I’ve been havin’ a great season on North Shore of L.I. with bluefish in my kayaks, spin and fly…I get them everyday I go…no great skill they’re just all around and takin’ most things I throw…
Today I was out and saw a school so paddled over to them… got a bunch and kept some…they were in the 5lb range…
I had been using a popper most days because I love to see them smack the lure, but at some point today I switched to a tin with one hook. Glad I did because I hooked one , a real jumper, got him to 2 or 3 feet from the pungo and he jumped out of the water and into my ‘yak right on my lap. If I had multiple hooks on the lure I might have gotten hooked when he was thrashin’ around on my legs. Also glad I didn’t get bitten… I’m eatin’ this guy…
Blues
Your lucky it wasn’t 1 of the 15+lb blues that are all over the sound or else you might have had major problems trying to protecting the family jewels.
Another LIer
Where are you launching from? I’m a South Shore boy so I don’t know the sound too well. Glad to hear you are having some fine fishing!
catch and release
mbhw… I sent you an email about the spot…
This is not my week. I got a blue yesterday into my Acadia and as he thrashed around he got me in the arm with a hook… he drove it past the barb,It was in there good… but thank GOD he believed in catch and release, because he thrashed so much he eventually pulled it out of my arm and released ME…so I returned the favor and released him…
Bluefish
Kayak fishing off of Shark River Inlet in NJ means that most of the time there will be blues to catch.
It is great fun to hook up with them and have a nice battle on light tackle.
I always take off the treble hooks and put on single hooks on any Kastmaster or Hopkins lure I use for blues.
I do this for the simple reason that it is easier to remove a single hook than a treble hook.
n. shore
hello where do you drop in.are there spots in roslyn or port. with easy acess? im on south side
Spots
Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor are good spots to launch. But there seems to be bigger bluefish inside Little Neck Bay for the last 3 weeks now.
hook choices
i use 4x long barbless hooks for my flies when targeting blues. i leave the first inch or so of the hook bare so it acts both as a biteproof leader and as an easy spot to grab with my pliers.
i find the wire leaders a PIA to work with and the extra length has come in handy on the frequent gut hooked or deeply hooked blues i’ve caught.
i’ve used the same hooks as treble replacements on lures as well and never noticed a difference in hook-up rates.
my $0.02
I agree
There seems to be no change in hookup rates between treble and regular hooks when the blues are hitting, and I’d rather not have to take too many hooks out of a big mean chopper!
North Shore
My family lives in Glen Cove, we usually launch near the power plant, or just above Seacliff Sailing Club, there are some beaches there, but I think you have to have a township sticker to launch there. To get a sticker you have to know Tony Soprano (smile).
Kayak choice
I fish out of the Shark river (by boat) and want to get into Kayak fishing. What kind of kayak do you use/recommend?
got a blue without hook.
bait inadverdantly was my toe which a 3lb blue slammed while I was on a surfboard.pulled my foot out of the water and he held on ! fell off between my legs on the boaed and still got away. surf session over due to laege gash. Damn things are vicious.
The “fell off between my legs” part
of your post sent chills up my spine. It’s the one thing that scares me about kayak bluefishing - my favorite pastime, BTW - the thought of one of those crazy chompers falling into my lap. Yowza!
Can’t wait to start fishing again…
jet ski
I sail out of old saybrook,ct., when the blues or stripers are running my son and i fish off our 8’r.i.b… Got a guy who fishes off a jet ski, a couple off canoes, a 38’ hinckley $750000 jet drive, and everything in between(mouth of ct. river).