Bluefish: Pomatomous Salatrix is a Worthy Adversary for the Best Fishermen

Bluefish, also known by their scientific name, Pomatomous salatrix, is truly a worthy, hard fighting adversary when targeted by rod and reel fishermen. According to McClanes's Field Guide to Saltwater Fishes of North America, bluefish move inshore along the coasts of the United States as ocean waters warm in spring and summer months. Their travels make bluefish ideal targets for boating and shore-bound fisherman. Typical harbor bluefish sizes run 5-7 pounds and 12-pounders are not uncommon at all. McClane cites the rod and reel world record at over 31 pounds while twenty-pound bluefish are the trophies that win tournaments.

It's not only weight and size that make bluefish such a challenging gamefish. Striped bass are larger, live longer and can weigh 50 pounds or more. What makes the bluefish a tough adversary is that bluefish are tenacious fighters. They never give up. Once hooked, they will fight you right to the boat, the beach and even into the cooler. And they do have the weapons to fight back. Bluefish are equipped with razor-sharp teeth that can do a lot of damage to careless human fingers. So the rule is, never, never, never put you hands in or near their mouths. More than one fisherman has the scars to prove it.

It's not difficult to hook bluefish. The real trick is to keep them hooked. Their teeth will cut through most fishing lines, so using a wire leader is mandatory. Not only will your fish attempt to shred the line, but his buddies traveling in the same school will try to steal the lure or bait right out of his mouth. Only that wire leader will hold up against hungry, marauding bluefish.

Lures for bluefish are pretty simple affairs, but they also need to be rugged, to hold up through more than one bluefish attack. Noisy, splashy surface lures retrieved at a fast pace make for the most dramatic fishing. Bluefish attack from the rear and love the chase. In their powerful attacks, they can send a lure airborne and miss the hook altogether. The chase is like this: Hit. Miss. Hit again. Miss. Hit again. Hookup. Hold on. The power of bluefish is remarkable. Bluefish jump, dive, jump with a shaking head and dive again. At times, the torque of their twists can pull the hook right from the lure, freeing your quarry to fight another day.

Bluefish are worthy adversaries. They feed with the ferocity of piranha, but weigh-in at twenty times their size. In coastal areas where bluefish are common, the phrase "vicious fishes" tells the whole story.