From May 5th, 2000</font id=blue>
This time of the year can be frustrating for the fisherman who owns a standard 19-ft. center console fishing boat. The winds are howling and getting anywhere close to offshore requires having a boss that lets you leave work the minute the wind stops. One fish that will give you plenty of fun without having to venture out too far is the Bluefish. These aggressive fish visit our nearshore reefs and structures each year from March to the middle of May. Bluefish prefer water temperatures between 45-80 degrees, but 68 seems to be the best. We are not talking about small Bluefish, often referred to as “snappers”; we are talking about grown fish 8 to 15 pounds full of fight and energy. The state record for a Bluefish is 21 pounds. When Bluefish are worked into a feeding frenzy nothing in the water around them is safe. Fishermen tell stories of big Bluefish runs on the Outer Banks of North Carolina where other fish actually jumped out of the water on to the beach to get away from these savage eaters. Bluefish are fun to catch and contrary to popular belief can also be quite tasty.
Locating Bluefish:
There are a few telltales fishermen look for when targeting Bluefish. Bluefish are voracious eaters and leave quite a mess behind after one of their famous feeding frenzies. Many times anglers may actually see a slick left behind from the frenzy. The slick generally consists of oil, blood, and small pieces of fish. This can be hard to see from a distance so a good rule of thumb is to look for seagulls and terns working over an area. These birds have excellent vision and will follow the schools around. If you see the birds, but don’t see the fish, try riding over the area and checking your depth recorder. When fishing inshore areas like the Charleston Jetties look for areas of strong current and eddies that form around the rocks The Blues prefer areas of current because they are excellent swimmers with bodies designed for speed and have a distinct advantage over