Tag: anglers

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Fish for amberjacks around artificial reefs

Amberjacks don’t get much respect from South Florida anglers, but they should.

They’ll bite throughout the spring when other species won’t. Getting amberjacks to the boat is challenging because they fight like mixed martial arts heavyweights.

AJs, as they’re known, gather around local artificial reefs to spawn from March through early June. That makes them easy to target, but it also makes them difficult to land because they’ll head straight for the wreck when they’re hooked. If they make it, that’s pretty much the end of the fight, because it’s next to impossible to pull them out, and usually the fishing line ends up breaking on the wreck.

Local amberjacks range from 20 to 50 pounds, but they can be bigger, like 60 or 70 pounds. To give their anglers a fighting chance, most charter captains use 50 pound outfits spooled with monofilament or braided line. Leaders range from 80 to 130 pound monofilament and are tied to a big circle hook.

Those captains use a variety of live baits, with goggle eyes, small blue runners, and small bonitos-their favorites. AJs also willbite ballyhoo, mullet,  speedos, pinfish, and grunts.

The basic rig has a three-way swivel tied to the main line with a 10-foot or longer leader tied to the swivel along with a sinker on a short piece of monofilament. Sinker weights can range from 8 to 16 ounces depending on the strength of the current.

Hooks used with bait for amberjacks cannot be made of stainless steel in state waters off South Florida and anglers must have a de-hooking device aboard their boats to aid in the release of fish. As soon as you hook an amberjack, you need to reel as fast as possible to get the fish away from a wreck, although a big AJ can pull enough drag to get back to its hangout. A good boat driver can help by pulling away from the wreck after the fish is hooked.

Even then, the fight is far from over, because the fish will circle and dig all the way to the surface, then take out line just when you thought it was about to give up.

Another way to catch amberjacks is by jigging for them. Butterfly or flutter jigs can be dropped around a wreck and then worked almost to the surface by lifting the fishing rod up and down as you reel.

If the jig, which darts and flutters as it sinks, doesn’t get bit, let it fall back down and jig it up again. Bites can come on the fall or after the lure hits bottom and is jigged up.

Conventional or spinning outfits spooled with 50 to 65 pound braided line tied to five feet of 80 pound monofilament or fluorocarbon leader can be used to jig.

The only downsides to jigging: Even if you don’t hook an amberjack, it can be tiring after doing it several times. It can also be expensive if the AJs you hook get into the wreck and break the line. The jigs typically cost from $10 to $25, so a good day jigging wrecks for AJs can easily cost you $100 in lures.

Among the pluses: You don’t have to mess with live bait and the jigs also catch cobia and grouper, as well as almaco jacks, kingfish, and blackfin tunas.

Figuring out where to drop your jigs or baits is easy. Just visit any of the area’s artificial reefs in 150-300 feet (you can find their coordinates at myfwc.com/conservation/saltwater/artificial-reefs).

Among the best wrecks for amberjacks are many of the 25 artificial reefs sunk off Pompano Beach by the Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo, including the Corey and Chris in 244 feet, the Lowrance in 200 feet, and the Miller Lite in 155 feet.

The Rodeo reefs were so good for amberjacks that commercial anglers used to hammer them every spring. Rodeo officials repeatedly asked state and federal agencies to make the tournament’s reef area off-limits to commercial fishing. When that didn’t happen, the Rodeo refused to sink any more ships.

Deeper wrecks are often better than shallow wrecks because they don’t receive as much fishing pressure as the shallow ones. If you don’t get a bite on a wreck after a while, move to another one and keep moving until you  find the fish.

It’s best to fish the edges of a wreck rather than dropping a bait or jig in the wreck. Depending on the current, you might have to position your boat well off the wreck so by the time your bait hits bottom, it’ll be adjacent to the wreck.

In the Atlantic, the amberjack daily bag limit is one per person, the size limit is 28 inches from the tip of the mouth to the fork of the tail and the season is open year-round. The Gulf of Mexico bag limit is also one per person, the size limit is 34 inches fork length and the season is open May 1-31 and Aug. 1-Oct. 31.

