Species Profile: Bluefish

As most of you hopefully already know, I am a life-list angler. I target, document, and count the number of species, hybrids, and subspecies I catch, specifically on fly tackle. Because of that I spend a lot of time learning about and fishing for many different species of fish. This means I'm more adept at identifying and fishing for an extremely broad range of species than the average fly angler. This series will attempt to outline species identification, some life history, and methods for targeting with fly tackle. Maybe I'll get to every fish on my life list, but considering it is ever growing... it would take a while. Mostly, I hope this will get a few of you interested in going out and learning about or catching something new. 

Bluefish are not one of the "glamour fish" in the Northeast saltwater scene. But they probably should be, because catching really big ones on light tackle is a challenge, and unlike any other saltwater species we have readily available they jump... a lot. A 12 pound bluefish in shallow water jumps just like a tarpon, and on a 9wt fly rod a blue that size is going to put you into the backing without hesitation. And the hit that proceeds this battle exudes aggression and murderous intent. So for this Species Profile, it's nothing but love for ol' yellow eyes, Pomatomus saltatrix. 

Bluefish are an abundant pelagic fish, the only extant species of Pomatomidae. They have a white belly and gray-blue-green back, a forked tail, yellow eyes, and a mouth full of small but dangerous teeth. They are found in subtropical and temperate zones, excepting the North Pacific. Blues spawn offshore in the spring and summer where their fry are then at the mercy of the current, mere zooplankton, nothing remotely resembling the vicious predators they aren't that far from becoming. Currents carry the tiny fish nearshore, by which time they have gained more mobility. The juvenile bluefish then grown larger on the bounty provided by shallow estuarine waters. Once big enough, anything more than 7 inches, they start venturing out and hunting small baitfish in small packs or huge, marauding schools. Bluefish may live nearly 10 years and grow larger than 20 pounds, and they just don't loose that affinity for blitzing. With mouths full of razor sharp teeth they chop menhaden, squid, bay anchovies, and silversides into pieces then sucking them down as the sink. If I were a small baitfish, I think death by bluefish would be my worst nightmare.

Blues are not the yearly staple in the Northeast many younger anglers would assume they are. There have been time periods when blues were legitimately uncommon in parts, and a bluefish caught was actually a surprise. It seems that things may currently be trending in that direction, as big bluefish have become far less abundant in the last few year, especially in the late summer and fall. Exactly why this ebb and flow of local bluefish numbers occurs is unknown. It may be something as simple as natural migration.

Fly and gear selection for blitzing bluefish is generally simple. Bob's Banger, Clouser Minnow, Lefty's Deceiver, Surf Candy, Hollow Fleye, Sedotti Slammer: match the bait size and profile at least roughly and there will be no reason for the fish to refuse. Forgetting to bring wire to target bluefish is playing with fire: these are toothy fish, you will get bit off, and it will be the biggest of the day. I, of course, am very reckless and often target big bluefish with no wire. I am also very lucky. So don't follow my example, follow my advice! Use wire!

A good bluefish on Popovic's Beast Fleye, coaxed out from a mix of much smaller fish.

For big blues on big flies, 9 and 10wt rods are preferable. For the more numerous 2-6lb fish a 7 or 8 will do fine. And for snapper blues a 4 or 5 will provide great fun. Big bluefish and big flies demand stout leaders, I use a 6ft 30lb leader down to my 16 inch wire bite tippet (if I'm using it). I use wire that I can tie as apposed to a clip-on style leader. I tie a loop knot to the fly and a loop to loop connection to the leader.

A monster bluefish caught on 20lb tippet, no wire, with a popper. The fight lasted well over 20 minutes and the fish jumped numerous times and got well into the backing... twice. 

Because of their aggressive blitzing tendencies many would assume that catching blues is always easy. But it isn't. There are times when bluefish are finicky and picky. One such time is when they are layed up near the surface, digesting. This typically occurs in the morning and midday hours with slick calm waters throughout late spring and summer. Sunshine can enhance the situation too. Bluefish will finish up with a night's feeding, usually on menhaden, then find a good place to soak up the sun and digest that fatty meal. They may sit deep enough that they are only noticeable when spooked, or they may be finning right at the surface. Tailing blues will daisy chain just like tarpon, or gather in tightly packed schools of hundreds if not thousands, presenting themselves almost like adult menhaden do. The tips of big blues' tails barely poke through as they gently move along. This behavior occurs most often near river mouths in water less than 12 feet deep, though I've also seen it over reefs on the slack tide. Bluefish are a sight-based predator. Even though these finning blues are not feeding at all, they still have the prey image of what they were last feeding on. Because this is nearly always menhaden, something of equivalent shape and size is more likely to trigger a strike. Poppers may also draw great strikes. A floating line and unweighted or lightly weighted flies are necessary as these fish are right at the top of the water column. I've had problems with my line spooking tailing blues, so I ere on the longer side with my leaders now, 9-10ft. If you can't see the fish in the water to sight cast to but know they are around, fan cast. Cover as much water as you can.



Bluefish may not be even close to as unpopular as the species I profiled in the last post in this series (flyfishingcts.blogspot.com), but they don't get the respect they deserve from a lot of anglers. They are tremendous sport, especially on fly tackle. I hope this inspires some of you to go out and target these wonderful fish.

Thanks to Ian Devlin for teaching me most of what I know about tailing blues, and Mark Alpert and Patrick Barone for the assists on the two biggest blues I've ever caught.

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Thanks for joining the adventure, and tight lines.