How To Set Up A Kite Fishing Line

Kite Fishing

There are some that view kite line-fishing as too complicated. But the truth is if you desire to put fish in the boat it's one of the most effective methods out there.

This guide will teach you the basics on how to get started kite fishing.

If you desire to become started, there is some additional equipment to larn about. None of it is beyond the average fisherman who wants to acquire how to kite fish.

This method of fishing became popular in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s but has existed for much longer. Invented in China and used in the South Pacific for generations, it has proven effective at getting good hits.

In modernistic New Zealand, kite fishing has a long tradition. Often done from shore, the kits permit anglers to fish waters across what they could otherwise. Information technology can besides allow a boat to fish areas that would be too dangerous to become into similar reefs and rock piles.

In the U.S., kite anglers consistently win tournaments over traditional fishing competitors. We'll explain why that is afterwards. For at present, let's put everyone on the same page virtually the specifics of kite fishing.

What is a Kite Fishing Setup?

There are a few working parts that need to be ready upward correctly for the whole rig to work. It gets more complicated every bit y'all start calculation more than lines in the water and then for this instance we volition go simple. 1 kite, one allurement.

Starting with the kite, it's not an ordinary kite. The materials are stronger and lighter than other kites so they can acquit the added load of the hardware. The kite is attached to a reel and a short pole with kite line. On your kite line, y'all will have a couple of kite clips that you will support your fishing line.

Yous may run into balloons attached to many fishing kites. Usually, these are filled with air and used to continue your kite on the surface should it interruption complimentary and fall. Sometimes the balloons may be helium filled to assist keep the kite in the air when the wind is depression.

The kite reel may be a specialty kite reel or any conventional reel. The master traits you want are a big line capacity and quick retrieval. The pole is oftentimes purpose-built and around 36 inches long. That covers the kite setup.

The key thing to realize hither is that you don't necessarily need the specialized gear to get started.

On your fishing outfit, you'll want a fast reel to accept up a large amount of slack in the line from kite fishing. Otherwise, any rod that y'all would unremarkably use should work fine.

The rigging of a kite fishing line is where things get a little complicated. The addition of the ring and a few other $.25 of hardware volition get you the perfect setup. In social club from offset to concluding, a kite angling rig volition have:

Kite Clips
A ring to attach to your kite clips
A big, visible bladder or ribbon that can be hands seen
A pb weight when needed
A bead to protect your knot
A swivel tied on the end to attach to the leader
A leader, the standard is 15 anxiety

Beneath the leader, the tackle yous choose is up to you and the fish you are afterward. Circle hooks are the most common choice but 'J' hooks can work likewise.

If you're going after toothy critters such as King Mackerel or Wahoo, you'll need a wire leader.

The standard method of baiting a kite rig is to stitch the bait on with a safety band. This keeps the hook exposed and the allurement able to swim more naturally. It is highly recommended that you use this method for kite fishing.

That is the full setup. Getting the rigging right may take a couple of tries simply is far from the most complicated fishing rigs. Attention to detail matters simply the details are not that hard to principal.

Why Kite Fish?

Pacific Islanders have been using this method to keep their families fed for centuries. And at present sport anglers have realized its value and have taken up this great technique.

Let'southward dig into the reasons that kite fishing is such a pop and effective method.

The majority of kite fishing is done from a gunkhole. And all kite fishing is geared toward species that have allurement at the surface. Yous can fish the surface past trolling but volition e'er have two issues.

One is that your bait will frequently times swim unnaturally; second, you accept a lot of leader and line in the water.

Both of these issues will lead to fewer hits. I have actively seen sailfish dart away from a bait information technology was chasing. I can merely assume something most the allurement wasn't correct. Most likely, information technology was the leader or the alien activeness of the allurement.

When you kite fish, your bait is dangled in just the peak few inches of water keeping your leader out of sight. Hooked through the back, the baitfish stays upright and natural. Information technology's splashing and swimming will be natural and attractive to a predatory fish.

