Big Pullage from BIG AMBERJACKS!!

[fshrgrl]

King -Sized Pullage
Big Amberjack Report

7 June 2008

I was I the mood for some major pullage, and I knew a big jack would do the job. With a variable wind forecast, I tried to ignore the heat index prediction of over 100 degrees. I also tried to ignore that a round trip south would cost $500 bucks! Well, at least the bait was free.

We left Rudee at first light along with all the other boats heading offshore for tuna, and quickly hunted down live bait. With the help of my handy Bag-O-Worms Fishbites, we headed south with a live well of perfectly sized AJ snacks.

The ride was easy, with slick-calm seas. Upon arriving at the South Tower, the water was 77 degrees, and hoards of big hungry jacks were waiting for us. As we approached the tower, and circled the area, schools of jacks eagerly followed us around. A 40-pound cobia also glided up to the boat to take a look, and I tossed him a bait, which he slammed. He made a beeline for the tower, and was gone. Ok, I hoped my luck was better with the jacks.

I dropped my first bait down to about 20 feet, and my line immediately began peeling off my TLD 30. Hooked up! Citation jack! These fish are power-houses, and gave me the battle I was looking for. After releasing a few big jacks, I wanted to play with my Torsa, so I jigged a few on my Butterfly jig. The AJs nailed my jig on most every drop. The Torsa is an amazing reel, handing 50 and 60-pound jacks like a dream. I love my Torsa! The action was incredible, and I was getting over-heated. We could have caught them all day, but it was HOT!

So as we took a break, we attempted to feed clams to schools of big spades, which completely disregarded our offerings. A few more cobia also circled the boat, but they weren’t hungry either. I also saw a turtle, and a few 4-foot sharks. We also watched the jacks explode and boil on the surface as several schools of bait swam though. It was like visiting a marine aquarium.

We had a brief motor scare when one of the twins wouldn’t turn over. A long ride in on one engine in the heat did not excite me. We tried a few things, and it finally turned over on its own. Probably a loose wire.

A few more jacks, and we were done.
As soon as we left, we intercepted Jake on the Matador, heading out with a charter for an over-nighter. We gave him the scoop on the tower, and spotted him our left-over live baits. They were set.

We had another smooth ride in, and arrived back at the dock around 5:30pm. Another great day on the water!!

It's SUMMER TIME!!















Good luck!
__________________

[Kayak fisherman]

Hey Julie:

Do you keep some of those AJ's? I've caught 'em before but I've never eaten one. I heard mixed stories. I heard they have worms in the meat near the tail end and they aren't good to eat. However, I have a friend who has eaten amberjack and says it's really good (his favorite fish to eat is bluefish so I'm not sure he has the same kind taste buds I do). What do you think?


Here an excerpt from a website I googled:
"Yes, amberjack have worms most of the time, which are located in their tail section. Some amber’s even have them in other areas, but this fish is big and there is normally plenty of meat after these sections are removed. Amberjack, like many other species of large fish, can have trypanorhyncha tapeworms. This type of parasite is usually associated with cartilaginous fish and cannot be transmitted to humans. I hate to go from these previous statements to this next one. It is excellent baked, charcoaled, or broiled, and basted with variety of seafood success. Amberjack is also excellent smoked."

[trex]

Golden deeeelicious...pretty work!

[ESfishdoc]

How did you manage to deal with that crowd?

AJ is on my list of fish to catch.



I know a lot of people don't eat them but I'm certainly going to keep one when I do get around to catching one.

Thanks for the report!

Richard

[whitebite]

Pretty cool julie, looks like there is a fish boiling right behind you

[surfperch1]

Nice!

[fshrgrl]

No we didn't keep any to eat, and I have never tried it. Let me know how it is.
Good luck!

[Aquatrax]

Looked like a lot of fun Julie; I especially like the jig method. Who was the "we" that fished with you? Nice pix. Dave

[fshrgrl]

Looked like a lot of fun Julie; I especially like the jig method. Who was the "we" that fished with you? Nice pix. Dave

The main thing is it wasn't YOU Dave...I thought we were going?

[surferbill]

Nice job on the AJ's.

Looks like we will have to make the run down to the South Tower.

I love bikini season !!