Kite fishing for YFT

[handerson]

Need some input, this is new for me and was told that the catch was far more successful this way than draggin baits from the gunnel. Reccomendations anyone. The tuna run is almost here in South Carolina, Georgetown Hole that is. Thanks

[Lowcountryboy]

We are just starting to get into kite fishing as well.

So far this is what I have learned:

The kite is deadly when the tuna are shy, later in the season, but during the early run, you are better off running witches on wind-ons WTFB. The Charter Boats here (Charleston) don't really start running the kites until May or so.

That being said, here is a link for the kites used by "Ali L", one of the more successful kite boats in these parts.

http://www.wind-toys-online.com/inde...=983&parent=86

They run the Powersled 14, but any Parafoil kite will do from what I have learned. Parafoils have a huge amount of lift, which is needed to keep 3 large baits skipping and jumping 100yds behind the boat.

Use Yummee flying fish or plastic squid as baits. Use a fang or a treble hooks as a stinger at the tail of the flyer (usually attached with copper wire or a rubber band). This eliminates alot of the misses by the fish.

Your main hook will be large(12/0 is not too big), rigged point up (like you would a grub) back through the body of the Yummee. Most of the hook will be burried in the body of the flyer, which is why you need such a big hook.

Leader can be as heavy as you like, because the bait will not be in the water and the tuna will never see it.

The bait should be in the air more than in the water. When it is in the water, it should skitter across the surface, not drag underwater.

You catch the bigger YFTs on the kite baits.

You will have some hellacious bites on the kite.

Anyone with more knowledge, please post. I am a sponge at this point...

[cape_fisherman]

You're sounding pretty dang good from what you posted up above! One thing that will take some getting used to is trolling with the kite up. You'll quickly learn that you can not turn the boat into the kite. You almost always have to turn away from it to keep it flying. If you mess up and it starts coming down, turn away and increase your speed FAST! You generally want to keep the kite blowing off to one side of the boat and not directly behind the boat. Keep your baits in all that clean water. You'll have fun with it...for sure!

Good luck.

Jay

[Lowcountryboy]

I was thinking about leaving the flat line, mouse trap and meat-plow out, but pulling all the rigger baits in when running the kite.

How far away from the boat do you typically run the kite? I was thinking about 100yds, but was not sure.

[cape_fisherman]

Best thing to do is to play with it. Further away isn't always better.

Jay

[handerson]

Lowcountryboy, I would imagine that a naked ballyhoo with a 12/0 hook out the top and a #3 stinger 4x trebble would be deadly. I just bought a Bob Lewis kite off of ebay for 50 bucks. I am looking into buying one of those parafoil kites to just to see the comparison. I can't wait to get out there and put it on them. My partner and I have a 268 Key West CC BlueWater with twin F150. Normally which side of the break do yall troll when yall are out at the hole? Are the sailfish pretty active on the kite as well? Can't wait to boat our first billfish. Are you running 130 mono leaders or 200 leaders? I normally run about 10 to 15 ft. of mono leader. Do I need more than that? If so I will step it up. Thanks. Henry/ Oh by the way, I do post on Charlestonfishing a good bit. I do believe that I am the only one on our club that has a kite right now, until the rest of the guys see the results. Thanks for all the info.

[Capt_John]

You're sounding pretty dang good from what you posted up above! One thing that will take some getting used to is trolling with the kite up. You'll quickly learn that you can not turn the boat into the kite. You almost always have to turn away from it to keep it flying. If you mess up and it starts coming down, turn away and increase your speed FAST! You generally want to keep the kite blowing off to one side of the boat and not directly behind the boat. Keep your baits in all that clean water. You'll have fun with it...for sure!

Good luck.

Jay

You're on the money with that one Jay. Found out the hard way myself trolling a kite and learned really quick to pay very close attention. I would get a bite on a regular ballyhoo an forget about it. Big mistake. Jay Weaver was the capt. of the Ali L. He killed the tunas. Too bad the Ali L is no more and he's on a private boat now.

[mtecu]

When we fly the kite the kite rod goes in the port side and we fish two rods out of the leaning post. this enables us to have both rods close together so one person can tend to both of them and keep the baits skipping properly. when were trolling and fishing the kite, we also fish two split bills off of the corners. When drifting we put a bucket over and tie it off mid way of the boat to make the boat stay side ways. we then fish both rods off of the same side as the bucket and keep the baits skipping just like when you are trolling. we use live bait doing this and we also use home made flying fish that we make out of clear plastic tubing. if any one would like pictures of the flyers we make ill try and post some pics later.

MT

[jwalker]

We are just starting to get into kite fishing as well.

So far this is what I have learned:

The kite is deadly when the tuna are shy, later in the season, but during the early run, you are better off running witches on wind-ons WTFB. The Charter Boats here (Charleston) don't really start running the kites until May or so.

That being said, here is a link for the kites used by "Ali L", one of the more successful kite boats in these parts.

http://www.wind-toys-online.com/inde...=983&parent=86

They run the Powersled 14, but any Parafoil kite will do from what I have learned. Parafoils have a huge amount of lift, which is needed to keep 3 large baits skipping and jumping 100yds behind the boat.

Use Yummee flying fish or plastic squid as baits. Use a fang or a treble hooks as a stinger at the tail of the flyer (usually attached with copper wire or a rubber band). This eliminates alot of the misses by the fish.

Your main hook will be large(12/0 is not too big), rigged point up (like you would a grub) back through the body of the Yummee. Most of the hook will be burried in the body of the flyer, which is why you need such a big hook.

Leader can be as heavy as you like, because the bait will not be in the water and the tuna will never see it.

The bait should be in the air more than in the water. When it is in the water, it should skitter across the surface, not drag underwater.

You catch the bigger YFTs on the kite baits.

You will have some hellacious bites on the kite.

Anyone with more knowledge, please post. I am a sponge at this point...

Hey guys, there is a thread on mix-it-up about Carolina fishing and you guys are being out-numbered 5-1?? What gives? Add some input so we know what the deal is down in So. Carolina

Cool input on the kites, a great way to add some seriuos excitment to off-shore fishing...

[mtecu]

I just thought of something that I did not include. When we rig our baits we place an orange bobber above the swivel on one rod and a chartreuse bobber above the swivel on the other rod. this allows us to easily tell the 2 lines apart so that we can fish them properly.