Kingfish on the Bay

Type: Chesapeake
Region: Southern
Location: Chesapeake Bay

I caught this little guy down in the bay on the Virginia side. I mostly bass fish not sure what of fish it was. There was some debating with a few fishing friends. Can u please tell us what kinda of fish it was.

DNR Response: It is definitely a kingfish. It is hard to tell for sure from the picture if it is a northern or southern due to the glare on the fish and the fact that its dorsal fin is flat against the body. I would guess it to be a southern kingfish due to the how faint the vertical bars (bars angle slightly) are on the fish. Northern kingfish have slightly darker bars and the pair closest to the head form a V, which is not true for the southern kingfish. The dorsal fin of the northern kingfish has an elongated fin ray on the second or third spine from the head, the southern does not. The gulf kingfish is rare in the Chesapeake Bay and has no vertical barring at all, and lacks the elongated fin ray as well.