wounded bait fish going crazy. This usually gets the passing by king’s attention. I like natural baitfish colours here, such as whites, greens, and blues. ( match the hatch ). Kingfish love swimming and patrolling along structures such as rock walls, so it pays to keep your lure or jig close to the structure.
From the boat, vertical jigging has been one of the most successful techniques, which is done by dropping a vertical jig and hopping it up and down, trying to get the attention of a big aggressive king. Stickbaits and topwater lures are great options and have grown immensely in popularity. These are generally worked back at a fast pace, creating movement and vibration that kingfish love to chase down. Soft plastics between 80mm and 140mm are also a great option. Good options include flick baits, shads, paddle tails, and grubz. You can also purchase pre-made rigs and swimbaits, such as mullets, which are designed to imitate a fish in its surroundings.
- LunkerCity Slu-Go
- Shimano Ocea head dip flash boost stick bait
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 7-inch Jerk Shad
- Rapala X-Rap
- large surface poppers
- Nomad Rip Tide stick bait
- Halco Rooster Poppers
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 5-inch Jerk Shad
- Squidgy 150mm paddle tail
- Shimano Butterfly jigs
- Zerek fish trap
- Kietech swim impact fat
- Squidges biotough grub
- Samaki Vibelicious
Kingfish fishing rod reel and rig setup
You can target Kingies on a wide range of rod outfits, from light spin rods to heavy game rods. A good all-around choice would be an 8-12 kilo rod with a 6000-size reel spooling the reel with a 10-15 kilo line. You can use your snapper outfit, which is generally a 5-8 kilo rod with a 4000 reel, but if you happen to land a big one, then it will be a challenge to land it.
If bait fishing, I will generally use around 4 feet of a strong leader with dual-snelled size 6 or size 7 chemically sharpened hooks. This may vary depending on the bait you are using. Take your time when setting up your rig. It’s often a brutal battle, and any rigs not set up properly may ultimately be responsible for losing a good fish, so don’t rush or cut corners.
Kingfish HOTSPOTS around Melbourne and Victoria
Some hotspots around Victoria for Kingies include
- Portland
- The Rip ( PPB entrance )
- Offshore Port Phillip ( Barwon Heads through to Angelsea )
- Offshore Western Prt ( Flinders, Cape Woolomai )
- Western Port ( Seasonally, they will come in )
- Port Welshpool
- Port Fairy
- Mallacoota
- Wilsons prom
- Narooma
- Docklands
- Mornington
There are some great local charter operators that have been exclusively targeting King Fish throughout this period, so get online and look up a local charter operator if you are keen to get in on the action. Thanks for reading How to Catch Kingfish around Melbourne and Victoria. If you have any ideas on Kingfish, please share them by emailing reports@fishingmad.com.au. If you would like to send us pics of your carp fishing, we would love to add them to the page.
