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Bluefishing When most people think of the blues they are reminded of sad songs, broken hearts and unfulfilled dreams. When New Jersey fishermen think of the blues they remember great battles and weary arms. Every season bluefish move in to shallow water and are accessible to small boat anglers. Catching bluefish on light spinning and fly tackle is an incomparable experience and while most inshore blues average about 3 pounds, knowing how to locate the big choppers can make for some unforgettable fishing. The first wave of bluefish usually comes in around mid May. These large schools consisting of fish from one to four pounds enter inlets and travel way back into sheltered bays and estuaries. By the end of May, or early June, schools of larger fish, that have wintered offshore, move in. When they come inshore they are ravenous and will chase and eat everything they come across. They are great targets for small boaters as they tend to run the shoreline while moving up the coast. As these fish feed and fatten up they will move inside like their smaller cousins. Often they will compete with the striped bass that have taken up residence since April. While this may seem like an annoyance to some, it is an opportunity to hook up with some bruising battlers on light tackle, and especially on the fly. At this time of year these fish will be located from mid depth to the bottom and will not be showing on the surface with any regularity. This requires employing deep diving jigs and fast sinking fly lines. A style of jig that has become extremely popular over the past few seasons is the internally weighted soft plastic type, such as the Storm Wildeye Shad and the Tsunami Swim Shad. These jigs in a variety of colors have proven deadly. Colors that have been productive include the bunker pattern and chartreuse. Of course with toothy bluefish this type of lure may only be good for one or two fish. The old stand-by Diamond Jig will also work, in sizes from 1 oz. to 4 ounces depending on bait type and conditions. In early season a slower retrieve is more effective than the high-speed retrieve that works later in the year. Using diamond jigs or heavy bucktails in a bottom-bouncing manner can also be effective. The jig is dropped straight to the bottom, and any slack is reeled up. The jig is worked by lifting the rod tip upward several feet. Then the jig is allowed to sink to the bottom while keeping a tight line to feel for subtle hits. A jig heavy enough to keep the line straight up and down should be used. Many hits, if not most, will come on the down stroke and require alertness and concentration to feel. When a hit is felt all slack must be reeled out quickly and the rod tip lifted sharply to set the hook. When fly fishing using a very fast sinking line like a 450 grain sink tip, will allow the fly to get down to the fish. This line should be “counted down” at about a foot per second or slightly longer if there is a strong drift. Again, at this time of year there is no need for the high speed, two-hand retrieve required in summer and fall. A six to 12 inch stripping action usually does the trick. When a take is felt a hard hook set is needed to pull out all the slack from the deep line. Several sharp rod sweeps should drive the hook home. Fly hooks should be honed to needle sharpness and a wire or at least a heavy mono, shock tippet is an absolute necessity. Fly selection depends on the type of bait around, with Clouser minnows in the appropriate size an all around producer. As the season progresses the bluefish will increase in numbers and will move into more areas. From late June through August big blues will hang around wherever there are large concentrations of bait. A very effective way to locate blues is by looking for working birds. As waters warm the bluefish will become more active and push bait to the surface where diving birds can share in the carnage. Blues tend to be less spooky than other species like false albacore and striped bass, and will stay up longer even with several boats working the school. When chasing these fast moving schools it is advisable to slow down at least 100 yards from the school and come in at low speed, no more than 10 knots until the boat is in casting range, to avoid spooking the fish and putting them off the feed. Casting a diamond jig or a Clouser minnow fly into the school and retrieving at high speed should result in a hook up almost immediately. Experience has shown that most of the fish busting the surface are the smallest ones. If there are any bigger fish mixed in they will be under the bait. To target these fish cast a heavier jig, or a fly on a fast sinking line, to the edges of the school and let it sink. Use a moderate retrieve or even a jigging motion. Bluefish will follow a lure for a long way, keeping the jig working back to the boat can result in a hook up anywhere along the way. Probably the best way to locate bigger fish is to find bigger bait. During the summer large schools of adult bunker tend to hang right outside the surf zone. A nice thing about this fishery is that while the party boats and the majority of the fleet is offshore chumming the bluefish in deep water, inshore anglers can have this pretty much to themselves. Small boaters cruising at moderate speeds along the shoreline can locate the bunker schools by looking for the distinct commotion they make while flipping and finning on the surface. They appear as “nervous water”, meaning that the ripples they make create a pattern that looks different from the surrounding