Boats. There's no need to tie a hair loop, as you'll see... 3) Snip the hair off. 2021 Boat Buyers Guide: Flats/Skiffs. Chad Tobler and Capt. ANSWER: Roger, Thank you for reaching out to us. Hunter Caballero said the spot he fishes determines his AJ fight plan. Amberjacks are extremely powerful fish and require tough gear and tackle. google_ad_height = 15; Amberjack takes on seasoning well, so use a light dusting to prevent overwhelming the natural flavor of the fish. How to Catch Southern California Yellowtail. Begin your drop as high in the water column and as far off the structure as you can and then slowly work your way closer until you get the fish to cooperate. Amberjacks are extremely powerful fish and require tough gear and tackle. You simply cannot anchor in this environment. Although the use of live bait is extremely effective on Amberjacks, there are a number of large heavyweight jigs that these fish will also take. Amberjack prefer deeper water which offers some form of natural or man made structure such as oil rigs, gas platforms and underwater wrecks and reef systems. Reel; Rod; Fish finder Sounder. With a closed harvest on red snapper in federal waters, amberjack would usually fill the difference in the cooler when offshore anglers ventured far out for deep-water groupers. An assortment of these in 7 to 10 ounce weights in colors like silver, chrome, white, chartreuse or combinations of these hues works well. FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. Catch them anywhere in the water column but you can spot them around structures that are near the bottom of the sea bed around the 60 to 240 feet range. We immediately caught a Spanish mackerel (eight pounds) on a butterfly jig. Bottom Fishing Techniques. Best Amberjack Fishing Rigs? We immediately caught a Spanish mackerel (eight pounds) on a butterfly jig. Andy's dive partner and assistant fish wrangler was Jeff Smith. When targeting amberjack, 100-pound leader paired with a 12/0-14/0 circle hook and a big live bait such as a hardtail usually works well. Use small, sharp jerks followed by a pause to let the jig slowly fall again. Amberjack and samson fish can be found almost Australia wide, so chances are there is a healthy population right on your doorstep. Tackle Tips   Amberjack Recipe. A top producing baitfish for Amberjacks is blue runner, other baits that will work are croakers, spots, pinfish, grunts and mullet or squid. 1 of 45 This is a useful option when fishing around weeds, brush or other snaggy cover. Sign in. rig, on the egg lead rig you use a barrel swivel and the snap lead rig you use a 3-way swivel at the top. When you lower the rod tip crank up the slack extremely fast. Boats. Amberjack chunks, blue runner heads, ladyfish, mackerel are all going to work well. Choosing the Perfect Boat. Reels   Boats   Turn the bag over a few times to coat both sides of the fish, and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Try one month for $1. To make a weedless casting rig for fishing in grassy areas, break off the tail fan and push the hook point all the way through the tip of the tail. This shark rig works especially well when the bait is freshly caught. google_ad_slot = "6656867460"; After casting the rig out, let it sink to the bottom while controlling the slack line. I will use a variety of leader configurations with what I call a sow rig on lighter tackle over live bottom. Amberjack gang up around abrupt depth changes, such as the Humps in the Florida Straights. We reached the fishing spot around 8:30am, and the morning sun had just burned the clouds off. The rigs comes with two 8oz weights spaced by luminous beads. Follow these steps to make a sliding sinker rig: Start by threading the main line through the hole in an egg sinker. The sow rig consists of a leader about six feet long with one or two egg sinkers located just off center and the hook on the trailing end. Music by Adam B. Amberjack gang up around abrupt depth changes, such as the Humps in the Florida Straights. The feds proclaimed that the recreational anglers had reached their quota, and for the first time in history, harvesting amberjack came to a close for the rest of the year. For Amberjacks a sliding sinker rig can be rigged. If you are using live bait, have a pitch rod ready with just a hook tied on the end, or have a leader with a hook, but no weight, tied on the end, so live bait won't have any drag on it. QUESTION: Hi! Now for live bait. I usually fish on the Gulf of Mexico cost close to Clearwater beach. All Rights Reserved. The low gear works well for torque, and the high gear is great for retrieving live bait rigs or lures from the deep. The Texas state record for a greater amberjack is a 121-pound monster caught in the Gulf in 2005on a jig/cigar minnow. You can use a variety of hooks with this setup, including the circle hook, O'Shaughnessy hook, live bait hook, or the 4x strong Octopus hook. Make sure you hook your live baits closer to the head rather than the tail because fish go for the head of the bait, so you will set the hook deeper than if you hook the bait near the tail.Now, if live bait isn't your cup of tea, or you just have trouble catching live bait, another option is to use a buck-tail jig and a metal jig to entice strikes. Rods & /* New site tower1 */ 2021 Boat Buyers Guide: Multihulls. How To Make A Better Grouper Rig.  