Menticirrhus saxatilis

[AndyS]

Are northern kingfish good eating?
The northern kingfish is not fished commercially but from New Jersey southwards it provides good sport to surf anglers and those in boats close to the shore. The bait used can be pieces of squid, clams or bloodworms. The fish has tasty white meat.

[Jigman13]

They're decent

[bulletbob]

They're ok, but to me, a bit over rated.. They arent mild like ling, sea bass, tog, flounder fluke etc.. A little stronger than that.. maybe a bit more "porgy like".. Good enough but not great,,,

[Papasown]

When I was a kid in the 1950's growing up on LBI the kingfish and huge blowfish were our morning target from the beach. Small pieces of bloodworms on small hooks were the bait of choice. We caught lots of them, but not many striped bass at that time. I always like that my mom would cook them for breakfast after I filleted them , having never been refrigerated. That is fresh fish to the max.......... catch 'em up.

[bulletbob]

Its been years since I have caught a lot of them, but I recall they had a very hard initial hit, they were not shy about striking a bait... I always liked to catch them. Caught a huge one in Great Bay once about 17-18 inches..I always thought they were a member of the Drum/Weakfish clan.... bob

[Duffman]

Been catching some monster kingfish last few days:D

[bulletbob]

Been catching some monster kingfish last few days:D

if it weren't such a nasty thing to do, that would be some serious fluke bait...

[dales529]

Always an early am go to on family beach vacations before the crowd woke up.
Sunrise on the beach with a bunch of fish and back to the condo before anyone knew you were gone!
Never kept any/ all released but heard they make a decent breakfast / lunch.

Sometimes fish bites worked really well and other times real bloodworms was all they wanted. Fun with light tackle in the suds