# I'm seeing blue!



## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Blues on poppers are a hoot. Check this one out!


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

ifsteve said:


>


Sweeeet!!! Gotta love that!

We got some footage and trying to find a few pics like that within those videos.

I love that pic!


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Nice report Ted!


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

mostly they're a pain in the ass like ladyfish. got 5 in about 20 minutes the other day and had to move as they wouldn't go away.


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Backwater said:


> I know bluefish are mostly targeted in the North East. A lot of fishermen, much less fly fishermen, don't know that bluefish are in Florida. Some savvy anglers here in Florida in the "know" often welcome a bluefish surprise on the business end of their line. With the hard pulling action and veracious strikes, they make for a great targeted specie. Catching them throughout the years, more of a by-catch as opposed to a targeted fish, I welcome everyone of them who are willing to jump onto the other end of my line, especially my flyline.
> 
> Other the last few years, if I know that show up in certain, I will purposely target them. To me, the fight I get out of them reminds me more of a snook than other fish like jacks, mackerel, sea trout, etc. The difference in the fight is they wouldn't run to structure to cut the line off, as well as not jumping like snook do. However, they do have their own build-in pair of scissors with their razor sharp teeth, where they can cleanly cut line in an instant. With that, I try to use at lease a 30lb fluorocarbon bite tippet. Tho I've caught them on light wire bite tippet while targeting mackerel, they seem to be wire shy. I've caught plenty on 30lb FC tho.
> 
> ...


Great report. Love those blues
Of course while your in 70 degrees we are in 36 and had to work to try and pay for a trip this spring. We have to vicariously enjoy your reports


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

devrep said:


> mostly they're a pain in the ass like ladyfish. got 5 in about 20 minutes the other day and had to move as they wouldn't go away.


With a flyrod I think they are fun, especially if they are willing to come up top and eat surface flies. If you are trying to target something else, I guess anything like that (blues, macks, ladyfish, jacks, etc...) can be frustrating. But if someone can take a breath, slow down and enjoy the moment and actually turn your attention on them, they can be a cool fish to get on the other end of a long rod. Pound for pound, they put up a great fight and can really light up if you allow them to. 

Sometimes, I'll just go out and target ladyfish on fly, especially in the dead of winter when not much else is biting.  But then again, I'm thankful I can just get out and fish!


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## redjim (Oct 16, 2012)

Great photos and report Ted!!!


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Nice write up, and great pics bro. I see you're still trying to kill the 3-Tand


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## CedarCreek (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm pretty sure a bluefish was the first saltwater species I caught on a fly. V-rib glass minnow streamer. The bigger ones can be a handful. The smaller ones are delicious. Sautéed in butter with some Cajun seasoning. But then again I like fish that taste like fish. Nice report!


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## TonyY (Nov 10, 2016)

We get Bluefish in Australia but we call them Tailor, smaller school fish are called "choppers" because of the way they feed. They grow to over 3ft long in my area but I haven't spent much time chasing them on fly, that will be next winters mission.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

LowHydrogen said:


> Nice write up, and great pics bro. I see you're still trying to kill the 3-Tand


Yep and I purposely didn't rinse it! Lol


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

TonyY said:


> We get Bluefish in Australia but we call them Tailor, smaller school fish are called "choppers" because of the way they feed. They grow to over 3ft long in my area but I haven't spent much time chasing them on fly, that will be next winters mission.


Nice fish! Welcome to the Fly board! An Aussie huh? What part (what coast)? Oh yeah, you are going into your summer months down there, right?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

CedarCreek said:


> Sautéed in butter with some Cajun seasoning. But then again I like fish that taste like fish. Nice report!


 I let these go, but when I keep one or 2, I cut out the red strip of meat, season and roll them in Italian bread crumbs and saute them in olive oil. Add a bed of fettuccine alfredo and some sauteed zucchini with garlic and italian seasoning, and you'll have a good meal. 

I do the same with spanish mackerel sometimes.


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## TonyY (Nov 10, 2016)

Backwater said:


> Nice fish! Welcome to the Fly board! An Aussie huh? What part (what coast)? Oh yeah, you are going into your summer months down there, right?


