Sails and Kings

By Capt. Tom Thomas

September is one of the best months for Sails and Kings. They can be caught using the same technique and in the same waters. We caught three Sails last year. The Sails and Kings are here now and should get better through the month.

Last year during the early part of September my mate and I went out early for Sails and Kings. No one had been catching fish so I decided on an o'dark thirty launch. We were heading out to my Sail spot at 0630 and at first light I saw a flying fish and looked up to see a Sail jump a quarter of a mile in front of us. I pulled the throttles back and immediately started putting out rods and got a strike on the first drop back. It was a 20 pound King. As we trolled towards where the Sail jumped we saw more flying fish. We trolled around in that area for 20 minutes and then proceeded to my other Sail location. We hit a school of Mahi Mahi and caught one. I rebaited the lines and 5 minutes later my down rigger popped loose like it was a Barracuda strike that was not pulling hard. But, once that Sail took the bait and tightened the line to set the hook she went flying. She spooled off about 400 yards of 40 pound test on my Shimano high speed 30A reel in no time. I had to get the other lines in and stop the Sail from spooling me in less than a minute. I told Mate Mills to turn into the fish and called for power. I was within 50 yards of being spooled and I yelled for more power. I was thrown into the back seat and we managed to stop the run. Then she turned straight at us and sped towards us. I called for a turn away and more power reeling as fast as possible. More power and thrown another time into the seat I managed to keep the line tight. She jumped at least 30 times in a beautiful arcing run and I settled her down to bring her along side for a picture and released her after one picture. She swam off and we high fived.

Then Mate Mills said, "why don't we catch a big Amber Jack it's only a mile away". So, we trolled over and I started casting for a big fish. We marked fish on the SONAR at 50 feet. I dropped down fifty feet. My bait was immediately hit and I set the hook. Several hard pulls down and I yelled out it was a big one. When he saw the boat he took off back down deeper. After a good fight we pulled in a nice 45 pound AJ for a picture and released him.

In less than one and half hours of fishing, I caught a 20 pound King, 20 pound Mahi, 50 pound Sail and a 45 Amber Jack. The temperatures are more pleasant in September and the fish are beginning their Fall feeding patterns. I called it a great day of fishing and we headed for the hill.

Tight lines to ya!
Capt. Tom