Amberjack
Amberjack are colored dark bronze to grayish towards the tops of their bodies, then under this area, they usually have a band or area that travels the length of their body that is copper to golden in color, and the rest and majority of their body is colored mostly silverish. Amberjack are fished by numerous anglers, and are a prized catch due to various reasons, one being that their flesh is very tasty and cooks up nice and white.
Amberjack can grow to be real dumbo's and by that I mean they can get to be pretty large, in fact it's not too rare to catch one in the 100 lb or heavier range. Young Amberjack tend to travel in groups or schools, while the larger adults tend to stay pretty much as loners, or with one or two other large adults.
Amberjack tend to like staying out in the deep water, sometimes they will come up close to the surface while foraging, but the large adult trophies tend to stay submerged in the deeper water, as deep as a couple hundred feet and sometimes a lot more.
Amberjack fishing is mostly all done by chartering a boat and experienced crew, because you will need to get out into the very deep waters where they tend to stay. One of the ways fishermen get them to come up to the surface more, is by chumming the area first with a bag of commercial chum.
When fishing for them, one of the pointers to keep in mind is that they love the areas of deep water that contain a lot of debris and structures, such as; shipwrecks, submerged logs, piers, and other such things.
When fishing for them with bait or lures, keep in mind that Amberjack have a lot of muscle, and even though they are not a real fast fish, they will often head towards the nearest structure or debris, with your hook or lure in their mouths, if your line makes it by the debris without getting entangled, you still will have a nice little fight on your hands.
Often times they seem to like to play dead, they appear to come in rather easily for awhile, then suddenly they dive and use every ounce of muscle they have to head back down to the depths.
When fishing for Amberjack using bait, some of the top favorites for catching them are; cigar minnows, pinfish, croakers, blue runners and squid. You should use live bait when fishing for them as Amberjack will seldom bite on dead fish, or other bait, even when they have been lured towards the surface by the chumming.
When fishing for Amberjack using lures, try using heavy jig's or large deep runners that resemble shrimp or other baitfish. You need to get your bait or lures down to the depths where the Amberjack tend to stay.
|