This lonely will catch more fish than trolling or whatsoever other fishing method. This has been consistently proven in many major tournaments.

In add-on to getting more hits, a boat fisherman can become to some very expert fishing spots that his boat could never manage without taking damage. Shallow reefs and stone piles are frequently domicile to populations of baitfish. This makes them very attractive to predatory fish.

Predatory fish makes them very attractive to fishermen only the danger keeps them away. You and wing a angling kite more than than a hundred feet and put them directly over these hard to fish spots. No worry nigh damage to your boat or snagging your line.

Why Kite Fishing From Shore?

The other use of a line-fishing kite is to get your line past the breakers when angling the shore. You lot tin can catch bigger fish and more varied species past getting out deeper. This is a less common tactic in the U.S. merely i that is very fun if you go the opportunity to do information technology.

The hang-upwards with kite fishing from shore is that you have to have the air current in the right management. The wind will need to be coming from behind or at a existent bending.

If you lot get the right beach and the right current of air, you can go a line 150 feet out from shore and absolutely slay the fish lurking out there. This is a corking method to use during Snook runs.

Kite Fishing Bones How-To

Well-nigh of the time you'll meet kite fishing done in tournaments and on commercial charters. This is mostly a cost and complication issue. Many recreational fishermen accept found the benefit of using kites for Sailfish, Wahoo, and Mahi-mahi.

Commercial and tournament setups may use equally many equally half dozen kites with iii lines on each kite. This requires a lot of planning and preparation to run, non to mention the costs involved. Starting out, one kite with one line is perfect until you lot get the method down. You tin add more as yous grow.

In one case you lot accept your lines rigged equally discussed in the previous department, the first step is to get your kite in the air. Take your time. If you get your kite in the water, it will be very hard to reel in. Feed the kite out slow and controlled, you are simply looking to go information technology into the air and stable.

At this point, attach your kite clips to the kite line around 20 to xxx feet from the kite. The band on your mainline volition prune into this prune. Set your kite reel to freespool so it takes the connectedness point out as far as y'all would like. Keep the leader terminate of your line on the boat while your lines spool out, a normal distance is 75 – 100 anxiety.

Bait your claw using the method above and drop it into the water and so take the slack out of your line. If your allurement is setup properly, it should suspend just a few inches nether the surface. If the allurement is not in the h2o you will need more weight, if the float sinks down to the water you volition demand less.

One time everything is tuned just right you should be able to get out your reel in free spool.

Just like whatever other type of line-fishing, topwater hits are commonly violent and quick. You will have besides much slack in your line initially for a baitcliker or other device to exercise much adept. You have to depend on your eyes to run into the hitting or a motion from the float or ribbon on your line.

Once y'all have a hit, go on your reel and get the line tight as fast as you can. The moment at that place is resistance, the line should drop from the kite and will gain more slack. Speed is key to getting a proficient hook ready.

Though this method is the most commonly used, some anglers will tell you it works best on billfish and other toothless fish. They prefer a different setup for species like Kingfish and Wahoo.

Kite Fishing – Drop Line Setup

This method is very like to the standard setup but leaves less slack in the line. Information technology works well on toothy fish that eat chop-chop. You volition still want a faster reel merely it's less critical in this method than the previous.

Sometimes called Drop Line kite fishing, this method uses a line that is attached firmly to your kite line. Often by a swivel rather than through a kite clip and ring. The quick release comes just below your bobber or flag. Much of the same rigging is used just the order changes.

Attached to your kite and hanging down you will have the following items. These are ordered from closest to yous kite to furthest hanging downward.

A lead weight when needed
A big, visible float or ribbon that can exist easily seen
A bead to protect your knot
A hanging release clip

Your mainline will have nothing on it other than the leader, claw, and bait.

The shorter altitude to the water gives you a much quicker hook gear up than the traditional setup. For toothy fish, this is the optimal setup you just take to deal with more tangles in your kite line. The traditional setup drops away cleanly but a drib line setup will exit a long trailing line that will go tangled.

