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Yellowtail Kingfish / amberjack and a big string ray hunting together - awesome drone footage

Mark Totzke's avatar
Mark Totzke 835 posts
835 posts
Mark Totzke says:
Hi guys,

got some awesome drone footage a few days ago of a kingfish hunting together with a stingray.
This is very common in the shallow estuaries during summer and a great way to spot and target kingfish on saltwater flies or casting lures from the beach. If you can spot a big stingray there is a good chance a kingfish will be cruising along.


Likes: 3 Login to reply 4 years ago
itsaboat's avatar
itsaboat 1447 posts
Quote -

If you can spot a big stingray there is a good chance a stingray will be riding it.

End Quote -

*cough* *cough* Mark, me old mate...hahaha - :D:D:woot::woot::O:O

Mark, I understand you own the place...But really...A stingray riding another stingray ?? There are kids watching this !!!

Did you even think of asking the kingfish what he might think of all this?? What if the kingfish does not identify as a stingray?? It might claim to be gay or bi...or it might even claim to be a clam.

No...You just say the kingfish is a stingray riding another stingray...:angel::woot:
 Seriously, great video !! Very interesting. I didn't know that a pelagic like kingfish would follow a bottom feeder.
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Mark Totzke's avatar
Mark Totzke 835 posts
oops... that happens if I write in a hurry... LOL
thanks for spotting that - just corrected the post

Yeah this is a very special symbiosis between the two species.
The kingfish that I have caught recently had lots of baby flounder in it's stomach.
I assume they get stirred up by the stingray and the kingfish seem to love hunting and eating them.

Loads of saltwater fly fisher seem to know about this and target the kingfish by casting flies to the stingrays.
The sand flats of Golden Bay in New Zealand are famous for targeting kingfish this way.
I had some success casting softbaits to them rather than flies. Mainly because I'm hopeless casting a fly rod with any accuracy and distance.
The trick is to land a relatively small lure directly next to the ray and retrieve really fast to imitate a fleeing fish.
 
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