what is a "kingfish"

I was just wondering if anyone knew what a "kingfish" is.  I've seen it in posts around the Monterey/Santa Cruz area. Being a fish biologist, more importantly a fish identification nerd, I haven't heard of this common name. Genus and species name anyone?

White Croaker
Genyonemus lineatus

MolBasser

Thanks.  Sometimes I remember they would be mixed in with anchovies and/or sardines on party boats in SoCal and they were the ticket for big calico (kelp) bass.  I imagine they would be great ling baits.

Yep, I bet they would be good bait.

Now that I know that you can actually use gamefish in saltwater as bait.

MolBasser

They are very good at stealing your bait without getting hooked when you're trolling or mooching in shallow water.

when i look at a kingfish it reminde me of a miniature white seabass.

i dont know what one really looks like but i would picture it looking similar. the shape of the mouth, the croaking sound it makes etc....

i use em for crab bait and it works well.

if i knew they were baby wsb i would never use em for bait   

Baby white seabase have verticle bars on their sides that white croaker do not.

Additionally, they have a belly "zipper" that the white croaker don't.

They are related though.

MolBasser

JohnGuineaPig,
White Sea Bass are actually croakers same family as all the other croakers except they taste good and get very large.  Don't worry, you'd have a hard time confusing baby white sea bass with the other small croakers.  Baby white sea bass also have a distinct purple color or sheen to them.