blues vs. world - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

schoolie monster · 08-09-2001, 12:21 PM

179's post brought up a question I've had.

I've gotten a general sense over the last few years that alot of striper fishermen give bluefish little respect and generally see them as a pain in the bum.

Personally, I love 'em. Before I moved to the coast, we vacationed in Nantucket maybe 6 or 7 times while I was a kid and teen. I kinda associated saltwater fishing with bluefish blitzes although I did catch a 25lb striper (my first and only one) when I was 14 off of Madaket beach... I still think a bluefish blitz is some of the best fishing in the world. They are so darn strong and just a bad-ass fish. I love the topwater explosions and the feel of getting hooks into a nice chopper.

So, my question is this:

Would most striper fisher men and women actually pass up a feeding school of blues to search for bass? Or is it more that you prefer bass (as I do now), but if blues are around, are happy to throw on a wire leader and have some fun?

Just curious... thanks.

Saltheart · 08-09-2001, 12:34 PM

I want to try flyfishing for blues. Blues are fun . Most striperfisherman hate blues cause they chop up eels and skins and fin S fish , etc. Also most striper fisherman use a mono or flouro leader , not steel. They also try to steal the plug out of eachothers mouths and therefore often cut the running line. But , for sure , blues are better than skunk.

Blitzseeker · 08-09-2001, 01:12 PM

I love blues.

Granted, big bass are my ultimate goal, but I have just as much fun catching blues as I do bass. Given two schools of feeding fish on a beach, one blues and one bass, I'd probably split my time between the two schools.

Besides the big bass angle, I probably enjoy catching both of them the same amount. Big bass put stripers over the top(just barely) as the fish of choice for me.

Got Stripers · 08-09-2001, 01:52 PM

When you run into an occassional blue, they are a pain in the *ss, because they tend to steel a lot of terminal tackle

. Now if I run into schools of big blues busting on top, like we did for a 2-3 week period last fall, then I go chase them instead of the bass. When they are busting on bait on top, you can beat the fun and action of the big blues. We did that last fall until my arms were about to fall off, lot's of 12-15 lbers and a few that were over 17. With the lull in the bass action now, I'd welcome the opportunity to chase some blues around.

JohnR · 08-09-2001, 01:54 PM

Depends on how set I am on big bass. They're OK if all there is and I admit - the early May Blue Blitzes of Cotuit are some of the best fishing people will ever see... but, I do perfer a night of a few larger bass to schools and scools of blues (most of the time)...

Jenn · 08-09-2001, 10:17 PM

I just love the striped beauties....but would NEVER miss out on the blues, no way! Actually last year I didnt have a steel leader on but the blues were THERE and I said "ok...who cares" threw the lure out and brought that baby to the shore! YEAH! I know a lot of people give them a bad rap......I never could understand it ....I love catching them....just as fun as a bass of you ask me, and I would rather loose a few bucks on tackle because of a blue than to just loose it with no good reason!! HA!HA! If the drag is screamin'.....who cares??!?

Patrick · 08-09-2001, 10:52 PM

If they could only take their dentures out.

It's not so much that I dislike bluefish, I just love Striped bass so much.

If I know there are bass around, I'll avoid the blues. I'd rather catch sea robins than bluefish. Sea Robins are another under rated fish. The big ones can be dogged fighters. So it's this order. Striper, Fluke (just because they are so good), Shad, Sea Robin, then bluefish followed by winter flounder and herring.(hate the cold more than bluefish)

STEVE IN MASS · 08-10-2001, 05:25 AM

I definately do not mind blue fish, they are fun and I, ah-um, LOVE eating them, maybe even more so than striper. I was looking in my log book yesterday and saw that it was a year ago this past Sunday that Mr. Kav got a ~17 lb blue out near B-Bouy, which he was kind enough to bring to me. Yeah, I'll even eat the big ones AND the dark meat part!

179 · 08-10-2001, 07:13 AM

Schoolie,
I enjoy catching the blues, like I said in an earlier post I had a ball with them this past Tuesday evening.

