The Blacktip (Yellowtail) Kingfish Caranx sem

Exciting Facts On The Beautiful Black Tip Kingie (Kingfish)

The Yellow Tail Kingfish is a very eye striking saltwater game fish. This saltwater species gets its 2 most common names from distinguishing body features: The black tip on it's pectoral fin and its yellow tail. This is one of many species of South African Kingfish and is one of the more common fish species. The body of this fish lacks any features and is silver-green.

The Blacktip Kingfish is a summer game fish that prefers clean, open and fairly warm coastal waters. Juvenile Kingfish are found in unspoilt estuaries and are a joy to catch on light fishing tackle. They can attain a length of 100 centimeters and a weight of up to 15 kilograms. The Yellow Tail Kingfish is particularly common over deep rocky reefs where they feed on squirrel fish, Blacktail and Pinkies. Closer in to shore they feed on crayfish, squid, crabs, anchovies and shrimp.

Juvenile Black Tip Kingfish are common in coastal bays and readily take squid and small fish as bait. Tapeworm larvae is often present in this Kingfishes flesh so when cooking this species make sure to do a thorough job... When cooked properly the Yellowtail Kingfish provides an excellent meal. To see my records of catching this Kingfish please click the link.

How To Catch The South African Blacktip (Yellowtail) Kingfish

The Blacktip Kingfish also known as the Yellowtail Kingfish is a fine angling species and can give the salt water fisherman hours upon hours of sport. Shore and Rock and Surf anglers can expect to catch this species of 'Kingie' with baits such as Chokka (Squid), Prawn and Pilchard (Sardine). I prefer bait fishing for the Blacktip Kingfish but fly fishing also producing numerous big catches of this fish. Dropshot is a good way to catch the Blacktip Kingfish in estuaries. Live bait fishing is also another good option, using Pinkies or Blacktail as your live bait.

If you really want to catch a decent sized Yellowtail Kingfish, going offshore is your best option in South Africa. Vertical Jigging or just jigging in general with feathered and artificial lures is a favoured way of catching the Blacktip Kingfish from a boat. However offshore Dropshot is right up there and this method can often out fish other anglers using other techniques and you could end up catching more Kingfish than your fellow salt water fisherman!

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