Thanks, mid west coast and about the northern limit of Bluefish distribution. We are heading into summer now, everything is back to front compared to you guys.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

Backwater said:


> I know bluefish are mostly targeted in the North East. A lot of fishermen, much less fly fishermen, don't know that bluefish are in Florida. Some savvy anglers here in Florida in the "know" often welcome a bluefish surprise on the business end of their line. With the hard pulling action and veracious strikes, they make for a great targeted specie. Catching them throughout the years, more of a by-catch as opposed to a targeted fish, I welcome everyone of them who are willing to jump onto the other end of my line, especially my flyline.
> 
> Over the last few years, if I know that show up in certain, I will purposely target them. To me, the fight I get out of them reminds me more of a snook than other fish like jacks, mackerel, sea trout, etc. The difference in the fight is they wouldn't run to structure to cut the line off, as well as not jumping like snook do. However, they do have their own build-in pair of scissors with their razor sharp teeth, where they can cleanly cut line in an instant. With that, I try to use at lease a 30lb fluorocarbon bite tippet. Tho I've caught them on light wire bite tippet while targeting mackerel, they seem to be wire shy. I've caught plenty on 30lb FC tho.
> 
> ...


Nice report. I had no idea they came over to this side. It's been ages since I caught blues, but I remember them being more blue and not so green. Is this an anomaly of the Gulf variety?


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

I've eaten Tampa Bay blue fish a couple of times. Not bad, but not my favorite. I married into a native Tampa family going back several generations, so they know how to cook pretty much everything that swims in our area. It comes in handy for sure.


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## Padre (Jul 29, 2016)

View attachment 4142
I remember my first blue in a fly. This is St. Andrews Pass in Panama City


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## RunningOnEmpty (Jun 20, 2015)

crboggs said:


> I've eaten Tampa Bay blue fish a couple of times. Not bad, but not my favorite. I married into a native Tampa family going back several generations, so they know how to cook pretty much everything that swims in our area. It comes in handy for sure.


Jack and blue fish on the grill or smoker is very good if done right.


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## Net 30 (Mar 24, 2012)

When I lived in the northeast we called 'em Yellow Eyed Monsters...I fished them for 30 years. It wasn't unusual to have schools of 14lb-18lb fish show up Oct-Nov and kick the crap out of you and your tackle. You were lucky if your fly lasted 2 fish and sometimes a big fish would cut your fly line trying to get the fly out of the mouth of the one hooked. As much as I love a good tug - I'm done with blues for the rest of my life.

As far as eating one - I'd rather lick the bottom of an empty cat food can....


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Along the gulf coast of the 'Glades between Cape Sable and Lostmans we occasionally encounter them in great numbers - although a bit on the small side (less than 3lbs - sometimes barely a pound...) just shredding baits at the surface on a cold day. Great fun - and even better when you find them and medium to small sized blacktips are feeding on them... We'll be running north or south and see the birds first - then the blues, finally the blacktips...

When this going on the small blues will hit anything you put in front of them - flies, jigs, anything. The blacktips get so fired up they attack topwater plugs (and I always have an old chugger plug or two with a wire trace ready to tie on.... With the blacktips in the 30 to 50lb range things can get hot....


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Net 30 said:


> When I lived in the northeast we called 'em Yellow Eyed Monsters...I fished them for 30 years. It wasn't unusual to have schools of 14lb-18lb fish show up Oct-Nov and kick the crap out of you and your tackle. You were lucky if your fly lasted 2 fish and sometimes a big fish would cut your fly line trying to get the fly out of the mouth of the one hooked. As much as I love a good tug - I'm done with blues for the rest of my life.
> 
> As far as eating one - I'd rather lick the bottom of an empty cat food can....


Yea my buddy Ken said those blues up there in the NE are big and bad. He also said those bigger ones didn't taste that good and said these smaller ones were better eating. Again, they are not that high up on my fish tasting scale. But I can eat them, tho the wife and kids wonder what kind of fish they were eating since it didn't taste normal.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Blue Zone said:


> Nice report. I had no idea they came over to this side. It's been ages since I caught blues, but I remember them being more blue and not so green. Is this an anomaly of the Gulf variety?


