Outdoors column | The kingfish were missing, but there were plenty of big ones to catch

When more than 600 boats fished the King of the Beach two weeks ago, only one team brought home a winning catch. Laggerheads’ 54.06-pound kingfish took the victory, but the results from other participants showed how alive the Gulf of Mexico is right now. Pelagic fish came into the shallows and bottom fish were biting when the kingfish wouldn’t.

In only 50 feet of water angler Jonathan Nemeth thought they had a smoker-sized kingfish eat their blue runner.

“It burned drag straight out about 100 yards then came straight back at the boat,” Nemeth said. “I seen it down deep and we all thought it was a 40-pound kingfish; we were so excited. It was late in the day, around 3, so it was crunch time.”

As it came closer their hopes of a giant kingfish were changed when it turned out to be a shallow water wahoo.

“We didn’t realize it was a ‘hoo until it came up. It was a lot of fun on light tackle but also very disappointing thinking we had a 40-pound class kingfish,” Nemeth explained, knowing that is probably the only time an angler would be upset catching a wahoo instead of a kingfish.

Slightly shallower in 45 feet, angler David Van Hoven knew quickly the fish at the other end of his line wasn’t a kingfish.

“I was trolling for kings when I had a hit. I was reeling in the line when I saw the kingfish chasing the spoon. I threw out a bunch of freebie greenbacks and pitched one out on my live bait rod,” recalled Van Hoven.

“I was getting ready to head in for the day when the freelined greenback went off screaming the drag on my Saragossa 10000. I thought, ‘Sweet, I’ve got a nice king.’ Seconds later I see a sail jump and my heart skipped a beat! He continued to sky rocket dance on the surface!”

After 15 minutes, Van Hoven had the sailfish boat side. Watching it all, Van Hoven’s 8-year-old son, Noah, was able to snap a picture of his dad with the sailfish before it’s eventual release. “He is now super hooked on offshore fishing,” Van Hoven said.

When kingfish weren’t on the menu for Kenny Dennison and his young son, he changed game plans to get the action started.

“We went up and down the shipping channel and fished every boat pod from 18 to 70 feet, there were no kings around.” Dennison said. “At 3 p.m. I accepted my loss and decided to run out and anchor one of my spots. The red snapper and gag bite was unreal. My son got his personal best gag and we didn’t have to deal with the weigh in.”

With only a few weeks until gag grouper and red snapper season open, it’s a positive sign for those who plan on fishing for them.

Other anglers reported many tuna as shallow as 35 feet and a blue marlin missing a bait in 10 -feet.

This past week, fishing nearshore stayed hot and now reports of whale sharks in shallow waters have been seen. The summer is shaping up to be great for anglers traveling west into the Gulf