Sunday, August 11, 2019

Bluefish Around in BIG Numbers

The blues are after big schools of
peanut bunker.
The Yo-Zuri hydro Minnow has been my best
lure for bluefish in the last few days.
Suddenly, the bluefish are around in big numbers, the likes of which we have not seen in years, maybe a decade.  In the last three evenings I have landed more bluefish than I have caught in the last three years! I've found schools of them busting for big schools of peanut bunker that are streaming into our RI waters right now.  While I am getting my blues from shore in the Bay, I have reports of them all over the place.  My son Jon has been fishing the mid Bay from a kayak, and he is killing them every evening.  I have another friend who fished the oceanfront recently and he, too, saw big numbers.  There are stripers mixed in with the bluefish as I am getting a few bass every outing. Most of the blues are on the small side, running 3 to 6 lbs. on average.
Topwater lures are getting the blues for me, though they are not fussy.  I have been using a Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil.  This plug looks like a Jumpin' Minnow on steroids.  It is just about the same length as a Jumpin' Minnow, yet weighs almost twice as much, making it a great caster.  It's also heavy duty with sturdy anchors and heavy duty hooks (no need to change out anything). It twitches on the surface with quick pulls of the rod tip and the blues have found this irresistible.  My son Jon has been getting his fish on a Rebel Jumpin' Minnow.