The only time I get a bit irked by them is when I am trying to use a tube-n-worm deep for bass and a small blue takes it. Other than that I get a kick out of their frenzy, and fighting ability.........

Heading out tomorrow morning to get a few more!!!!

schoolie monster · 08-10-2001, 01:45 PM

Here I thought I was some kind of mutant freak 'cause I liked 'em. Terminal tackle issues aside, of course.

Yeah, Cotuit was awesome. I will be making several trips down there next spring.

I measure my trips out in fun. And blues are certainly fun. I've had good times when I've been skunked and bad times when I've caught fish.

Actually, the better I become at catching bass, the more I feel that way. I mean, now that I know I can catch bass, I feel no disappointment if its not a bass. Does that make sense?

Anyway, thanks for your responses to my poll.

schoolie monster · 08-10-2001, 01:55 PM

Oh yeah, Steve in Mass, we had some excellent bluefish a couple years back on Nantucket. I met my dad over there and we got into them a couple times. We kept a few... I bled them within an hour of being caught and fileted (sp?) and cooked 'em probably 2 hours after they were swimming.

I can't remember how the heck we cooked it though. I like fresh fish and would more apt to keep a few blues than a bass since I think there is far more pressure on bass stocks. Especially, down the stretch run here as we are more likely to get both species.

Do you have any secret recipes for preparing bluefish?

TheSpecialist · 08-10-2001, 03:34 PM

The way last nights fishing went, I would have loved to have seen some blues around. We fished the outer and inner harbor last night. We onnly brought 4 fish to the boat that were keeper sized, and maybe 5-6 undersized. It was soooo sssllllooooowwww. Places that held bass on wednesday night had nothing for fish. I sure hope this cooling off of temps. helps.

Jenn · 08-10-2001, 10:58 PM

SM when we go on vaca our big treat is to steam up some lobbies on the grill (hey tin foil and a grill...you can cook anything!) but if I have a fresh fillet (SP??)

I will forget about the lobster!!!!....and I never evn used to LIKE fish (shellfish yes..fish,fish no..) anyway I just wrap those peppers, onions, butter and lemon.....cook it up! YUM! so many people that hate fish have LOVED this....geez so easy and good too! You can do this with any fish really.....but even people never liked bluefish have liked it this way.....seems to "mellow" out those strong oils in the bluefish too....

08-11-2001, 09:04 AM

I am probably somewhat of an oddball here in that I would RATHER catch bluefish than stripers. Sure stripers look pretty when they break water and they taste much better. But pound for pound I'll take a bluefish any day. They fight with a rabid tenacity that I have the highest respect for. I call them pit bulls of the fish world.

Bob Senior · 08-11-2001, 09:13 AM

About the only time I really get angry at bluefish is when I pick one up that's over a school of bass.

I got a 32 incher this very morning off the beach in Narragansett and it was really fun.

What I dislike is when some people "murder" blues when they catch them apparently because they think of them as less than living beings or something.

What other fish is as abundant and as full of fight as the bluefish at this time of year?

Catch and release--even the lowly blue!! If not, we'll be catching scup!!

JohnR · 08-12-2001, 08:11 AM

Bionic Scup - Terrors of the Untersee World!!!

Mike - wait till you have a trophy striper (50#s or better) break off on you because there was abslutely nothing you could do to influence the outcome... Abosolutely nothing!!! I'll agree on pound for pound that the blue fish is better :P but when was the last time you or anyone ran into a 60 pound blue ;D (be pretty stinkin' cool - wouldn' it), or 50,40,30.... If your lucky, you've had the chance to dance with one around 20#s. That's talked about far more often than what actually occurs...

Me - I'd rather chase after the 50# bass and whatever else happens - happens...

