The tuna species have a special place in the hearts of saltwater anglers across the globe, and while there are many ways to catch them, using a kite to elicit incredible surface strikes has to be one of the most thrilling.

San Diego, California's Captain Ali Hussainy of the Local Knowledge show will catch tuna anyway he can, but kite fishing is undoubtedly his favorite way to target them in his home waters and also in Mexico, but this approach will work anywhere that tuna swim. It's both exciting and productive to catch the biggest tuna around.

Why Fly a Kite?

Fishing with a kite to keep your baits perfectly on the surface takes some work, but it is highly effective. Admittedly, Hussainy says that getting the kite fishing down to a science does not happen immediately and takes time on the water to perfect, but he adds that the results are well worth it.

"One of the biggest reasons we fish this way is that it filters out all of the small fish, plus the bites are really exciting, and that's why we enjoy doing it so much," he said. "Typically, you won't catch anything smaller than 100 pounds on the kite because you are using a bait that's 12 inches long. We've caught them over 300 pounds on that rig, but if a 500-pounder bit, we're geared up and ready for them, but we don't get many fish that size around here."

As you can imagine, catching a fish of that size on the surface is an intense bite, and it's what keeps Hussainy and other kite fishing fanatics coming back for more.

"The bite is epic, it's insane because you basically have a lion coming out of the water to whack that thing at 50 miles per hour," he said. "It's one of the most exciting ways to catch any fish, and you see that monster coming out of the water because the bait is always on the surface. Even when they miss the bait, two or three more are coming to try to get it, and people are screaming and cheering on the boat. This is hours of boredom followed by a few minutes of pandemonium, tuna fishing in a nutshell."

This bite is hot when the weather is hot and spans into October for the bluefin tuna in Hussainy's home waters. This style of fishing is a frequent video subject for his Local Knowledge show, with many videos of the action also on YouTube.

Locating Fish and Gearing Up for the Kite Bite

The most critical part of all types of fishing is locating the fish, which goes without saying, but can be tricky in a massive playing field like the Pacific Ocean. Hussainy mixes in a blend of old and new school as he searches for productive areas.

"A lot of it is visual, and you have to basically hunt the fish, using gyro binoculars to search for life, whether birds or fish jumping. Information is also critical, and we use a service called FishDope here in Southern California that will put you right where the fish were the day before," he said. "Once we see activity, we try to verify what they are by running over them with sonar and getting an idea of what grade and species they are. We will position the boat upwind about 500 feet and send either a rubber bait or a rigged dead flying fish into the school."

Fishing with a kite rig does require some unique gear, including a short rod just for flying the kite. For the actual bait and hook, they use a separate rod and reel with either a lure or a dead flying fish, rigged with skewers to spread the wings to make it appear to be jumping on the surface.

"Rigging a flying fish this way was invented in California over 100 years ago, but several years ago we started trying it again when we began to see the tuna population boom in our waters," said Hussainy. "Before that, we were skipping rubber flying baits around and trolling them, which caught fish, but as soon as you'd get a bite, you were driving away from the school of fish. With the kite, you can slow down, and when you get a bite, others in the boat can keep feeding them baits, and we can catch more fish when they're riled up off the side of the boat."

When a fish is hooked, they get the kite back in quickly so another angler has a shot to hook up. "We zip the kite back in, pin another bait on another rod, and send it right back out," he said. "That way, we can hook three, four, or even five fish at once, and since we have rail rods and not in a harness, we have freedom of movement when fighting fish. Fishing from a harness is pretty much a one angler game."

 

They will fish several versions of imitation flying fish or a rig consisting of a skewered dead flying fish, 9/0 J-Hook, and 5/O treble hook. A crimp connects the hooks with 400 lb Seaguar Big Game Blue Label fluorocarbon leader material, which has the abrasion resistance to stand up to long fights with massive tuna.

The kite is flown with a kite rod and attached with a helium balloon on a Penn Fathom Electric reel, 60 lb Seaguar Threadlock braid, and an AFTCO release clip for quick release.

"We'll put the kite up and walk the bait, and once we're around fish, we can do all sorts of tricks to keep the bait in the zone," he said. "It takes some understanding of the positioning of the kite and how it will act when the boat turns, but with some practice, you can really hone your skills to put the bait in the best spot to get a bite."
For the bait, Hussainy prefers a Penn 50 VISX reel on a Penn rail rod, and spools the reel with 130 lb Seaguar Threadlock hollow core braid and a leader of 200 lb Seaguar Fluoro Premier. The two lines are connected with a wind-on leader that Hussainy makes himself.

"Those two lines are confidence products for us, and we've been using them before we even had a show; it's a powerful combination," he said. "Threadlock is so easy to work with when you are splicing or making wind-on leaders, and Premier is so strong and abrasion resistant, it just doesn't break."

Flying a kite for tuna fishing requires some skill and additional gear, but the incredible bites and hard-fighting fish are not for the faint of heart. It's an experience that has many tuna anglers hooked and constantly coming back for more.

Seaguar Threadlock 16-strand hollow-core braid is available from 50 to 200 lb tests in 600- and 2500-yard spools in blue and white.

Seaguar Big Game Blue Label leader is available from 90 to 400 lb tests in 30-meter coil bags.

Seaguar Big Game Fluoro Premier leader is available from 100 to 200 lb tests in 25- and 50-yard coil bags.