Favorite King mackerel lures from piers

[Rolexx]

What are your go-to lures to throw for king mackerel from piers on windy days? 

[sytheteacher]

 Diamond Jig is the universal lure..

[snag777]

5 hours ago, Rolexx said:

What are your go-to lures to throw for king mackerel from piers on windy days? 

i was casting diamond jig on 20# braid,it was big school off fish,they fight for the jig to cuting my line.i put steel leader and they will not touch the lure,i had to put on 50# mono leader 4' and they byte with out cuting the line.

[albacized]

Try the rapala x rap in ‘glass ghost’ (it’s actually pearl with an orange throat). A size 10 or 12 should do the job

Edited March 26 by albacized

[Rolexx]

5 mins ago, albacized said:

Try the rapala x rap in ‘glass ghost’ (it’s actually pearl with an orange throat). A size 10 or 12 should do the job

I like throwing the xrap long cast version. My go to is daiwa salt pros. 

[seaforte]

we use 4"mackbait lures here in oz.

[Bubbaluch]

2 oz spoons and 5-6" minnow style plugs that are atleast 7/8 oz and heavier.

 

Plugs are fun to fish and produce fish but if I'm king fishing I'm trying to snobble a livebait 100% of the time when possible.

 

I cast plugs/spoons in the morning when I can't see **** because its not predawn yet OR if we got zero bait on the pier.

 

Once mid-April gets here. I'll fish a frozen dead cig, before touching any artificial if livebait can't be obtained. 

 

The order goes 1. Livebait 2.deadbait 3. Artifical in terms of effectiveness 

[Rolexx]

33 mins ago, Bubbaluch said:

2 oz spoons and 5-6" minnow style plugs that are atleast 7/8 oz and heavier.

 

Plugs are fun to fish and produce fish but if I'm king fishing I'm trying to snobble a livebait 100% of the time when possible.

 

I cast plugs/spoons in the morning when I can't see **** because its not predawn yet OR if we got zero bait on the pier.

 

Once mid-April gets here. I'll fish a frozen dead cig, before touching any artificial if livebait can't be obtained. 

 

The order goes 1. Livebait 2.deadbait 3. Artifical in terms of effectiveness 

Thats pretty much how I do it as well. This was intended to be a question for those days that the wind is blowing to hard to effectly cast dead cigs and right now in my area there isn't much live bait to be had, not for another month or so. The kings are just now starting to show up  

[Rolexx]

18 hours ago, seaforte said:

we use 4"mackbait lures here in oz.

I'll check those out 

[Bubbaluch]

On 3/26/2023 at 6:20 PM, Rolexx said:

Thats pretty much how I do it as well. This was intended to be a question for those days that the wind is blowing to hard to effectly cast dead cigs and right now in my area there isn't much live bait to be had, not for another month or so. The kings are just now starting to show up  

I have used every different reputable brand to exhaust x-raps saltwater version, hydro minnows, sp minnows, crystal minnows. The only one I don't throw first are x-raps because I cannot source them quickly for anything less than 14-16 dollars when I can get hydro minnows and sp minnows for 10 and i loose them because I throw 50lb mono leader instead of wire for more bites.

 

For windy days, Hydro minnow LC 6" in sardine and if money is not a factor x-rap size 14 spotted minnow. However, I would recommend also getting SP minnow 6" (sinking model) in laser sardine or blue mackerel. The sinking model is a great alternative because it allows for a longer retrieve in the water when fishing off a pier that is 50ft above the water. Floating models force you to reel in your last 10 yards of the cast because you cant swim them anymore being so high up. hopes this helps a bit more

 

 

 

[HYB_Living]

live bait is always first choice. calmer waters will dictate towards an x-rap then sinking diawa salt pro with upgraded hardware then some sort of diamond jig if weather is rougher 

[albacized]

On 3/29/2023 at 8:11 PM, Bubbaluch said:

I have used every different reputable brand to exhaust x-raps saltwater version, hydro minnows, sp minnows, crystal minnows. The only one I don't throw first are x-raps because I cannot source them quickly for anything less than 14-16 dollars when I can get hydro minnows and sp minnows for 10 and i loose them because I throw 50lb mono leader instead of wire for more bites.

 

For windy days, Hydro minnow LC 6" in sardine and if money is not a factor x-rap size 14 spotted minnow. However, I would recommend also getting SP minnow 6" (sinking model) in laser sardine or blue mackerel. The sinking model is a great alternative because it allows for a longer retrieve in the water when fishing off a pier that is 50ft above the water. Floating models force you to reel in your last 10 yards of the cast because you cant swim them anymore being so high up. hopes this helps a bit more

 

 

 

I wish I had seen this post when you first posted - because bass pro had x raps marked down to where I picked up 5 of them for less than $10.00 each (I think they're 11.99 for the size 10 at regular price)

[codfish]

Metal

[Rolexx]

On 3/29/2023 at 7:11 PM, Bubbaluch said:

I have used every different reputable brand to exhaust x-raps saltwater version, hydro minnows, sp minnows, crystal minnows. The only one I don't throw first are x-raps because I cannot source them quickly for anything less than 14-16 dollars when I can get hydro minnows and sp minnows for 10 and i loose them because I throw 50lb mono leader instead of wire for more bites.

 

For windy days, Hydro minnow LC 6" in sardine and if money is not a factor x-rap size 14 spotted minnow. However, I would recommend also getting SP minnow 6" (sinking model) in laser sardine or blue mackerel. The sinking model is a great alternative because it allows for a longer retrieve in the water when fishing off a pier that is 50ft above the water. Floating models force you to reel in your last 10 yards of the cast because you cant swim them anymore being so high up. hopes this helps a bit more

 

 

 

Thats some good information and definitely helps. I throw salt pros quite a bit also. Here lately its been to windy for them. So im going to shop around and buy some casting jigs like daiwa zanaka or shimano colt snipers. I fished yesterday and seen a couple guys slinging some type of popper that was outcasting metal jigs. Kinda crazy, I just wish I asked them what they were 

[albacized]

After watching some folks have good luck with bonito in RI the previous year using the smallest (I think 5 3/8th inch???)  SP minnow in the bone color, I bought a few and tried them last year. I can only offer anecdotal evidence as I only tried them a couple of times and had minimum success one time (caught a bonito quickly before the weeds moved in and rendered the fishing unfishable)....but I was particularly impressed with the action and how castable they were. I had never used an sp minnow of any sort for any kind of fishing before that. And given that king mackerel seem to have an attraction to similar lures, etc, I wouldn't hesitate to throw these if I knew they were around - here in New England, we don't get a strong king run year in and year out  but some years they are around in targetable numbers over a broad area, and even in the off years, there's usually a location or two up here that has a catchable number kings.