Once there were blues. Bluefish. The tigers of the ocean. Virginians waited for the news each April, that bluefish had entered the Chesapeake Bay, then it was game on. If you had a boat, you hitched it to the trailer and headed for the coast. If you didn’t have a boat, you pooled your resources with 4 or 5 buddies and took a charter out of Reedville or Lewisetta or Coles Point and went bluefishing. You filled trash cans with your catch – 3 or 4 fifty-gallon trash cans. There were bluefish tournaments and the big fish often exceeded 20 pounds. Then, again, in November, the news came through – the blues are off the Outer Banks, and surf fishermen from across the country headed for Hatteras and other beaches to toss metal spoons and chunks of cut mullet to the ravenous bluefish.
Then the netters came to the Outer Banks. Good old boys with a long seine, a pick-up truck and a skiff to encircle the vast schools and haul them ashore – and it made no difference if a dozen fishermen were standing on the beach, they pulled in the bluefish by the hundreds, often getting no more than a nickel a pound for their efforts. Suddenly, the bluefish stopped their migrations along the Carolina shore and moved far out to sea, sometimes twenty miles and more. And then, for all intents and purposes, the bluefish were no more. Oh, sure, a few one and two pound fish passed by, but the alligator blues that stirred passions in the souls of men no longer played the game.
Bluefish are, no doubt, the fiercest combatant on the end of a fishing rod of all species. Living up to 12 years, blues can reach weights of 30 pounds and lengths of nearly 40 inches. By age two, they range from 15 to 20 inches and spawn multiple times in spring and summer. They feed in packs, like wolves, and attack anything that moves. A bluefish blitz creates a bloody froth in the water where razor sharp teeth slash through the flesh of their prey.
But there was good news from the Outer Banks last week, Capt. Reese Stecher of Beach Bum Fishing found some “stud” bluefish behind Oregon Inlet – nice fish up to 7 pounds. A 7-pound bluefish on medium tackle is about all you want to handle.
Maybe it’s time to hitch up the trailer, or call a few friends and book a trip with Capt. Stecher at beachbumfishing.com.
Maybe the bluefish are coming back after all.
OBX
The raging sea had begun to calm by this Thursday. There were some big red drum beached at the Cape and scattered along the beaches. Specks are and continue to bite in the sounds. Through Wednesday, Hwy. 12 at the Rodanthe was closed, hopefully to re-open on Thursday. In the Roanoke Sound, the Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported catching drum and trout. Piers were producing black and red drum, pompano, flounder, sea mullet, croakers and bluefish – a nice mixed bag. Nearshore and inshore boats found some puppy drum and trout. As of Thursday, the offshore fleet had not fished all week due to high seas.
Virginia Saltwater
The cobia have set sail for warmer waters but a few are still biting in the lower bay. Puppy drum and trout fishing has picked up in all the inlets. Big, yellow-bellied spot are tugging at lines on the Rapp and big flounder continue to bite near the CBBT. It’s been rough going for offshore anglers.
Freshwater
Cooler weather has the fish moving shallow. The bass bite at the Chickahominy River is continuing. Lots of 3 to 5 pound largemouth are taking small cranks and some topwater baits. The upper James has seen aggressive smallmouth, feeding up ahead of the cold months. Topwater is best. Bass’n at Anna, Buggs and Gaston is getting better with each downward tick in the temperature gauge. Smith Mountain anglers are enjoying some great striper action due to the chill factor. Crappie fishing is excellent in most every large and medium size body of water.
Trout streams are in good shape as the Game Department begins the fall stocking program.