A fried amberjack sandwich is popular fare in restaurants in Florida’s Panhandle, and smoked amberjack is quite tasty, but most local anglers release the fish because their flesh tends to have worms. The worms are not harmful, but they can make you think twice about eating an amberjack as you pull them out of a fillet.

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Anglers: It’s Spanish mackerel time

Anglers who fish offshore or inshore can celebrate the holiday season by catching Spanish mackerel, which are plentiful in South Florida in December right on through March.

According to legendary Capt. Bouncer Smith of Miami Beach, all that’s needed to catch the smaller cousin of the king mackerel, or kingfish, are some No. 1 planers or some 2-ounce cigar leads, and some No. 2 red-bead Clark spoons.

The planers, which are rectangular pieces of steel with a clip attached, and cylindrical weights get the spoons down to where the Spanish mackerel hang out.

“Anytime that you exit the inlet and it’s too rough to run, or if you see birds anywhere along the coast in your travels, you deploy your planers or cigar leads with a 6-foot to 8-foot leader and a red-bead No. 2 Clark spoon, and there’s an excellent chance that you’ll encounter Spanish mackerel,” said Smith, who added that the fish eat swimming plugs.

“To complement your emergency supply of Clark spoons and planers, some 6- or 7-inch Yo-Zuri Crystal minnows are also an excellent trolling bait for Spanish mackerel.”

Smith said don’t hesitate to put out some double-hooked ballyhoo, which are commonly used for dolphin, if you come across a school of mackerel as you’re heading back to the inlet. He said ballyhoo are a good bait for big Spanish mackerel, which can top 10 pounds.

“If you encounter Spanish mackerel, or Spanish mackerel are your target for the day, bring ample boxes of chum, and if at all possible, glass minnow chum, which is not to be confused with silversides,” Smith said, adding that Spanish mackerel can be caught in inlets out to 90 feet of water, with the best fishing in 20-40 feet. “And then a bucket of live shrimp or several dozen small live pilchards, and it’ll be one of the funnest days your kids will ever have.

“You find where the mackerel are, you anchor up and you chum. Fishing with small live shrimp and small pilchards, the kids’ll have lock and load action, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Smith emphasized that the smaller the shrimp, the better.

“The biggest tip on fishing for mackerel with shrimp is don’t pick the big shrimp,” he said. “Real small shrimp will consistently catch a Spanish mackerel. The real big shrimp, if it gets bit, will get bit in half, and always the end without your hook in it. So go with the really small shrimp. The ridiculously smallest one in the bucket. It’s highly effective for Spanish mackerel. Hook it through the head, because you want them to swim very naturally.

“If you want to have a little bit more exciting action, it’s very critical if you’re using a nylon jig or a bucktail, to use the smallest little piece of shrimp on the hook. The bucktail or the nylon jig will dance very pretty, but if you put a big chunk of shrimp on, it won’t. If you use a little teeny piece of shrimp, then the jig will still have great action and it will smell like a shrimp.”

Smith recommended using 1/0 to 3/0 long-shank hooks with the baits, preferably black or bronze, with 30- or 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders, which are invisible in the water. He did note that some sharp-toothed mackerel will cut through the leaders, but you’ll get many more bites than if you use wire leaders.

Losing a hook is not a big deal, but losing a lure can be. Smith said that anglers who cast spoons, plugs, or jigs for mackerel might find fluorocarbon too expensive if they get too many cut-offs, so he suggested using 20-pound titanium wire.

To keep a Spanish mackerel, it must measure at least 12 inches from the tip of the mouth to the fork of the tail. The daily bag limit is 15 per angler, which will provide numerous meals for your family and friends. The delicate white flesh can be prepared a number of delicious ways, including smoked, broiled or grilled, and it’s excellent for ceviche.

“That’s my very favorite smoked fish,” Smith said. “And it’s really good
fried when it’s fresh.”

Having the fun of catching a dinner that satisfying is something worth celebrating.

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Attention anglers: Time for the fall mullet run

You know autumn has arrived in New England when the leaves turn different colors.

You know autumn has arrived in South Florida when tarpon turns cartwheels off the beach.

