Techniques for Staging Kings (AFTER Derby!!)

[ErieBuck]

Hello all!  Me and my dad are going to give the staging kings a try this year.  Heading to Olcott the day after the derby ends Sept 6 as my dad hates boat traffic!   I've done well in the off-shore spring/summer King game, but haven't tried for the stagers.  

 

I think I know a few things... target approx 80-120 FOW?   Run some bigger paddles w/ meat?   Run baits close to the bottom?  

 

To have the best chance for success, is it mostly an early morning bite or evening bite in close to shore?   Is it a waste of time fishing during the day in tight for stagers?  Are we better off running offshore during the day? 

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

~ErieBuck

[HB2]

First light start close and work out . 

 

J plugs for me #3 and #4 

Glo green or pearl black dot my favorites 

 

After first hour or so silver read head among others 

 

35 to 125 ft leads one rigger 10 ft off bottom ( 7 if you are brave ) and one half way down both same leads to avoid tangles . 

After sun starts to come up try the 35 to  90 ft depth and look for them on  the bottom . 

 

Spoons  and flashers also work but I like my J Plugs . 

[ErieBuck]

1 hour ago, HB2 said:

First light start close and work out . 

 

J plugs for me #3 and #4 

Glo green or pearl black dot my favorites 

 

After first hour or so silver read head among others 

 

35 to 125 ft leads one rigger 10 ft off bottom ( 7 if you are brave ) and one half way down both same leads to avoid tangles . 

After sun starts to come up try the 35 to  90 ft depth and look for them on  the bottom . 

 

Spoons  and flashers also work but I like my J Plugs . 

Good call on the jplugs!  Will you run divers outside of your rigger Jplugs or is that asking for trouble?   Is afternoon typically a bust unless you run out deep?   Can you run the same in-close program in the evening close to dusk or is it not as productive typically as the AM?    Sorry my old man is old and I need to optimize his nap time 

[Grand Slam11]

First two hrs of the day and last two are the most productive. I’ve seen evenings as good or better than first light. Change speed and lures up to figure out what they want. Every day is different when dealing with staggers as they are picky! 

[HB2]

I agree with first and last part of day .

 

But you can get hits mid day sometimes.  

 

I  run a small boat program with 2 riggers one lure each rigger . 

 

If I start shallow , I'll run the j plug 50 to  100  ft back and keep the ball just under the surface . 

 

But sometimes I run a slide diver  . 

 

 

[TyeeTanic]

Staging kings strike out of anger, rather than feeding. They aren't feeding.

Brite colors, erratic lures (like plugs) are what you want to use to trigger them.

 

My biggest, a 35 lb staging king ... was caught when we snagged the bottom, and I was driving the boat in an inward spiral

to try and retrieve as much wire line as possible (salvage the situation) ... we had an angry king hit.  It was all accidental actually,

but then it got me thinking ... if you see some marks, why not just have 2 or 3 rods out to avoid tangles, and do some tight circles around them??

[ErieBuck]

9 minutes ago, TyeeTanic said:

Staging kings strike out of anger, rather than feeding. They aren't feeding.

Brite colors, erratic lures (like plugs) are what you want to use to trigger them.

 

My biggest, a 35 lb staging king ... was caught when we snagged the bottom, and I was driving the boat in an inward spiral

to try and retrieve as much wire line as possible (salvage the situation) ... we had an angry king hit.  It was all accidental actually,

but then it got me thinking ... if you see some marks, why not just have 2 or 3 rods out to avoid tangles, and do some tight circles around them??

Wow incredible!!  I'm going to remember that story!  

[ErieBuck]

Weird it seems all cut plugs from every manufacturer are out of stock!!  Strange, maybe they all were made at the same factory in china.  
 

luckily I have a good starter kit 

[ErieBuck]

Do you guys like to use dodgers/flashers with J-plugs, or run them naked?  

[AnglingAddict]

My opinion - right now flasher/flies are outfishing j-plugs.  As fish transition to skinnier water plugs will get better but on the east end the majority of the kings in 80-120 fow are falling to flasher/fly combos.  This past weekend we had 18 flasher fly bites, 4 meat bites and 0 plug bites for a total of 11 hours of fishing across two days - landing 14 adult kings.  As others have said fish the marks not the temp - most of our bites came 52 degrees and warmer. 

Edited August 30, 2022 by AnglingAddict

[ErieBuck]

Thank you @AnglingAddict, great info... much appreciated.  

[AnglingAddict]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by AnglingAddict

[ErieBuck]

Nice work!!  Beautiful family and boat as well!!  Where you running any spoons in your spread?  

[AnglingAddict]

No spoons in our spread although did hear a few guys took some on spoons.  Best flies for us were A-Tom-Mik ultra green glow (aka 41) and Glow Hammers early.  A-Tom-Mik B-Fly, Stud, and UV190 in the sun. A-Tom-Mik Steel Gator meat rig took 3 of our 4 meat bites.  Couple other decent kings my kiddo took - nothing LOC worthy though.  

Edited August 31, 2022 by AnglingAddict

[TyeeTanic]

18 hours ago, AnglingAddict said:

My opinion - right now flasher/flies are outfishing j-plugs.  As fish transition to skinnier water plugs will get better but on the east end the majority of the kings in 80-120 fow are falling to flasher/fly combos.  This past weekend we had 18 flasher fly bites, 4 meat bites and 0 plug bites for a total of 11 hours of fishing across two days - landing 14 adult kings.  As others have said fish the marks not the temp - most of our bites came 52 degrees and warmer. 

Yeah, if the kings are that deep, I don't think you want to run plugs. Flasher/fly sounds like a better bet.

 

My 35 lb was caught in around 40 to 60 ft of water ... for sure staging close to a mouth river.  

 

However, funny thing ... it hit a Gator Spoon ... like this:

 

[ErieBuck]

I'm going to put 6  gators on and drive around in spirals erratically until I catch me a 35lb!!  

[TyeeTanic]

39 minutes ago, ErieBuck said:

I'm going to put 6  gators on and drive around in spirals erratically until I catch me a 35lb!!  

LOL. Good luck!