About   A basic list of baits from small to large includes piggy perch, croakers, b-liners, blue runners, bluefish, bonito, and rainbow runners. In summary, since amberjack are most commonly caught between 100 and 200 feet of water, either monofilament or braided line will work for catching them. Latest. 101Above #BullbusterAmbassador Big Bully Outdoors tackled this massive AJ using topwater lures using Bullbuster braid!Tons Of Amberjack Recipes To Choose FromIf you are bottom fishing, wreck fishing, or oil rig fishing off& Although there are numerous variations when it comes to bottom rigs, outlined on the following pages are three highly effective versions that will fool more big snappers, groupers, amberjack and cobia around reefs, wrecks and other structure. We collect information from you when you register on our site, place an order... READ MORE. What information do we collect? With our very healthy amberjack population, a livewell full of pinfish and hardtails fished on circle hooks with egg weights will give you plenty of chances at catching your one fish limit. Amberjack Habitat. We then decided to move to the Horseshoe (Rig) area to fish for amberjack. You simply cannot anchor in this environment. Previous fishing reports had said amberjack were being taken in this area, and we were prepared with heavy tackle and plenty of cut bait and lures to find out for ourselves. Kyle Larson of Sea Wrangler Charters out of Cocoa Beach, Florida, we learned a simple approach to up the score on these brutes. A good place to start targeting the Amberjack is in 100 to 150 feet of water above wrecks, salt domes, and bottom breaks like cliffs or ledges, and they love to concentrate around oil and gas rigs or other towers. Contact, , . 2021 Boat Buyers Guide: Center-Consoles. An outstanding tactic to cover multiple areas of a water column would be to run a dry-dropper rig or sometimes called a “hopper-dropper” rig. On a recent trip with Capt. Video of Andy Mckeown's Amberjack shot on the Tenneco Oil Platform off of Chad Toner's 27' World Cat. How to Cook Amberjack. What we mean by controlling the slack, is managing the slack line so you can pick up any bite during the fall. Afterwards, retrieve 6 feet and just drag it through the water. Thus, it is always wise to keep a number of proven amberjack jigs in your fishing tackle arsenal. Amberjack Baits Any decent sized live baitfish should work. Generally, groupers aren't as leader-shy as snappers, plus they're more likely to dive directly into structure and part the leader. The Best Baits for Amberjack. google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8270553620784211"; Get a refresher on how to snell a hook and learn their successful crimping technique. ***Can be custom made to your personal specs as well Then we attach our leader material, a 40-50 foot section of 80-100 lb mono. Many brands, such as Shimano (Tiagra 16, TLD 20 and 30 2-speed and the new Talica 16 and 12), are now available that fit the bill for this job. If you put bait on them, they usually don't swim very well when you retrieve. Tips   My top two plastics for this method are the 5" and 7" ZMan Scented Jerk ShadZ, smothered in scent straight out of the packet. These deep-water structure-oriented fish seem to mostly cruise in the mid-depths, and once hooked get ready for a fight. Leader strength, swivel and hook size can be adjusted to match the size of the fish you're pursuing, as well as the tackle you're using. Learn how to make a carolina fishing rig for saltwater in four simple steps. Amberjack taste amazing and are a prized fish to consume. //-->, google_ad_width = 160; A Run Ring is a must because this provides a large diameter bore through which the line passes, therefore resistance is kept to a minimum. When fishing with sardines or small mackerel, use a 3/0 Owner Gorilla Light J hook pinned through … Boats. We put the mackerel on a 13 0/0 hook and sent it back down. Optimal Boat Speed to Catch Amberjack Run the weighted lines outboard and the unweighted down the center to minimize tangles. If you are looking for the fish with a reputation as a battler, it is the greater Amberjack. Though they won't be filling the hole this winter, amberjack fishing will reopen in the spring. Amberjack Habitat. Amberjacks are extremely powerful fish and require tough gear and tackle. If a ruler and calculator aren't handy and you really want to know, lift up the gill and count the finger shaped projections from the first gill. First, slip an egg sinker ranging anywhere from 8 to 16 ounces onto the main line and then tie on a dull-finish No. Nicolas Agustin Cabrera/Demand Media . TACKLE AND BAITS: Amberjack are most often caught aboard charterboats and partyboats on heavy rods and reels with lines testing 50 pounds or more—and are no patsies, even then. Although it’s quite simple to tie, the components you will need are quite specialised but can be bought from all good tackle shops. If you are lucky enough to have good live bait, then your first stop when targeting these brutes should be half to 3/4 of the way down the water column; lures should be fished through the entire water column to draw strikes.