While people head north to catch the fall foliage, local anglers head to beaches, fishing piers, and jetties to catch the annual fall mullet run, which happens in October.

The mullet migration offers some of the best, most frenzied fishing of the year, as a variety of predator species show up to feast on the schools of mullet swimming south before heading offshore to spawn.

Tarpon and Spanish mackerel will crash into a mullet school, then they and other fish gobble up the stunned and maimed mullet. Bluefish and jacks will tear through a school and snook will lurk underneath and pick up the pieces. Sharks and ladyfish also get in on the action. Meanwhile, pelicans and seagulls attack the mullet from above.

Mullet congregate along the Atlantic coast in the fall and start swimming south as water temperatures cool. Fishing the mullet run is relatively easy as long as the mullet are present and within casting distance from the surf and piers. If you have a boat, then you can fish the mullet schools wherever they are.

The schools have a mind of their own. Some move straight down the coast at a steady rate of speed. Other schools dawdle, moving south, then stop for a while before continuing. Some schools move along the beach, then head several miles offshore, then come in close again.

Some mullet schools move inshore through an inlet, scatter, then regroup at the next inlet and go back outside. So just because a mullet school is south of Boca Raton this morning doesn’t mean it’ll be off Pompano Beach this afternoon. The fish could go inside Hillsboro Inlet and reappear south of Port Everglades Inlet.

Having reliable sources who call you when the mullet show up is the best way to fish the run. You can also drive along State Road A1A and look for mullet schools, which appear as dark, amoeba-like blobs in the water. If you see fish jumping and birds diving, you know you’re on a good school.

Tom Greene of Lighthouse Point, who started fishing the mullet run more than 60 years ago, said anglers can also go to a pier and see if mullet are passing through. Once the mullet arrive in South Florida, he said there are several good spots that anglers can fish.

“When the mullet get here, you can stand on the south jetty of Jupiter Inlet, and you get a tremendous amount of bait on that south side. They stack up there,” said Greene, the former owner of Custom Rod & Tackle in Lighthouse Point.

“You get there at daylight in the morning, you fish two or three hours and you go home. And the odds are, out of five days, three days that you were there, you will see large amounts of baitfish.

“Boynton Inlet has always been great, and there’s plenty of bait and plenty of fish there. Boca Inlet has been good for the last 10 years, the north side and south side. There’s a tremendous amount of bait all along in there. Fish early morning at Deerfield Pier, Pompano Pier. The rocks south of Pompano Pier, early morning, late afternoon, snook stack up in there every single day.”

Fishing can also be excellent at Juno Pier, as well as along the beach north and south of the pier. That area features plenty of parking and very few restrictions on beach fishing, unlike some cities where fishing is either prohibited or limited to certain times.

Live mullet are the preferred bait, but Greene said a number of soft-plastic lures that imitate baitfish will catch their share of fish during the mullet run. One of his favorite lures is a RedTail Hawk jig or something similar because they are heavy, they don’t tangle easily and they come in a variety of weights such as 1, 11⁄2, and 2 ounces.

To cast your lure out to a mullet school, Greene recommended using a  6 1⁄2 to 7 1⁄2-foot fishing rod with a 12 to 20-pound monofilament line or a 30 to 40-pound braided line.

Some of the most fun fishing is when schools of bluefish and mackerel are terrorizing the mullet. All an angler needs to do is cast a lure just beyond or in front of a mullet school.

“Those bluefish will eat any MirrOlure, any surface bait,” Greene said. “Try not to go with one with too many hooks, or pinch the barbs shut. You’ve got to throw something you can cast a long way that won’t tangle in the weeds.”

Even if you don’t see a mullet school, Greene said to keep casting because you never know what gamefish are hanging around. For example, snook tends to lie in wait in the first trough off the beach, where they are ready to ambush anything that swims by.

“Especially with the snook, you want to cast right and left, not straight out, because most of the snook you catch are in the surf. They’re in that dropoff,” Greene said, adding that married couples can enjoy a day at the beach walking and casting or simply soaking up the sun.

By Steve Waters

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