![]() Also on the trip were Jennifer Matney, Jeremiah Matney and Jacob Matney. The information board at Harbor Walk Marina listed the angler as “Whole Team,” which included deck mates Sarver and Jeff Tolbert, and Captain Jake Matney. The fishermen departed from Destin Harbor on Friday and came back Sunday with the giant bluefin, having covered 160 miles, according to WEAR-TV. Though it was a record-size fish, it was not an official record. So prepare yourself for battle, and come test your mettle with a true sea monster this fall.The catch of an 832.2-pound bluefin tuna off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico was a dream come true for Devin Sarver and the crew aboard the boat Noname over the weekend. ![]() A reminder: Swap out the trebles on topwater lures for J-hooks, or your bluefish outing will end with a trip to the emergency room.Īt the right time of year, tangling with bruiser-size bluefish is standard fare in New Jersey, where the state record tipped the scale at a whopping 27 pounds, 1 ounce - just 4 pounds shy of the IGFA all-tackle world record. Casting around the outskirts of a bunker school under attack and ripping the popper across the surface results in explosive strikes. When the big blues are really busting up bait schools, topwater poppers make those gorillas go bananas. “The bunker swims downward as the blues come up to the surface to inhale it.” Gamboa also hooks the bait through the anal vent when bluefish start chomping off the tails of the baitfish. “I’ll generally bring the bunker back into the boat, rehook it through the anal vent with a 5/0 Octopus hook, and send it back down,” says Gamboa. Snag-and-drop tactics –– ripping a weighted treble hook through a baitfish school to snag a livie and then drop it to the bottom –– provides a quick and easy live-bait presentation. The scrappiest metal jigs you have in your tackle box work just as well.Įspecially during fall, when the big blues corral bunkers and sand eels close to shore, it’s time for live bait. So come prepared with an array of colors and sizes, but don’t use shiny new lures for rampaging blues if you don’t have to. Be aware that even bluefish get picky sometimes, and hit only naked jigs or those with a certain-color tail. Bluefish stage at certain depths and hang there for awhile, so you are bound to get another hit if you repeat that process on the next drop.Ĭut to the chase and opt for thin jigs, as their wider-profile counterparts take longer to wobble downward. Bluefish will just laugh at you.” And when you get throttled on a jig, note how many cranks off the bottom you were. “Reel the jig to the surface as fast as you can. The quicker the retrieve, the better, according to O’Grady. ![]() Remember to keep your reel in free-spool with slack line so the bait drifts naturally. ![]() Normally a weightless line offers the most natural presentation, but in a strong-running current or when the fish are holding deeper, a small split shot or a ½- to 1-ounce egg sinker above the barrel swivel gets the bait down into the chum line. “When smaller fish are gobbling up the tiny chunk baits, I’ll opt to cut the back of a bunker lengthwise into a 5-inch pennant shape, then hook it through the nontapered end, and free-line it back into the slick.” “That said, you can fool them with three or four 1-inch pieces lanced on the hook.” But there comes a time to go bigger. ![]() It’s like they’re filling up by eating thousands of peanuts,” says O’Grady. “Normally you’d think big baits get the big fish, but those gators happily gorge on 1-inch chunks of bait. In this case, bigger is not necessarily better. Those monster bluefish have mouths big enough to swallow a whole mackerel in one gulp, and a lot of times, they torture us by repeatedly hooking themselves on our shark baits.”īluefish follow a bunker slick like a lion going in for the kill, so a good chum line with steady deployment of bunker chunks draws them in day or night. “Usually when we tangle with 15- to 20-pound blues, we are mako shark fishing 30 to 50 miles offshore. Gamboa also finds the fish while targeting larger pelagics. If you cut open their bellies and ling or bergall spill out, that means the bluefish are patrolling the bottom around the wreck, gobbling up whatever moves,” says Gamboa. “We always find the big dogs on the high-profile wrecks off Shark River reef, about 15 miles out. “I think those larger fish hang on the edge of Mud Hole to take advantage of the upwelling, but we’ll even mark them down to 200 feet.”īig blues also gravitate toward deepwater wrecks. “A depth of 100 to 120 feet around Mud Hole seems to be the sweet spot,” explains Capt. Although the slammers might show up inshore in the surf, they’re most often 5 to 15 miles offshore. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |