What Do I Need For Bluefish

[C0lt]

Im going out on a boat with a friend of my grandfather in september for a ct bluefish tournament. I have never been after bluefish before. I also know that obviously my bass rods wont be fit so what exactly do I need in terms of rods, reels, and tackle to go after bluefish, without breaking the bank?

[masterbass]

I used my medium spinning rods and 40 size reels for blues an stripers when I was in cape cod.

[gulfcaptain]

Wire leaders, the one's I've encountered aren't really picky eaters....spoons, bucktails, did I mention wire...I would go with singlestrand and use about an 12-18" leader lenght in a weight of about 60lb or somewhere close by.  Haywire twists are simple and you don't need all the tools, crimps, etc. They are fun, just remember they have teeth.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Bass gear works just gotta use steel leaders connected to your lures .which happen to be kastmasters 1 oz and jigs with bkd's 1/2 oz with chartreuse or pink

[SirSnookalot]

Fishing for bluefish off a boat is different than catching them from shore, I believe the equipment should be suitable for the water depth.  Fishing in close proximity to the shore line I'd opt for a mh, offshore I'd be using 30# class rod, 6000 reel with 30# braid, wire leader is no problem.  Bluefish hit anything, I have had small strain Florida bluefish bite lures in half, up there the blues are much bigger.  My lure preference would be a diamond jig with a single hook, it can be casted or deepwater vertical jigged tipped with squid.  Bluefish give a real nice fight.

[deaknh03]

Exactly what snook said..

[F14A-B]

Snooker nailed it, my blue fishing was in the Florida area, they are smaller, still toothy and fun to catch at times... But not as mean as you're intended fishing area!

Best Wishes!

[tomustang]

Diamond jig and spoons, switch out to single hooks or you'll spend more time removing trebles than actually fishing

[dam0007]

Last I checked 15.7 lbs is in the lead.

[SirSnookalot]

Real good lure for both bluefish and stripers

 

[dave]

Diamond jig and spoons, switch out to single hooks or you'll spend more time removing trebles than actually fishing

And quite possibly removing them from your hand...

 

We switch out to circle hooks.

[bigbill]

Still fishing it's diamond jigging using shrimp scent. Trolling it's spoons with wire leaders. A deep sea rod with a roller tip with at least 50lb test and a Penn #49 / #149 reel.

If you see a school working the baitfish/bunker on the surface get trolling and circling the school picking them off. If you get any weak fish there great eating too.

My mom would bake blues with tomato sauce and basil. She would cook them a little drain off the oil then add tomatoes. She did the weak fish the same way. No oily taste.

I miss her cooking the fish.

[SirSnookalot]

Circle hook isn't a bad idea, many of these ocean fish hitting lures the last thing you do is set the hook, they hit with a lot of speed.

Whether I'm catching bluefish or jacks getting a treble out of both lips can be a nightmare and that happens often.  For the most part stripers, snook, cuda and tarpon get hooked in only 1 lip so a treble works ok.

[Shanes7614]

Anchor and chum and use chunk bait. Menhaden works best. Or otherwise known to some as bunker. Mark some on fish finder and go up current and start throwing out ground chum and the blues will not leave the area until you stop chumming or run out of bait. Worked quite a few years on party boats out of NJ with catches of over 20 fish per person.