"I hear anglers are catching blues in the bay and inlets.
How do I catch them? When should I go? What techniques
should I use?"

Bluefish are relatively easy to catch when they are around.
The best way to find bluefish is to look for seagulls.
Blues will force baitfish to the surface when they are in a
feeding frenzy. The seagulls swoop down and eat the fleeing
shiners, bunkers, or anchovies. If you are in a boat, you
want to cast towards the working gulls, but never run the
boat through the whole school. This will scatter the blues,
and the fun will be over before it barely started. If you
are trolling, you can run the boat in a circle around the
blues. But again, do not run through the school.

"What lures do bluefish like?"

When fishing in the bay, inlet, bridges, or piers one of the
best lures is a bucktail jig with a six-inch plastic
curltail grub attached. If you are fishing from a boat,
bridge, or pier you simply want to tie the bucktail to the
end of your line. Many anglers think you need a steel
leader to catch a bluefish. This is not really true.
Although you may lose a bucktail once in a while to the
toothy critters, you will find that you will catch more fish
using a 30- pound mono-filament leader. The lure will look
more natural and the leader less visible.

"What colors are best?"

A white bucktail is always good. Take a variety of curltail
grubs or plastic worms, as the blues will bite them in half.
White, red, purple, yellow, and chartreuse are good colors.
Take a variety, as the fish will prefer one color one day
and another color the next.

If you decide to fish from the Ocean City or Indian River
Inlet you may need to add some weight to your ½ to one-ounce
bucktail jig. Get a 45 inch piece of 30-pound stick leader
and cut it in half. Tie the bucktail to one end and an
inline sinker in the ¾ to 2-ounce range to the other end.
The amount of weight depends on the depth of the fish, the
weight of the bucktail, and the amount of wind on that
particular day. Many tackle stores have these bucktail rigs
already made up.

"What technique do we use from the inlet?"
Cast the bucktail up current and let it sink before starting
to crank your reel. If the current is strong it can drift
past you quite quickly. Once it is past you and heading in
the opposite direction you can jig it up and down a couple
times before starting to reel it in. Many anglers count to
10 or 15 before starting to crank. If you get snagged, you
know you waited a little too long! Don't let the bucktail
get too close to the rocks. When it nears the rocks, keep
your rod tip up and get your lure in fast so it does not get
snagged in the underwater ledge of rocks.

Be sure to use "jetty manners" and cast in the same
direction as other anglers. Sometimes you may want to let
one angler cast and begin to reel in before you cast. This
will save time in the long run as you won't have so many
tangles.

"What is a good rod and reel for throwing lures at the
jetty." A 7 to 8 foot rod in the 12 to 20 pound rod class
is excellent. (St. Croix, Star, Penn, and Daiwa are all good
name brands.) Use a good quality reel such as Dawia,
Shimano, or Penn with 12 to 15 pound test line. Using too
heavy of a pound test line at the inlet will cut your
casting distance in half. Be careful if you get snagged in
the rocks. Pull your rod straight back, pointing the rod
tip directly at the snag. If you crank down your drag and
pull up too hard you can break your rod. Be especially
careful if you are using one of the new "low stretch" or "no
stretch" lines.

If you bought a "bargain basement" rod and reel combination
at a tackle store or "heaven forbid" a department store,
check the line and make sure it is not too heavy. If it is,
take it to a tackle store and get it changed to some quality
line such as Trilene XL. This will make all the difference
in the world!

"What other bluefish lures are good?"

Spoons in the ½ to 2-ounce range are always good. The
lighter spoons need to be rigged up with an inline sinker
just like the bucktails. You can also rig up a lead head in
the ½ to 1-ounce range with a 4-inch curltail grub; Fin-S
Fish lure body, or Sassy Shad. Rig these up with an inline
sinker as well and fish them the same way you would a
bucktail.

When the tide slacks you can use a Got-cha Plug in the 1 ¼
to 2 ounce range. Tie these to the end of your line. You
do not want to add extra weight to these or you will ruin
the action. The white body with a red head and the white
body with the yellow head are the two most popular colors.
Cast out and make short, sharp jerks of your rod tip when
retrieving. Most anglers keep their rod tips down when
jerking a Got-cha Plug. Cast slightly up current when you
throw it out. Let it settle for a few counts before setting
it into motion.

Anglers use other lures such as Rebel Windcheaters, Yo-Zuri
lures, and Rattletraps. But these lures can be more costly
then bucktails and lead heads. If the blues are biting
these lures, save the more expensive ones for the surf where
there are fewer snags.

Sometimes the blues are on the surface and it is fun to
catch them with surface plugs. Again, some of these can be
expensive such as the Atom's Poppers. Go with the less
expensive varieties such as the Striper Swipers!

"I want to use bait!"

Well, this isn't very sporting like at the inlet, but if
you really want to use bait, buy some finger mullet. You
can attach the whole mullet to a "finger mullet" rig and
throw it out into the feeding frenzy. If the blues are on
the surface, do not put a heavy sinker on the rig. Instead,
take off the 3-way swivel, tie on an inline sinker and cast
the whole finger mullet out there just like you would a
bucktail.

If they are not on the surface, you can put a top and
bottom rig with two #1/0 hooks baited with mullet chunks,
and cast just offshore of the underwater rocks. You can do
this when the tide is slacking. When the tide is running
extremely hard, plan to lose some tackle.

"When is the best tide?"

Blues can bite at any time, but the best time is any change
of tide. If you combine a change of tide with a good time
of day (early in the morning, or 4 P.M. until dusk) you can
be in for an especially good day. Another important factor
is the wind direction. Any easterly breeze seems to bring
the bluefish into the inlets. If the wind is dead calm and
from the west, you may want to pick up some sand fleas or
green crabs and do a little tautog fishing as well.

Blues always break all the rules and can bite at any time.
Sometimes they bite the whole incoming tide. Sometimes they
bite on the outgoing. Ride up to the inlet parking lots and
you will see if the action is happening or not. Swooping
seagulls and excited anglers is a sign that something is
going on. Sometimes the blues can be seen jumping right out
of the water.

Bluefishing is lots of fun. They give you a good fight and
are easy to catch compared to trout and stripers. If you
don't like to eat the blues, release them for another day.

Good fishing…