[togmaster]

Funny but Blue fish was my favorite fish to fish for when i was a kid. My dad took me on the boats out of the bay ,Glory, America and others and I just wanted to catch Big blues. Now these days I find them to be on the bottom of my list except when bait fishing for sharks. Anyone else feel the same way about the old Blue?

 

[B.Attitude]

NO RESPECT...

Yeah Tog,
I know what you mean.As a young kid it was the same for me, Deep Sea Fishing for Blues.They fought like **** and at that time I still was only dreaming of catching my first striped bass.Bluefish has seemed to become a nuesance,kind of like robins and skates.They are great when I take people out that don't do much or any fishing,they have a blast.Its been quite a few years that I have actually targeted bluefish at 17.Now I just like to see a few in my chum slick while I'm sharking and thats about it.
PAULIE

 

[meandtheboyz]

Forgotten Blues

Tog,

You are exactly right, I used to fish out of the bay mostly on the Helen H and we would do 3 and 4 trips in a row(night and day). Sell the fish on the corner and go right back out. I took my kids this year and they caught their first blues and now they only want to fish for them and Stripers.

What turned me off were not the fish but the people that fish for blues. I fish almost exclusively on Party Boats and found the customers that fished for blues were the bottom of the food chain. Always piss drunk before they got on the boat, loud and abusive, never watched their lines. To me catching a blue on a party boat without a tangle was what its about.

I would love to find a nice boat for bluefishing with my kids.

Any suggestions!!!

Ps I drive all the way to Montauk 200 miles each way to fish with nicer people and nicer crews, no more Bay for me

 

[CANYONFISH]

Blue fishing was my first Deep Sea fishing. I was 5 years old when my Dad would take us blue fishing on the Dauntless out of Point Pleasant NJ. We would go with a few neighbors (Dads and Sons) it was great. A blue fish at 5 years old felt like a 150 lb YFT. Our neighborhood was so tight that we would have an annual blue fish charter on the Barvic (I think out of Brielle) about 30 in the neighborhood the first weekend after Labor Day. We would bring home the catch and the next day (Sunday) have a huge Bluefish Barbacue! My mom had a great recipe for a spicy tomato sauce...onions/peppers wrapped in foil on the grill....horseshoes....vollyball...softball.....best times I can remember as a kid! I will always have a good memories of blue fishing and although it is not the "Prize" game fish targeted by seasoned anglers...it is a great fish for beginners to catch...and pound for pound a great fighting fish!

 

[MIKE TUNA]

Yes Mike I feel the same way , many times they are just a pain in the butt when targeting something elese . I will most likely target them when I find them boiling with some lite tackle for catch and release unless I'm looking for bait . I have stripped them up before and caught some nice Fluke . Although I do like to catch a few snappers by the dock also for live bait .
Mike T

 

[leakyrivot]

I think they're a blast, there's nothing like trolling for them and having 4 lines go off - complete chaos and a scramble. The fight they give is just incredible on 20 lb tackle. Stripers are great too, and I wouldn't want to choose, but I think the blues really are more of a game fish - a 20 blue probably puts any striper to shame.

I've heard stories from the old timers about massive schools of blues, boiling water 1/2 miles wide moving down the coast, devouring everything in their path.. What other fish does that? I've never gotten why people don't enjoy them. Not the best eating fish, but still a delicasy when marinated & fresh on the grill, in my opinion. I'm hoping they stick around,

Jon

 

[Captneilf]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Come on guys!!!!

Nothing like diamond jigging blues with a bass thrown in sometimes. What excitement!!!! Take a quiet lady and hook her up with an 8 # blue after she drops a couple and she becomes a wild woman!!!

Man, did I have some good time running a blue fish boat. Some terrible times also, when the blues had the dull drums.

I don't miss being bitten by them!!!! OUCH! They have some eyes. Their eyes are used for research for humans.

Over the rail and into the pail!!!!!!!!
Ohhhhh, I love swinging those blues. So I drop a few, who cares. I love to fish the bow with more room.

 

[Striper77]

Blues !

I love blues, they provide action when there is nothing else doing, they are tons of fun on light tackle and if they are fresh caught, they taste great. How boring would things be if there were no blues around. And on a Fly Rod they are a blast ! I love 'em, hope all the rest of you leave them all for me ! The sight of a bluefish exploding on a popper stirs my heart !

 

[MIKE TUNA]

leakyrivot , OLd time stories ? They still do boil ! Last year in Montauk a half a mile square were boiling . All ****tails . Whats really cool about that is the sound of thousands chasing bait . Hearing the splashes of water . I remember many years ago 1 day coming back from the mudhole bluefish for miles and miles we could see them while cruising running over them .
Mike Tuna

 

[612219]

The forgotten blue. Yea.
When I moved out to the island, many years a go, I used to take night trips on the Speedy. It beat going to the gym. A little chum, play out your bait chunk and wacko. I think bluefishing became stale, because of the ease in catching them. There was no accomplishment or prestige, as there was with stripers. Today, I don't think I would target them, but I do enjoy plugging the ocassional blue on light gear. On a pound for pound basis, they give you all the action you could want. I don't think they're forgotten. I think they are tucked away for future reference.

