When we hear of kite angling, or any use of kite with fishing, most people think of the method used by big game fishermen for deploying live baits for marlin, sailfish and other game fish. Do an internet search on kite fishing and this is what most of the results will lead to this method.
Well for those who don't know, there is another use for kites and fishing that doesn't involve a boat. In many parts of the world, anglers use kites when fishing from shore. The main reason is to be able to get their baits out far enough to reach offshore reefs or just get to deeper water. How often have you seen birds breaking beyond casting distance and wished you could get out there? When fishing shallow sandy beaches with large surf conditions, it is often impossible to get your bait out behind the back line of breakers just by casting. The other advantage of using a kite is that it allows you to keep the bait and tackle near the surface, thereby avoiding getting hooked up in reefs or other objects on the bottom.
The question I get asked the most about kite fishing is "what happens when the kite gets pulled under water?" Well the only time that happens, or should happen, is if the wind dies, or your kite loses it's tail and becomes unstable and dives into the water. The kite is supposed to stay in the air all the time. This leads to the type of kite one should use.
With kite fishing, you need a kite that is going to provide the correct amount of pull and lift. More importantly, you want a kite that is very stable. Kid's kites from a toy store are probably not going to cut it. I could write an entire article just on kites, but for now, let's go with a square homemade kite using thin wooden strips and garbage bag plastic covering. A square kite with a good tail will hang in the sky without moving and provide a consistent pull. Your kite will get wet, so water proof materials, especially the tail, is critical.
The kite tail should be long enough to keep the kite stable and also remain dry and sand free. One of the best kite tail materials is a roll of nylon tube netting that is used to bag vegetables like onions. You can easily shake the sand and water off it. The size of the kite is selected based on the wind speed and size of bait you are fishing with. Strong wind, small kite and vice versa. With the correct kite, it should be snatched easily out of your hand by the wind, with no running up and down the beach.
In order to fly a kite and drag a bait out to sea, you will need a lot of line. Therefore you need a big reel. Usually kite fishermen are not after small fish, so big game fish reels are common that can hold hundreds or even thousands of yards of line. Again it depends how far off shore you will be fishing. Sometimes a kite can be used simply to get past a small set of waves and keep the bait suspended in the water column.
There are two main methods of deploying the kite. One is to have a dedicated kite rig, for launching flying and retrieving the kite, and a separate fishing rig for hooking and landing the fish. The two rigs are connected up until the time of the strike and then the two separate allowing you to fight the fish. The other method is to have the kite attached to the fishing line, all on the same rig. This method keeps things simpler, but means you may end up fighting the kite and the fish. Having the kite attached during the fight can help keep the fish near the surface during the fight too. The kite is detached just before the last 150 feet or so of line is retrieved. This is usually a critical function and having a buddy to help is important.
Either method can work and can be adapted depending on the particular fishing conditions you experience. Kite fishing of any kind, when done from the shore, obviously works best when offshore breezes are common. In those countries or regions where offshore breezes are not common, points or jetties can still be fished successfully. With an adjustable kite, you can also tack the kite into the wind and achieve fishing angles close to forty degrees either side of the wind direction. In other words, you do not have to fish only where the wind is blowing.
Another adjustment your kite should have is an elevation adjuster. This allows the kite to fly high with less horizontal pull, or fly flat and low and pull with maximum force. By changing the pitch of the kite it will behave much like the lip on a crank bait. How much tilt you put on the kite is often determined by wind conditions and needs to be balanced with the weight of the terminal tackle and surf conditions. When launching a large bait through pounding surf, you need a strong force to counter the force of the waves. In this case it is better to fly the kite lower with more power. Fishing off quiet beaches or with very strong winds, it may be better to angle the kite to fly higher. Mastering this takes practice.
Now I will cover the terminal end of the kite rig. It is not as simple as just having a bait on a hook. Consider for a moment what would happen if your bait was floating out on the surface and kite hanging motionless in a gentle breeze. Then all of a sudden the wind picks up a little and the kite soars, dragging your bait 100 feet out of the water? It took a lot of time and effort to get your bait out there, so you don't want to reel it in and re-adjust the kite.
