Amberjack make a good fish story
Published: Monday, July 14, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 14, 2008 at 1:26 a.m.
SPECIAL
Capt. Jot Owens caught this amberjack at an artificial reef by casting a topwater lure.
Most coastal anglers have a love-hate relationship with the greater amberjack. But any fisherman who has ever hooked one has given the devil his due.
They are extremely powerful and can exceed 90 pounds. They strike readily and have endurance beyond that of almost any other saltwater fish.
Such attributes should place them high on fishermen's wish lists, but most anglers shun them for those same reasons. When they are fishing for other fish, amberjack are nuisances, burning fishing time and baits meant for other fish. Nevertheless, there are times when getting a crack at an amberjack can make any angler a hero.
"Everybody who lives inland wants to catch a big fish when they go out on the ocean," said Capt. Jot Owens of Wrightsville Beach. "Almost every fisherman is familiar with fishing topwater lures for largemouth bass, but when they see the size of my topwater poppers they don't believe it."
While many people use live bait for catching amberjack, Owens said the topwater strike is one of the most vicious in all of saltwater fishing. Guests who see it for the first time are awestruck.
"You're working this huge popper with a spinning rod, when all of a sudden a fish starts exploding water all around it. Sometimes they hook up on the first strike, but other times, they follow the lure to the boat."
Owens said finding a spot to catch amberjack is not difficult. He just looks for artificial reef structures where not many other people are fishing.
"King mackerel fishermen hate amberjack," he said. "The fish wreck their rigs and eat their baits. Another fish associated with amberjack is barracuda, which eat any king mackerel hooked by fishermen. Find the amberjack and you've found the barracuda."
Owens used his GPS unit to locate an artificial reef a few miles off Masonboro Inlet, then throttled the motor to an idle.
He cast the big popper on a heavy spinning rod, then reeled in the slack until the mouth of the popper was facing him.
Timing the twitches of his rod tip to the rhythm of the waves to keep slack out of the line, he reeled in the popper, which made large splashes every time he hauled hard on the rod.
On the third cast, a geyser of water shot from the water. Several amberjack were visible beneath the lure. On the next twitch, the line came tight.
"There he is!" Owens shouted. "Now all I have to do is keep him out of the structure."
The fish dug for the bottom. Although Owens had set the reel drag to all the line could withstand without breaking, the amberjack went beneath or around something hard.
"I'll give him some slack to see if he comes free," Owens said. "If that doesn't work, I'll try steady pressure."
The tactics worked, the line held and the amberjack swam free. After a 20-minute battle, the 30-pound amberjack was beside the boat, with one of his larger buddies along.
"If you tossed another lure right now, you could hook the other fish," he said.
Mike Marsh is author of several fishing and hunting books. He can be reached at Mike62774@aol.com.