water. Bunker tend to swim in a circular pattern with as many as several hundred baits in one school and there presence is very noticeable even in choppy water. If the schools are deep a bunker breaking the surface here and there may give them away. Keeping a sharp eye out can help in locating them. Investigating anything that may have even remotely looked like a bunker flipping has a high percentage payoff. Watching the fish finder screen while running a searching pattern in the area will often locate the school. Several approaches can be employed to catch bluefish around these bait schools. The most consistently productive technique is the “snag and drop”. A weighted treble hook, or snagging rig, with wire leader is used to snag a bunker. The bait is allowed to swim with the reel in free spool. If bluefish are around they will make short work of a snagged bunker. Smaller fish will chop the bait leaving it maimed and bleeding which will often attract another bluefish. Sometimes it takes a lot of patience to wait for the runoff, but if the big gorillas are around it should not take long. If a fish picks up the bunker they must be allowed to run a while before any attempt is made to set the hook. Knowing the right time to set up can only come from experience. A general rule is to allow the fish to run 10 to 15 seconds, close the bail and wait for the line to come tight before raising the rod tip gently. If there is resistance sweep the rod back sharply to set the hook. This is necessary in order to rip the hook out of the thick bait. If there is no resistance disengage the reel and let the bait drift freely, there should be another bite within a minute or two. Sometimes it is necessary to do this several times before getting a solid hook up. Every now and then the fish will get fussy and take only chunks, so some experimenting may be needed to discover which works best. Fresh chunks can be free drifted or weighted to sink to the bottom. There is no doubt that seeing a giant bluefish leap out of the water to grab a top water plug is one of the great sights in saltwater fishing. Large pencil poppers or chuggers will often draw strikes when fished around schools of adult bunker. Working the edges of the bait school is the best approach but if fish are busting sight casting to them can be very effective. Other lures like large swimming plugs or tins can all be effective under these conditions, but may require persistence to draw a strike. Fly fishing these schools can be a real thrill. It will require using very large flies and a 10 or 11 weight fly rod. Flies like the Sedotti slammer, or a yak-hair Bozo fly from 12 to 16 inches in length can be cast on an intermediate or very fast sinking fly line, depending on the depth of the bait school. The arm wrenching strikes are nothing less than spectacular. Fighting these strong, fast fighters on the fly takes concentration and good reflexes. Keeping the line tight while giving the fish its head when it wants to run is a real trick. The drag should be kept relatively light, around 2 to 3 pounds, to prevent break-offs when the fish lunge away suddenly. Any blue over ten pounds landed on fly tackle should be considered a true trophy. Not every school of bunker holds fish. If artificials do not produce right away the snag and drop can help determine if there are any fish on the bait. Often several schools of bunker may be in close proximity and each one should be investigated carefully. If one school does not produce, another might. When the choppers have finally been located it will have made all the trouble worthwhile. When there are no birds or bait showing working structure can be productive. Structure can be in the form of wrecks, towers or lobster pots. A favorite summer haunt of big blues, which is still in sight of land, is the Ambrose tower. The massive understructure is a baitfish haven and attracts large bluefish in good numbers. Rips can also be productive. Rips form where flowing water hits some kind of obstruction such as abrupt changes in depth, places where multiple currents meet or where the current is deflected by a change in the contour of the beach. The Sandy Hook rip is an example of both current being deflected by an abrupt change in the contour of the beach and the meeting of conflicting currents, and is an excellent spot to look for blues all season long. High speed jigging, is a good searching method that covers the water efficiently when trying to locate fish in these blind situations. If fish are located a switch can be made to topwater plugs or fly fishing. During the fall massive schools of large bluefish will push inside to fatten up for the winter. In September and October mullet run the shoreline on their way out of the northeast, and will concentrate anywhere water flow is restricted, like jetties and under water lumps, Bluefish can be found cruising the shallows feasting on these substantial baits. Blue swimming plugs, from 3 to 5 inches long, are great imitators for mullet. In late October and November, as inshore waters cool, young of the year bait fish, like p-nut bunker and silversides, will flood out of estuaries making easy targets for bluefish looking for a protein load before the long, cold winter. Under these conditions the action can last all day. While almost any well presented lure or fly will draw a strike, top-water fishing can be outrageously good with anglers catching 20 or 30 fish on poppers. Fishing for blues is anything but sad, small boaters who put in the time and effort to find the big ones will definitely have something to sing about. |