This is where a ballast comes in. A ballast will keep your bait near the surface when the wind drops and help keep it in the water when the wind strengthens. The simplest and most efficient ballast is a plastic soda bottle half filled with water. Out of the water, the water in the bottle adds weight to the rig, and in the water, the air in the bottle keeps the rig from sinking. The air also makes the ballast act as a large bobber that the fish will fight against. The size of bottle is usually determined by conditions, or by regulations such as in tournaments.
When I kite fished, it was mainly for large sharks off the coast of Africa. Sharks up to 1000Lbs were caught using kite tackle. There is no reason why you can't fish for other species, and I have caught other types of fish with the kite rig. When fishing for sharks and other toothy fish you will need wire leader just as you would fishing off a boat. Making the wire leader long enough to keep the biting part of the fish from your fishing line. The length of the leader from the hook to the ballast will determine how deep below the surface you are fishing.
On the line above the ballast, going up toward the kite, attach to or three sheets of black garbage bag plastic. Using clothes pegs, makes it easy to attach them. These are your strike indicators. When a big fish takes the bait it will pull the terminal tackle, ballast and strike indicators under water. If you are fishing several hundred yards out to sea, you will need these to know when you have a strike. A pair of binoculars (even cheap ones) will help you keep an eye on the indicators. Even with a big fish, it will be several seconds before you feel anything on the rod. But seeing the indicators go down, gives you time to prepare for the big pull that's coming. Why use two or three indicators? Well, sometimes a smaller fish will take the bait and not have the strength to pull all the markers under water. Maybe only the lower one will drop into the water and this change in configuration will be enough to alert you.
Black plastic is the most visible color during the day. When night fishing (an this is a very productive time) you obviously can't use black plastic. For night time, simply tape a glow stick to the line above the ballast. It is very exhilarating to see your glow stick plunge out of site on a dark night. The placement of the indicator depends on how far off shore you are fishing, or the wave size. It must be high enough above the ballast to remain visible from shore, usually about 10 feet is sufficient.
The kite is usually several hundred feet up in the air and should stay there, unless the prey takes a really deep dive. If you leave you kite attached all the time, it will still stay flying while you fight the fish. If you are fishing with a double rig, then the strike should detach the fishing line from the kite line. There are several types of release clips available and are used for outriggers and down riggers. A double rig is often more convenient when fishing closer in shore. Whether fishing a single or double rig, your kite should stay up all the time - preferably all day or night. There should be no need to bring it back down to earth unless wind conditions change radically. A kite that ditches in the water is never a good thing. Pulling a kite through the water is a lot of hard work.
When fishing for really big fish, you will need a fighting harness and obviously a reel that can accommodate the harness and the big fish. Having a harness will save your arms during a long battle with a big shark. A basic marlin rig will work well for many big fish. An important safety note. With a harness you are attached to the fish. A big shark can easily drag you down the beach toward the water (been there, done that). Always have a knife on your belt to cut loose should something malfunction.
Speaking of safety, you need to be aware of others using the ocean where you are fishing. The black plastic indicators on your line near the surface will alert boaters who might otherwise ride right over your terminal tackle. Don't be surprised when watching through your binoculars, the puzzled looks a boater will exhibit when seeing a fishing line extending vertically up into the sky, as if attached to a sky hook. Often they can't see the kite way up in the sky.
I usually try and keep the kite as low as possible as planes, like those with advertising banners, often fly low enough up and down the beach, to pose a hazard. I have lost several kites to the props of low flying aircraft.
Kite fishing is not a simple science, and is definitely more of an art. By using the basic principles of wind power and a kite to deploy your bait, you can use your imagination to adapt the rest of the equation to match your unique conditions. There is so much more to kite fishing than can be described here, but hopefully this sheds some light on a method of shore fishing that is not very well known. Start simple and give kite fishing a try. You never know what lurks in those depths off shore.
