Started fishing at slack high, which happened to be right at sunset. The wind was non-existent, and the water looked like glass. While I was waiting for the current to start running out I decided to filet two 10in” horse mullet I caught at low tide. Once the tide picked up I started cutting up the rest of the mullet carcass and tossing it in the water. The first bite happened without me even knowing a fish was on the other end. I Was reeling in to check the bait, and the line started screaming off the reel!! I thought it was a shark at first. It was fighting harder than the slot reds I’m used to catching in this area. The fish was able to take 200 yards of line of the reel before I started making some progress. Of course the inevitable happened and it snapped a 40lb leader. Tied up another leader threw on another mullet fillet, and hooked up within a few minutes. This fish was big, but didn’t have the same fight as the first. It also turned out to be a wise guy and took a dip under the dock while I simultaneously dipped the whole rod into the water and it snapped off on the opposite side of the dock. Third times the charm. NO! Broke off on a crab pot. Cut up the second mullet carcass to prime the water and re baited the line. Living on a prayer with this last mullet filet…I finally landed this monster Bluefish!!! Measured 34” TL. Grabbed a few photos with this beauty and let her go. This is the first time I have seen a bluefish this size come in the backwaters. I can only imagine why the trout and redfish weren’t biting with these monsters roaming the creeks.
That is the biggest difference in fishing compared to when I was a kid (I’m 52 now). Fishing off Morehead City, NC we would get into large schools of blues and cast lures like Hopkins and hold on for dear life. I haven’t caught a bluefish in years. I do remember catching one in the surf and thinking it was dead reaching in the mouth to get the hook out. Will not do that again. Good work.
Good news! Last year was the best year we’ve seen for big blues in recent memory. They are very cyclical in abundance and migratory patterns south of Hatteras. I’m hoping we see more of them this year.
This guy was caught in a creek off the cooper. Best fight of the year so far. Wish I was able to weigh him, but I was determined to at least land one. You can still see the 1/0 circle hook in the corner of his mouth; wasn’t planning on fighting a blue that size in the brackish waters. The last time I caught blue fish had to have been 8 years ago when I went down to Beaufort for the cobia run. We always landed a dozen+ bluefish, but averaged 15”-20”. I vividly remember that trip fighting a 89lb cobia for 3 hrs.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
2007 Grady White 222 Fisherman / 250 Yamaha
Simrad NSS evo2 and G4
1- 23 boy that won’t move out)
1 - 19 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)
They started showing up in the surf and inshore again last year. Was a great year for big blues up and down the mid Atlantic last year so hopefully they will show again this year. We get them in the nearshore range every year but last year they were bigger than they have been in a long time.
Unbelievable story, I was at the south end of Pawleys Island at inlet this weekend and was fishing on the incoming tide, started reeling in to check bait and bang line started to scream off the line tightened the drag but line kept peeling off, after 5 minutes of trying to control the fish it broke 40lb braid. good bye fish, now I know what it might have been.
They are here! Buddy caught two the same size last weekend and hooked two more. Better act fast though, those big ones will only be here for about 2-3 weeks!
