Technique 05

Kite fishing in the Canary Islands

A kite holds the bait on the surface with no line in the water. To a predator looking up, there is nothing to give the trick away.

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Four crew in the water holding a giant bluefin tuna before release — A bait on the surface, a tuna from below.

What kite fishing is

A kite flies off the boat and carries the line out to the side. The bait hangs from it and swims on the surface, held there, splashing: while the leader and the swivel stay in the air rather than in the water.

That is the whole point. A fish coming up from below sees a struggling bait and nothing else. No line, no wire, no shadow of a leader. It is the most natural presentation available on a boat.

Best forBlue & white marlin, tuna, dorado

Wind8 – 20 knots

BaitLive, on the surface

SeaCalm to moderate

Physical demandLow until the strike

When and why

When we use it

It needs wind: too little and the kite will not fly, too much and it becomes unmanageable. Somewhere between eight and twenty knots is the working range, which in the Canaries is most days.

We use it when the fish are up and looking, and particularly when they have been shy of a trolled spread. A boat that has passed over the same water twice stops fooling anyone; a kite bait two hundred feet to the side has not.

Target species

What we catch on the kite

All species

Blue Marlin

May to November · Surface to 250 m

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White Marlin

October to November · Surface to 150 m

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Bluefin Tuna

March to early May · 50 to 600 m

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Yellowfin Tuna

All year · Surface to 250 m

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Bigeye Tuna

October to March · 200 to 500 m

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Dorado (Mahi Mahi)

Summer and early autumn · Surface to 20 m

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Tackle

The kite itself, a dedicated reel for the kite line, release clips, and the fishing outfit matched to the target: heavier for marlin and big tuna, lighter for dorado.

Kite lineDedicated reel

ClipsRelease clips

OutfitMatched to target

BaitLive

On board

What it is like

Watching a marlin come up on a kite bait is the most visual thing that happens on this boat. You see the bill before you feel the line, and there are usually a few seconds where nobody says anything.

We don't wait for the fish. We follow them.

Tell us when you are coming

Send us your dates and the species you are after. We will tell you honestly what the ocean is likely to be doing.

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