Interestly, there tail lit up bright brilliant blue when in the water. They have more of a grayish color than anything else. That last fish was a darker gray with a greenish hugh.


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## CrappieFisherman (Mar 15, 2015)

I love to catch bluefish out on the Chesapeake...haven't targeted them on the fly...yet.

My father likes to eat them. He says the key is to soak them in a heavy salt brine for a day, and then smoke them. Afterwards, they wind up on a Ritz cracker with mustard.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

I learned to hate bluefish after losing the back half of several soft plastics over the years, so I haven't really thought about catching them on the fly. Maybe I'll add a short wire leader and go have some fun.

This thread has me thinking that I might have to throw some blues on the colder side of the smoker next time I'm doing a pork shoulder. Anyone got a good brine and/or seasoning suggestion?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

bryson, since they have a higher level of fish oil in the meat than other fish, that means they are great for smoking, like mullet, mackerel and some jacks. I wouldn't soak it in brine since it might break down the meat. Just season it like any other fish you do in the smoker or the grill.


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## Finn Maccumhail (Apr 9, 2010)

Pretty much anything that will hit a popper and fight hard is cool with me. I know blues are a big deal on the East Coast- I was born in NC and I know they're a prime target there. But I've never seen a bluefish bigger than a pound or two here in Texas waters.


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## crc01 (Oct 28, 2016)

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Pretty much anything that will hit a popper and fight hard is cool with me. I know blues are a big deal on the East Coast- I was born in NC and I know they're a prime target there. But I've never seen a bluefish bigger than a pound or two here in Texas waters.


Yeah I've never seen big ones here in Texas either. But usually when the Blues are around, big Spanish Macks aren't far off.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

caught 6 and 4 pounders yesterday.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Small blues are very good eating - but you have to bleed them and ice them immediately AND cut out the dark blood line when filleting and don't even think about freezing them for later. Awesome broiled too with some compound butter from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook.


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## CrappieFisherman (Mar 15, 2015)

bryson said:


> I learned to hate bluefish after losing the back half of several soft plastics over the years, so I haven't really thought about catching them on the fly. Maybe I'll add a short wire leader and go have some fun.
> 
> This thread has me thinking that I might have to throw some blues on the colder side of the smoker next time I'm doing a pork shoulder. Anyone got a good brine and/or seasoning suggestion?


I cannot testify if brining bluefish will destroy the meat (Backwater may be right). With that said, my father puts enough salt in water that it will float an egg. Once he reaches that concentration, he soaks the filets overnight, and throws them in the smoker.

Might be worth trying both ways. Oilier fish are always more difficult to prepare, and is more about the tastes of the person in the end.

As for me, the oilier fish I deal with, although no where near as fishy as Bluefish, end up in a steamer pot, and steamed in a heavy vinegarish solution (actually the same recipe as my blue crabs). This breaks the oils down, while keeping the meat moist. Once I've cooked the fish in this manner, I shred the filets apart, and use the meat as a substitute for crab meat in my family crab cake recipe...which definitely requires a healthy amount of Old Bay.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

CrappieFisherman said:


> use the meat as a substitute for crab meat in my family crab cake recipe...which definitely requires a healthy amount of Old Bay.


 Well dang, go ahead and share that "family crab cake recipe!" I'm sure we all want to hear about that as a side note to this thread!


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## CrappieFisherman (Mar 15, 2015)

The biggest thing is to cook the meat correctly. This means the crabs must be steamed, no exceptions. The liquid should be part beer, apple cider vinegar, apple juice, and pickle juice...until it smells right (no other way to explain). When you steam the crabs, generous amounts of old bay should be placed directly on each crab. If you are steaming fish instead of crabs, add some old bay to the juice.

OK, now that the crabs have been cooked correctly, you need to prepare the filler. I don't use bread. I use Ritz crackers. This also adds all of the salt I need. Old bay should be added to taste. Add about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and a couple splashes of lemon juice, in a well blended mixture.

Add a small amount of filler to the meat, with an egg, and mix well.

Finally, form cakes to the size desired, and pan fry in a skillet with almond oil. Scrumptious!


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