There are 22 artificial reefs scattered offshore of Georgia. Most are marked with identifying buoys that also serve as convenient locations to catch resident baitfish. Detailed information about the reefs is available in several commercially produced maps or by online going to www.coastalgadnr.org, where you find both an artificial-reef guide and an up-to-date list of latitude/longitude coordinates for the material at each reef site.

"When I'm looking for a fish to win a late-summer tournament," Capt. Smith continued, "I'll head to Gray's Reef or to a spot closer to shore; maybe the area around D Buoy off the mouth of the Altamaha River or even the ship channel in Brunswick. As a rule, we catch bigger kings closer to shore."

Smith's faith in Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary is well placed. The current state record -- a 75-pound, 12-ounce giant caught by Joe Bell of Statesboro -- came from this area in June of 2004. Plus, dozens of tournament-winning smokers have been pulled from this area of submerged limestone outcroppings located 17 miles east of Sapelo Island. Coordinates for fish-holding spots and the NOAA data buoy can be found on commercially produced maps or at the aforementioned Georgia DNR Web site.

SIZE MATTERS
Between my fishing activities and. working tournament weigh-ins, I've looked in the stomachs of hundreds of kingfish, finding everything from squid to shrimp to snapper. One thing holds true -- big fish eat big bait. No wonder kingfish anglers obsess about having just the right bait. In fact, choosing the bait can sometimes be harder than choosing where to fish.

Capt. Howard Poe, a transplant from North Carolina to Darien, knows all too well the challenge of choosing just the right bait. Before his move south, he made a name for himself with a victory in the prestigious 500-boat Hardee's Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament and the 1996 SKA National Championship. Now he's the organizer of the popular mid-July tournament in Darien, Captain Hap's Kingfish Bash On The Bluff. He's also a fierce competitor in local events and the SKA Yamaha Pro Tour.

"I like menhaden because they work regardless of whether I'm fishing nearshore or offshore," Capt. Poe said. "During the late summer, we have schools of menhaden scattered all along the Georgia coast. Find some pelicans diving, and you've found the menhaden. They usually school by size and show themselves by flipping at the surface.

"I judge the size of the fish in a school by the size of the flip and by the way the pelicans are working the school," the angler continued. "If they dive straight down into the school from a high altitude, you can be sure the menhaden are good sized, probably 6 inches or larger. If the pelicans dive from a shallow angle at a low altitude, chances are the menhaden are too small to make good kingfish bait."

Like others in the trade, Poe relies on a heavily weighted, large-diameter monofilament cast net to catch menhaden before heading to the fishing grounds. An 8-foot net with 5/8-inch mesh and 1 1/2 pounds of weight per foot of lead line is the minimum for the job. Many anglers opt for larger nets, up to 12 feet in size, just to make sure they can efficiently catch menhaden on those days when the slimy baitfish are scattered by predators or rough seas.