At right: Ray Davis unhooks a bluefish he caught on light spinning tackle from a boat near Oregon Inlet. Photo by Joe Malat

Anglers either love or hate bluefish.

Consider a few examples of some typical bluefish love/hate relationships. A surfcaster is working a perfect tide and wind on a full moon at an ideal location to catch a big drum. He has soaked baits for hours with no success, when a fish takes his bait with a vengeance, and fights hard for several minutes until a wave slides the fish, a good ten-pounder, up on the sand. Suddenly the "drum" that took his bait grows a forked tail and teeth. "Bluefish!" he mutters in disgust.

Another angler eases his into the deep slough on the backside of the marsh island. The sun is just coming up, when a good fish wallops his MirrOlure on the first cast, and pulls like a bulldog. But his visions of a citation speckled trout are dashed when a three-pound bluefish breaks the water. "Just a bluefish," is the disrespectful comment.

A charter boat captain is working a half-day trip around the mouth of Oregon Inlet. It's been a slow morning and everyone is growing restless. As the captain trolls through a small slick on top of the bar, three rods go down and their tips dance with the fight of a good fish.

"All right, nice bluefish!' he shouts as he swings the first of three fish over the gunwale, and the anglers are beaming. Well, one out of three ain't bad. We've been spoiled, and often take for granted the bluefish that have been so abundant in our waters.

To minimize wear and tear on their manicure, some folks will fashion a scoop from a 1/4-inch wire mesh. The large mesh allows sand to empty out quickly, leaving behind those fleas that are big enough for bait. Mole crabs will stay alive in a bucket and a couple inches of damp (not wet) sand. Keep the bucket in a cool place, if possible.

Above: Bluefish will eagerly take natural baits or a variety of artificial lures, such as this lead head jig and soft plastic tail combination. Photo by Joe Malat

It's tough to beat live minnows as bait for flounders, and some of the "doormat" sized flatfish will readily chow down on much bigger fish, such as spot, croakers, or mullet.

When I was guiding surf fishing parties I loved to catch a drum, or a handful of speckled or gray trout, but bluefish were my bread and butter. For the most part they were dependable, and on several occasions were the only species of fish I had in the box at the end of the day.

It's been a while since we've seen any strong numbers of big bluefish, but this past spring and early summer were very productive for bluefish from one to three pounds, with just enough five-pounders thrown in the mix to make things interesting. Boaters and surfcasters caught plenty of bluefish.

Throughout most of the summer, small bluefish were the mainstay of the inshore charter fleet, supplemented by some steady catches of large Spanish mackerel. If you want to catch your share of these small blues, trolling is the way to go. You can cover a lot of territory and eventually find the fish.

When I fish for bluefish, I don't want to fill my cooler. I'll just have some fun and maybe take home a couple fish for dinner, so my method of fishing for them is more relaxed, and not as focused on putting fish in the box.

A school of fish will seldom come to the surface in the middle of a dozen trolling boats, but if you move away from the crowd, your chances of seeing breaking fish will increase considerably. That's the time to break out the light spinning rods, and cast to the fish.

Medium to light action rods in the 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 foot range are perfect for this type of fishing. I like a 7-foot rod, and medium spinning reel loaded with 10-pound test monofilament line.

Small Hopkins, Stingsilver, or Kastmaster lures are offerings the blues can't refuse. Lures that are from 1 ½ to 3 inches long, and weigh from ½ to 1½ ounces work best for blues that weigh up to a couple of pounds. Most of the summer and early fall fish will be in that range.

Usually an 18-inch piece of 25-pound test monofilament leader, connected to your running line with a small black swivel, will work just fine. Again, this is not the way to fish if you want to limit out in a hurry, or have several mouths to feed. But for the sheer fun of catching, it can't be topped.

Most of the small blues that are caught around Oregon Inlet are taken on the east side of the bridge, but if you have a small boat or on those days when sea conditions keep you inside, there are plenty of protected waters that hold bluefish.

Occasionally, birds can be seen working over schools of small blues at the west end of Davis Slough, especially on a rising tide, when the water is clear. They will take bait, or small lures.

Boat traffic from those folks who are drifting for flounder, and the presence of a lot of shoals in Davis Slough can make trolling difficult, but schools of the small blues can be found just about anywhere. Look for a handful of birds hitting the water, and cast under them.

The deeper parts of Old House Channel, just past the sand islands and Hell's Gate are an excellent place to troll a couple of small Clark spoons, or 1/4 ounce nylons behind 2 to 4 ounce in-line sinkers. This area can be especially productive in the early fall, before the water gets too cool. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel will often be found in this deep water.

Not only do I love to catch bluefish, I like to eat them, too. Many may not share this opinion, but I think blues in the one to two pound range are excellent table fare, but they must be handled properly. Keep an adequate supply of ice in the fish box, and ice down the fish immediately after they come on board. Clean them as soon as possible and keep the fillets out of the water but cold until they are cooked. To get the optimum flavor from a fresh caught bluefish, eat them the day you catch them. They do not freeze well.