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I've noticed over the years that bluefish are one of the more "inconsistent" species of fish as far as schooling. I've seen schools of blue fish from time to time, then i'll notice just a few here and there, more scatterd. Then there's the occasional lost "cow" that weighs like 15 pounds. (very rare down here) But rarely do you see topwater feeding schools of blue's here in SC. None the less, i've never had a big interest in targeting blues for that reason, they tend to be illusive.
What are some of the tactics you use in CT for bluefish? I know there is a much greater fishery for them there, and maybe when things slow down, I can find a school of the little pirana-like volenteers to help pass some time. When do you anchor off and cast a bait, when do you cast lures, and what conditions make you prefer trolling?
I don't know much about Blues, so any info would be appreciated. [cool]
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blues,blues,got to have my blues.
we do not lack blues.the only time i target blues is when i go after snapper blues,that is bluefish under 12 inches.we use snapper poppers for them.other than that,when the water warms up i have a rod set up with a 1 oz kastmaster,with a single hook.so when a school comes by while i am bottom fishing,or we are on our way out/in and we come across a blitz,i am ready,they move very fast,chasing bait fish.one min,your sitting in the middle of the school battleing one,then by the time you land it the school is200-300 yds away.you dont really need to know much about blues, while their feeding the will just about hit anything
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to me they aren't a pain but to other anglers they could be.even the smaller ones put up a good fight.i like useing light tackle for them,and this past year started flyfishing for them
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Toms right on about the fight they put up. And they do make good fluke bait. [ tip Tom passed on] I usually get them trolling or useing poppers for stipers. But their just a byproduct of my chaseing stripers most of the time. One weekend in the fall I'll chase them to fill up other peaples freezers and will switch out plugs,kastmasters,tubes&worms, and unbrella rigs to see what they really want that day. Made a new rig from an old one that got beat up bad from blues. Now every tube has a hook. How about 5 mad blue fish on one rod. Heehaaaa
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lol, better hold on to that rod very tight
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I even have the perfect rod for it. I have gotten 4 at a time many years back. 20lbs of POed fish.
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LOL, I had a similar senario, but in a different way........
We've always taken the girls (my wife and mother in law) fishing in the inlet when the spots are biting. [not spottail bass, spots] [cool]
I'm not sure if spots migrate that far up the coast or not.
Anyhoo, most people use a two hook rig with either bloodworms or the new hotness, that synthetic strip bait, which works 5 times better. One day I got careless and said what the hell. I took my ultra lite rod and reel I was using and rigged it up with 12 #4 hooks, it looked like an over-sized sabiki rig. LOL, boy was that a mistake. I wasn't thinking what would happen if all those hooks got a fish. And sure enough, it didn't take long after dropping it in the water, almost every hook on that rig filled up. LMAO [sly] I had to wait for some of the fish to straiten the hook before I could hand-line the rig up. Good thing I used those shiney arbadeen hooks. That poor rod was bent double over, tip to butt. Having braid on the reel, it didn't break, until I started to try and hand line it while it was full. LOL, I could feel the line tensing up, so I just let them beat themselves off the hook until I could get them up with out fear of breaking off.
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