Kite Fishing from Shore

While it may exist possible to employ a like setup to kite fish off a beach, a unlike method is often used. This method is tried and truthful having sprang up with historic kite fishermen.

Whatever method will beginning with the wind direction. If the wind isn't blowing out to sea, pack it in. This may seem counter-intuitive equally the rule is to fish the beaches when the wind is in your face. This is truthful but only fishing in the breakers.

Because you volition be out past the breakers, get that air current at your back and let your kites fly. The best time and season to observe these winds is the belatedly fall through early spring in the early morning time hours. If it has been unseasonably cold the night before, all the better!

The setup for shore fishing that is often preferred is a complex setup but well worth the effort.

The kite is usually the same simply most people opt for a full-length rod over the shorter rods used on boats. Dacron string is preferred over fishing line generally due to cost. There are no clips on the kite line, yous will be fastening a driblet line to the kite line with a swivel.

At the bottom of the dropline, most people float a large bottle partially filled with water. This allows them to easily tailor the weight to exactly what they need. You lot want something that is too heavy for the kite to elevator out of the water but not something that creates excess drag.

Usually, the job of the kite is to continue the allurement suspended at the meridian of the water. Not and so with kite fishing from shore. The job of the kite, in this instance, is to carry the float out as far every bit you want information technology.

Above the bottle, well-nigh people use a number of large streamers that can be seen from a long distance. At the bottle is your breakaway snap for when that bite occurs. The differences don't stop here.

Where you have one hook and i bait, on a shore rig many anglers use multiple hooks with multiple baits. They are still costless to motion in the electric current or under their ain power. Unremarkably, these hooks are attached on their own drop lines to go along them separated and natural.

This is one rig amongst several. Some are specialty rigs while others are as general purpose as the one in a higher place. I chose this rig for its simplicity and lack of complicated and expensive parts.

When first starting out from shore, go on your kite close until you learn how to manage it. Kites in the h2o are hard to recall and losing a kite your first fourth dimension out tin can break your heart. Zero about it is difficult, it just takes some time to adjust to a new method.

Kite Fishing Gear

While the above sections have attempted to explain what and how kite fishing works, they have just glossed over the details of the gear. Like all angling, kite line-fishing is a gear driven sport. Understanding that gear will amend your chances of getting a proper setup.

You will need your line-fishing rod and reel with all the last tackle and swivels.

Kites

Every year, someone comes out with a new kite design that is, of class, the latest and greatest. Despite these new designs, the most popular ii are still the standard square kite and the delta kite. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Foursquare kites are the most common by far and are often the cheapest. These kits are easy to go into the air and wing well but can have issues with twisting. Yous can resolve this past calculation a tail merely well-nigh people go without.

Delta kites fly well and are more than stable than foursquare kites but have never really defenseless on. This is because they take hold of less wind for their size. They tin can as well be harder to get into the air in the first identify. Y'all are frequently used from a embankment.

If you have to become with ane of the newer styles, consider a parachute kite. These are designed to carry heavy line and baits and catch massive amounts of wind. They tin be useful on days were air current is depression just exercise toll more than other kite styles.

Parachute kites come in several different sizes. The small, medium and large kites are used depending on the wind. The smallest used for the strongest current of air. A medium kite is a expert general purpose buy but you will eventually want all iii.

Any style, size, and brand of kite you get information technology needs to be loftier quality. Go with ripstop nylon for the fabric if you desire your kite to concluding. You should also go with graphite spars which are much lighter. They practise break easier so choice up a few spares if you can.

In addition to kites, some people volition too use a sky hook which is a smaller kite like device fastened below the kite. These provide a lot of extra lift and are unremarkably seen with delta kites used in shore fishing.

Kite Clips

The breakaway clips are what make kite fishing possible and they come in a lot of varieties. The industry standard is the plain clip like those fabricated by Black'south Marine Products. The make isn't equally important as the quality.

This is your main indicate of failure on a kite fishing rig. Getting a clip that will hold your line until you get a hit is mandatory. The clip should also release cleanly and be adjustable for the weight it takes to release it. There are a number of companies that brand these, find one and give information technology a shot!

