The anticipation is everything when it comes to hunting gator blues from the surf!
Once the spring run begins, I keep a watchful eye on my calendar and the other on my local waters. Because I know that on the switch of a tide, one of my favorite species will roll into town. The demons that mangle plugs, annihilate soft plastics, and maybe even chomp the occasional finger, the one and only bluefish.
I will neglect the spring run striper bite to solely target bluefish because, although some believe it to be sacrilege, I prefer catching them over stripers! They fight ferociously, go airborne, and really fill you with that good adrenaline that makes me lock in on the bite, going whenever I have the time to.
The biggest appeal for catching bluefish is that “mako mentality,” and anyone who’s hooked a mako shark knows how angry those fish can be and the blues share this same level of anger and aggression. The fitting mentality can be paired with a genre of music. I think if bluefish could listen to music, they would listen to something heavy like Mayhem, because they bring the mayhem wherever they go! The thrashing, chomping, ripping drag…cranking these fish in as quickly as you can just so you can turn them loose and go back for more, sums up the mayhem that these yellow-eyed demons bring to any shoreline they decide to invade.
We used to have bluefish in “thick” but with the biomass fluctuation they don’t show up in spots where they used to be. Many moons ago there was a legendary topwater bite in my home waters along the Barnegat Bay where true “gators” were caught but in recent years, it hasn’t been the bite it was; you’ll hear similar stories from places like Popponesset Beach on Cape Cod or western Long Island Sound. And while these classic bluefish bites may not be as reliable as they once were, it’s those unexpected blitzes that really get the blood flowing!
I could go on and on about this biopic on bluefish but I want to express the anticipation of the bluefish strike. When you study a spot like I do by keeping a log or looking back at photos taken, you can gain an edge compared to those anglers that are just chasing reports. Something those classic bites tell me is that bluefish are creatures of habit, so I document every bluefish invasion I find or hear about and ‘test the waters’ a few days or tides before the big hit the following year and sometimes this has put me on a good bite of blues without another angler in sight!
Bluefish come in waves, they are running up and down the beach, so you may not get them on your first cast, but patience is a virtue for this vicious reward. My favorite bluefish lure is the Tsunami Tidal Pro Twitchbait but really, bluefish will gladly mangle anything you throw at them. Cast after cast, each creep of your reel, you wait for that strike, slowly bringing your lure back to your feet. When is it going to happen, when will the bluefish finally strike?
You may second-guess yourself, but if the weather is right and their migratory pattern hasn’t changed, they will be there. Then it happens, the bite turns on, while you’re halfway into your retrieve, you get whacked, your plug goes under in a flash of white and your hookset sends that fish into a raging frenzy. Rod bent, drag pulling, you’re cranking this fish in as it zigs and zags in the water with the occasional leap to get a better look at who’s pulling the line, you’re in the zone. After a careful landing, handling, and release you’re back in action but this time the bite is ferocious, they’re in full swing on a sunset prowl. You’re instantly hooked up as your plug smacks into the water, a wolf pack of blues follow the one you’re hooked into, it’s absolute and pure joy mixed with insanity! The bite may last into darkness, and when it’s over, paint flaking from your plugs, hands and arms aching from the battles, you already know where you’ll be when the sun dips low tomorrow. How can you now love bluefish!?
