Amberjack on slow pitch jigging Fishing trip 04 June 2023

 

We were six anglers and started at 0530 with Capt. Ali Naqbi the “shark master”. The forecast was low wind. We were looking forward to a very hot and humid day. We first hit an inshore spot and had plans to move to a long tail tuna spot which had some top water activity the previous day.

First strike was a Barracuda to a fellow boat man. I got snagged to reef. Usually, I quickly reel up 3 rotations as soon I touch the bottom. I don’t realize how I got snagged. I could feel the jig on the other end indication probably it was due to the lower assist hooks. The captain had warned not to use the lower assist hooks. While I was setting up my gear, the captain’s reel drag was screaming indicating an amber jack.

Initially I was using a seafloor control arc and I was not getting any strike. I changed to Deepliner spy. On the same drop hit an amber jack decent size. There was a slight current. So, I used a high pitch jerker and gave punchy lifts. clearly spy floated much longer than any other jig. I believe that is the advantage of spy. It gives more time for the fish to bite. But if we do not use heavier and or high current or drift condition vertical jigging may be difficult

Later we started moving towards the tuna spots. We stopped at two locations in between but did not find anything. When we reached the spot, we could see dolphins everywhere. Looked like it was a dolphin home. They were just playing around. No serious movement. So, we thought maybe they are not chasing them and started waiting for some activity. After a long wait we decided we should do something else. However, the depth there was over 400 meters. We were discussing how to jig at that depth and what kind of fish would be available and then I decided to drop the jig. With no top water activity seen that was the best time to explore such depths. I dropped Seafloor control SL 700gms. It took a long time to reach down. It was like pulling a very hard rubber band. I was trying one rotation retrieval but could not feel the jig. Line slack was too much. I did two rotations retrieving and jigging and tried three drops. With no action decided to wind up as we drifted more.

 

Again, after some time we were at a location with 325 meters (1000 feet) depth. I decided to drop. While jigging 20 meters from the bottom I had a strike. It was hard to reel then. I continued reeling after about hundred meters reeling was hard, but the fish did not fight on pull the line. I believe it is due to the weight of the jig and should be a small fish. I kept reeling while my forearm was cramping. Finally, I was surprised with an EEL. None of the anglers wanted the EEL in the boat. Captain unhooked the Eel just outside the boat.

 

After few hours of waiting, we decided to head back home and stopped in a few places and got nothing. When we jigged in the same location where we got the amberjacks captain got a strike and missed. Barracuda took my jig again. While I was making my line Capt. got his third Amberjack. Someone got a bonito and few other fishes. I hooked up a barracuda and safely landed. When it was the last drop, I hooked on to a long tail tuna. Once it reached the boat it started running. Took a few minutes to land it.

It was great day at the ocean. It was a blessing.