 

[613616]

Togmaster

Blue fishing in the old days use to be like going from the frying pan into the fire ! Nothing like seeing a Blue Fish Blitz on the surface in every direction ! Started out with a 17 ft. Penn Yan --65 hp Johnson ! Guess what ? The boat was too slow to get into the action ! Had to move up to something faster! Made my own rigs from "Plastic Jump Rope Handles with Streamers" & "Old Stick Ball Bats "

Don't see that kind of action much anymore ! As the saying goes " Who wants to eat Blue Fish ",when you have SeaBass;Fluke;Tog etc to enjoy !

Fishy Frank

 

[Captneilf]

leakyrivot

Hi,

About 10 years ago I was cruising NW from Old Field Point, beautiful day, calm seas and had just scoped an area looking for blues. No sign of them and no birds so I headed NW into deeper water.

5 minutes later a high school guy comes running up to the wheel house and is yelling, "Capt, turn around"!!! The area I just left was teeming with birds ans all I could see was white water and not another boat in sight. This was in the Fall. So I turned around. The guys in the bow were casting into the blues on the top and catching ****tails. There was a pool involved and I told the fares to go to the botton and wind up if they wanted bigger fish. This is pre fish limits. Everyone wailed on the fish. As I was setting up the last drift, there were aceras of white water, I rsn the boat into the middle of the white water and turned the engine off. Then I just leaned on the wheel house lower dutch door and listened to all the bubbling noises. If you closed your eyes you would think you were sitting next to a mountain stream. Wish I had a video camera that time.

Now just before we return to port the mate cuts his hand and I have to fillet all those fish. So I get an old timer, point to the harbor entrance, have him run very slowly back as I fillet on a box in the bow so I can watch whats ahead of us.

All the fish are done except for a large cooler that a father and his 3 sons filled. They drag the cooler to the bow. I open it, not only was it loaded but all the fish were big. They fished the botton and won the pool.

What an afternoon!!!!!!!! Hard work but what fun.

 

[strip]

I feel the same as most .....I remember when bluefish got me real excited as a kid. I now find them mostly ho-hum BUT am really grateful for them as they allow me to get my kids into some good action.
blues can no longer make me get up at 3:00am though.

i do wonder if my perspective would change if they became sarce and harder to catch.

 

[MakoMike]

Tog,
Like you I grew up fishing for blues, on the Ranger, the Tampa IV and V, the Elsie K. Today I target them when I need shark bait. But I always keep a couple of jigging rods ready and when we come around Montauk Point, if there are fish showing and its not too late, we'll stop and jig some up, just for the fun of it. Sometimes, if we're fishing inshore and the bite is slow, we'll target them on six pound test spinning outfits. Now That's some fight!

 

[sam843]

When we were young and novices blue fish was the only big fish that was easy to catch in numbers.
I remeber catching them 2 and 3 at a time using a jig and 2 tubes on a meat stick on the Tampa.
As we grew older we learned to target other big fish bass.tuna ect.. which were beter table fare and more profitable
As expirenced fisherman we look down on the blue fish as a novices fish that does not taste good,can't sell,
dirtys the boat up only good for bait
When a fish becomes too easy to find and catch the challenge is gone and unless you are making money on it you look for other fish that are more challenging.

(This post edited by sam843 on 02/11/2003)

 

[624965]

Forget-them blues

After working 7 years on a night party boat. I can actually say that I loathe the"yellow eyed little devils" I can honestly say that there is not one redeemable quality in ole'POMATOMUS SATATTRIX, they are my own personal ****........

...... They are fun to catch though.
( I guess)

 

[Fishing Friend]

If it wasn't for blues my fishing experiences in the surf and on party boats growing up would have been very dull. I agree with all of you guys that mentioned that because they are so easy to catch they are not as desireable as other species. As far as table fare goes, I would call them the "poorman's salmon" of the Northeast. The small ones are rich in fish oils and Omega3-Fatty acids. Eaten fresh with the red meat cut out ( at least the lateral line ) the remaining white meat is quite tasty. They key is to bleed them
and pack in ice immediately. Bleeding is a must and except for tuna nobody ever does it.

(This post edited by Fishing Friend on 02/11/2003)

 

[gebby]

circa 1968-69; grandpa's 23 foot (greymarine?) out of marine park. trolling wire handlines, no rods, with surgical tubes. chasin the birds and filling garbage cans with big blues. some of my best early memories. g.

 

[togmaster]

Best time to get them?

Well my favorite time of year to get the monster blues was in nov.near the immaculata area! Man an Ava47 and a good stiff pole and it was lock and load
Every fish was 10 and up even had some in the 20's. We used to run charters with Capt. Larry H inthe fall and the guys would fill the boat tothe top of the gunwhales. Worse part is like Neil said having to clean them . Funny one year my Dad took some up north to bear hunt. He didn't get one but some guy got the state record bear from the smell of deat hthey make after 5 days off ice. The bear was almost 700 lbs. .
So i guess there good for other bait also?

 

[611811]

Favorite technique and it's not jigging!!!

A warm breezy late spring, summer or early fall evening. Any harbor on the North Shore, Manahasset being my personal favorite. Three or four friends, a cooler of beer and Yoo-Hoo and a livewell filled with bunker. Pick a nice cozy spot to anchor and watch the sunset. Chunks drifting back in the current, reels in free spool with the clicker on. The sensation of sitting back, relaxing, shootin' the breeze knowing that at anytime the firedrill could start and chaos will reign supreme. ZZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZ-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZZZZZZZ-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....FISH-ON!!!

It doesn't get any better than that. If you limit, great. If not, so what? And don't forget the shot at a cow bass!

HAPPY FISHING,
Ralph