Line Markers

You can employ ribbon to mark your lines or by the bobber way markers. The bobber style is the most popular and seems to work well for most people. There are a variety of styles and sizes, just pick what you like.

If you lot fish more than than one line per kite, brand sure yous become several colors so they can be coded to the reels. Nothing is worse than grabbing the wrong rod when you get a fierce strike from a big sailfish!

Kite Angling Reels

At that place are a few companies that brand specific reels for kite line-fishing but those are often but a waste of money. Whatsoever reel that is strong enough to support the load of the kite and has a high gear ratio will practise the job merely fine. It really doesn't take to have a loftier gear ratio but it helps!

Other than reels mounted to a rod, there are several other varieties of kite line systems. In one case again, I would just use a standard reel. One time you accept some experience, yous tin always selection one up if y'all think it worthwhile.

If you are using multiple kites, you can opt for electric reels for kite fishing. They are commonly used in multi-line setups and work nifty for chop-chop reeling in lines that aren't needed. Just brand sure the ane you go has the power to bring the kite in.

Kite Fishing Rods

Kite rods are surprisingly rare to detect. A few companies make specific rods for the purpose, nearly of which are reasonably priced. Starting out, you can employ the lower section of any takedown rod if nothing else.

Daiwa does make a rod in its Saltiga line that is affordable and corking quality. They can be had for under a hundred bucks and work very well.

Kite Line

Some people like to use Dacron line specifically made for kites while others apply braided line. You practice want something in the 80# range just to exist safety. Either line should work well but the Dacron line does have less stretch.

Ever behave a few extra pre-rigged lines on spools. In high winds in front end of storms, the static electricity can intermission a kite line. The last matter you want to practise is have to re-rig the whole line at ocean.

Other

That takes care of all the big items just y'all will need a few more pocket-sized items to get you going the correct way. While you are shopping effectually, pick up a few of each.

Kite rings in either ceramic or stainless steel. Most people use cheaper stainless steel rings even though they are heavier. The ceramic rings may exist better quality and don't wearable your knots as bad.

Make certain you get a few balloons. They don't demand to be helium balloons, just ordinary balloons. These will serve as a float should you crash your kite and cipher more. Once you are farther forth, helium balloons can be used on days that have likewise niggling wind.

Get a rigging needle and a few minor rubber bands to properly bait your hooks. This method has proven to be the all-time for overall presentation and will give yous more hits.

Kite Angling Kits

If y'all are new to kite angling yous can make your life much simpler past picking upwardly a pre-made kit. Some of these volition come with a kite and some will non. Otherwise, they offer everything you will need short of rods and lines.

Most kits will come with all the rigging supplies including:

Weights
Swivels
Markers
Rings
Clips
Beads

The best ones will also come up with hooks, baiting needle, and condom bands for all your alive bait needs. These are frequently a good value for what you lot are getting.

If I had a preference information technology would exist for a kit without the kite. Picking an appropriate kite to the wind you want to fish is very important. I would want to pick my own for my preferences.

Decision

Kite angling is an exciting change to a sport that has been done the same manner for years. The excitement and increased fish you bring in volition be well worth the price. And With a lilliputian ingenuity, you can mitigate this cost with some of your existing rods and reels.

Whether yous choose to do it from a boat or from the beach, it'southward worth your fourth dimension to get out there and give it a solid try. After you get used to information technology, information technology may be the simply mode you want to fish. This is especially true if doing information technology from a beach.

This a tried and true method stretching back decades in the States but going back hundreds of years. The start discovered kite fishermen were using palm leafage kites and still catching fish. Anything that has worked for that long deserves a shot!

If you lot tin detect a mentor but if you can't, hopefully, this article has answered nearly of your questions. Any reputable bait shop that carries kite fishing supplies should be able to get you the residual of the manner. Virginia to Florida, this sport is doing zip but growing. Y'all might as well become on it now and be ahead of the game!