(NOTE: This is part one of a two-part series on winning the offshore division of CCA’s STAR Tournament.)

    The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Saltwater Texas Angler's Rodeo (S.T.A.R.) tournament has become an annual pilgrimage for thousands of anglers along the Texas Gulf coast. While most effort is expended toward the tagged redfish and speckled trout division, there is another side to the S.T.A.R., and that is offshore..

    CCA awards prizes for dolphin (dorado), ling and king mackerel. In some years, the competition is stiff with anglers battling it out with monstrous fish in each division. During other years, there is plenty of space for anglers to get on the leader board, and contrary to common belief, it does not necessarily require owning a 32-foot Bertram.

    Texas has experienced a sort of king mackerel renaissance in recent years with the introduction of the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) tournaments. Mackerel fishing has gone high-tech, but in my opinion that is not necessary to win the S.T.A.R. division. SKA events are short-term, high-pressure events and anglers must scramble to locate big kings. When there's a whole summer to fish, anglers can spend a lot more time finding big fish and concentrate on some old standard methods.

    Steve Blotzer of Houston is an avid king mackerel specialist. We have been corresponding on the subject of big kings for a couple of years, and he has graciously granted me permission to share some of his techniques.

    Blotzer likes to fish the High Island rigs east of Galveston, which he believes hold some of the biggest kings on the Texas coast. “I like using live bait, and have pretty much only used live bait for the last five years or so,” he said.

    “I catch lots of big fish using live bait. I believe in keeping it as simple as possible because that's when I am most successful.”

    Blotzer keeps a log of his fishing activities, and said the first spot he looks for big kings is at rigs with high concentrations of small red snapper.

    “An old-timer once told me kingfish love to eat snapper, and that's why the rigs with lots of smaller snapper held the most kings. I started noticing this in my own fishing and started keeping log of it. I can't prove it scientifically, but I know I catch a lot of big kings around the snapper.”

    Blotzer's favorite bait is a live mullet fished under a balloon. He puts a circle hook in the mouth and J-style hook near the anal fin. “I use mullet that have been supercharged with oxygen because they're so much more lively than the others,” he said.

    “Then I float it out in the current and wait for the big kingfish to come in. I use really large mullet because the big kings have no problem taking a big bait.”

    When that strategy doesn't work, Blotzer trolls the mullet around rigs and some of the larger wrecks.

   “You would be surprised how many really big kingfish hang around boat wrecks,” he said.

    Top spots for king mackerel along the Texas coast are Sabine Pass, especially around the Sabine Bank drop-offs, Galveston/Freeport, and Port Isabel where big kings can be caught within sight of land.