Catch ‘n cook: Kingfish ace out…

Catch ‘n cook: Kingfish ace out…

Launching on a whim earlier this year out of the Umzimkulu, and therefore ace out – “I’m just going fishing in the river…”, Brian Lange came back with this monster GT (Giant Trevally / Giant Kingfish) caught on a live bonito on the backline off Port Shepstone. It was too difficult to release fishing on his own and we needed fish for the fridge, so it came home and fed everyone.

Marinaded chunks grilled on coals for not too long are delicious, and shallow fried battered slices will get the kids crazy for it. It’s easy to flavour the batter with your favourite herbs and spices. Don’t cook for too long!

However, the GT is normally released – in fact most of the kingfish species are best thrown back, some also carry ciguatera poisoning.

What we shouldn’t tell you though, is that the Bluefin Kingfish is the one to eat. Succulent, full flavoured…it just melts in your mouth. Luckily they are hard to catch and hard to find, mainly further north. They swim in shoals and so are susceptible to over fishing by netting, sometimes in the fish markets up north, someone brings in a bakkie load. They get quite big, a 10kg bluefin is one helluva fish. And here is a real treat, an underwater video clip of two beautiful adult Bluefin Kingfish…enjoy…

And then finally…the biggest Giant Kingfish I have ever seen was this one we caught off Tofo in Mozambique. It was estimated at 60kg plus, it was a full 6ft long and had eyes like golf balls. I was on Meida van Wyk’s boat fishing with his son Richie, who just had enough battery for this one photograph. It was a smooth release – the kingfish chowed a 5kg live bonito and the brand new heavy tackle outfit gave a good performance bringing the fish healthy to the boat in an hour or so.