Clammer · 08-12-2001, 12:09 PM

Schoolie Monster, I have a nother view and please dont take it wrong///If Im fishing /plugging from shore anything Icatch is a plus, but from the boat thats a different story// when Im Striper fishing be it large or plugging schoolies thats all I want and nothing else matters// Ithink some of the old commercial attitude is still in me/// Running around like crazy trying to get live buckies to the shore only to have a early school of blues murder them or spend 4-8 hours looking for and snagging pogies only to have them chopped up by blues or better yet when the pogies thinned out , spend

ing all night hauling gil nets trying to get enough balt to fish , again getting hammered by blues//////////////
I agree pound for pound they rate with the best and on the way digging I may stop and catch 1, same on the way home/ but thats it ///Idont go back out to go bluefishing/ Ifind no sport in running from school to school casting anything that hits the water, turn the handle ---fish on, For some people thats great, Iwatch them on weekend, what a circus, if inew of some kids that would want to go or some beginners I:d love to take them out /they would have a ball,/// tackle dealers and charter captains love it''' This past ten days ive seen more schools of bluefish than my entire life if you wanted to,you could catch them from sunrise to sunset///Ive seen more people get injured bluefishing than any other,between 4-5 fish coming in at the same time, speeding around and just plain inexperance or stupidy///////
if you want to get a full of them COME_ON DOWN we'll get John and go get them you just need a couple on light rods and plugs and lures that you don;t mind losing //// later////

Got Stripers · 08-12-2001, 04:19 PM

I'm changing my vote, blues **ck. Man I had 3 of those damn things break me off today and take my terminal tackle and those poor eels I was dragging, I think slow and aggonizing dealth pretty much tells their fate.

STEVE IN MASS · 08-13-2001, 05:39 AM

Schoolie - I usually mix up some mayo, good mustard, a little white wine, some fresh garlic, some worctershire (never can spell that!) sauce, maybe a tad on soy, some tarragon. Paint the fish both sides and let it set about an hour. Then put it on the grill or in the oven.

Also do the onion, lemon, tomato, butter, tin foil thing.

JohnS · 08-13-2001, 07:04 AM

Blues are fine with me as long as they don't show up when I am using soft plastics. I miss the days of the topwater frenzy of the 80's for blues.
Nothing like see a 100 bunker running for there lives jumping 3 feet out of the water only to land into a swimming chainsaw. I wish Bass were that agressive.

Jaiem · 08-13-2001, 09:17 AM

Have no problem with blues, especially big ones. They can be as challenging as bass! Though after you've feed 3 or 4 packs of FinS to cocktails you can get rather upset.

I take as challenge to be able to cull a bass out from under the blues. They aren't always there but often enough.

schoolie monster · 08-13-2001, 03:33 PM

I'd definitely be up for that, though I'm not sure when my next free weekend will be. I'm right in the middle of a stretch of weekends where either we have company, or my wife is away.

Actually, have those neverending schools of blues been available for surfcasting. Have they been off any beaches/spots consistently. My dad is coming up in a couple weeks and I was kinda banking on things really picking up around Boston Harbor, but that's not really happening yet.

I wouldn't mind getting him into some bluefish action if things are quiet up this way.

Thanks.

Got Stripers · 08-13-2001, 04:18 PM

Back in the late 80's I didn't bother with plastic and the only offering I fished, always had a stainless wire leader. That offering was a big old bunker and for a 2 or 3 year stretch I fished Hingham harbor every chance I could, because you could fill your livewell with one set of the gill net. We were spoiled then, where else could you get a day's supply of live bait in 20 minutes. There were some evenings I'd set the net and it would take me 45 minutes to clear all the damn bunker from the net. Sometimes it really was too much of a good thing.

It was a crapshoot as to whether the catch for the day/night would be mostly bass or blues, because there was always a mix. Man those were the days, nothing like running the trolling motor on slow constant, watching the bunker casually swimming along behind the boat, waiting for that unmistakable dance of death. Suddenly the slow dance, becomes one of panic as the bunker frantically swims every which way trying to elude the bass or blue trailing it. You could feel the fear in the vibrations being transmitted to the rod. I don't know which was more fun the fight or the anticipation, watching the wakes and boils waiting for the trigger to be pulled.

That was a simple time, all you needed was a good gill net or snag hook supply, a supply of trebles and some stainless rigging wire. Twist on a treble, run it threw the nostrils, twist on a leader to the treble set just ahead of the tail. Nice rig, no letting the fish run, just bow and set, very rarely did you loose a fish to a gut hook. I only hope I live long enough to see the big bunker return to our waters, because I sure would love to fish that way again someday.

Clammer · 08-13-2001, 09:12 PM

Schoolie monster, I post that Idont go chasing bluefish, well thats just were I came from,a friend of mine and myself decided to kill a couple of hours , then he paged me and asked if we were still on/ I said yes ,and he asked if his brother could go-what can you say? then his brother pages me and ask if his friend can go, again what could Isay [I will have a talk with the friend about this] well anyway I was concerned about four people bluefishing, and it took no time to realize that the brothers friend was less than a rookie//// hit the water before 3;30 pm into fish by a little after four ,pretty much stayed on them til 7;30 ish got to tell you I had a great time watching these guys

some of these fish were right up on the beach-- but--on a island// chasing peanut bunker and huge schools of silversides//

your welcome to come down anytime /bring your dad if things don;t pickup your way or just come down for some fun 11111 later

Slipknot · 08-13-2001, 10:44 PM

GS, that's exactly the same way we fished pogies for King macs last month, but they let 'em set the hook by themself and only use 1-2 lbs. drag on 17 lb mono line. I got very good at rigging those baits after a couple times , it's easy. I wish there were pogies around again. You can do the same thing with scup ya know.

Well almost exactly, actually the nose hook was a small live bait hook.

RickBomba · 08-13-2001, 11:01 PM

Hi Guys!
If it makes a difference, I've been smashing the blues off Halibut Point in Rockport. As soon as I put a Rapala Magnum out and put the boat in gear...BAM!
Most of the fish are over 12#; the vast majority of them are 13-16, and boy is it fun.
Personally, I hate to eat them, but love to catch them. My only problem is that all of my friends are afraid of their teeth.
I end up unhooking every fish.
Later,
Rick

Got Stripers · 08-14-2001, 07:31 AM

After watching how easy the guy was handling the Merrimack River stripers on the NESN channel last night, I'm sold on a boga grip. I may look at the Berkley cheeper model first, since I've got a good Berkley digital scale already. Thill posted a report on SOL on them and they should do the trick. I really need to get one soon, because I'm betting things are going to start busting loose soon. I loved the bluefish topwater blitzes we had last year, but handling them was a pain.

JohnR · 08-14-2001, 08:12 AM

Mike at CCTackle has those - I took a quick peek and they look like they'll work - simple enough too...

Hopefully, in a few years there actually may be more bunker. Several possible bills would prevent comercial netting of bunker within a mile or two of the coast - eventually, that could get the stocks up again... GS, you mention that you had thick schools of menhaden in Hingham in the 80's. Others I've talked to had them in Maine before then. They would be found in decent numbers north of Portland. Now you'r hard pressed to find them in useable quantity in Western CT - Maybe we'll see change...

Ahhh Yes! Topwater Bass-n-Blues - right around the corner!!!

nightfighter · 08-14-2001, 08:41 AM

Things have been kind of thin here lately, both in number of fish and time to fish.

Got out in the pre-dawn today on the Marblehead shore, and had just one hook up in over 2 hours from shore. But being a bit rusty, I got snookered, as he sawed me off on some barnacles after 5 minutes. Couldn't really get a good look at him, but felt heavy, just not full of piss and vinegar. Just hope he can shake that 6" green/black Bomber from his lip. Was my own damn fault too, as I should have recognized what was happening. I had the room to work him away from the rocks too.

The topwater action of last fall seems like a lifetime ago. Can't wait for it to reappear in the coming weeks. Let's keep area reports coming!

schoolie monster · 08-14-2001, 11:55 AM

Clamdigger, I really appreciate the offer... as my plans unfold over the next week, I will consider a trip to Rhody. If so, I'll definitely get ahold of you. Thanks again.

I really hope that things turn on up here though, I'm gettin' edgy. Gonna try to get out a couple nights this week for some school night eelin'.