Amberjack: Hold on Tight!

Amberjack have a well-deserved reputation for pulling like your line was attacked to a Mack truck, and earn the nickname “reef donkeys.” In fact, few fish fight as hard as jacks. They also have a less-than-stellar reputation as a food fish, which is also well-deserved. With meat much like that of their cousin the bluefish, once an amberjack gets much beyond 30 inches the meat tends to be strong in flavor and mushy if frozen, and worms are often found in them as well. Some people will  soak the meat in milk after cutting the worms out, and disagree with the low food value assessment. But in general keeper-sized fish usually aren’t a favorite of those in search of their next meal. Any way you cut it, however, these beasts are still well worth pursuing as a sport fish..

So, how can you target these big jacks? Often they’re an accidental catch, but if you want to tie into one intentionally, few tactics can beat jigging spoons over structure.

Jacks are very structure-oriented fish, and will usually be found over reefs, wrecks, and around oil platforms. They have an odd habit of hovering over hard structure, which makes them easy to pick out on a fishfinder. When there’s a wreck in 100 feet of water that rises to 75 feet and you see large marks at 50 or 60 feet, you can bet there’s a good chance they’re amberjacks. And this makes them fairly easy to target. Simply position your boat for a drift over the structure, send your spoon down to the target zone, and jig vertically until a reef donkey tries to rip your rod out of your hands (which is exactly what it feels like when one of these fish hits). If they don’t respond to a vertical jigging presentation, the “yo-yo” tactic often gets them biting. Drop your spoon down until it’s well below the fish’s depth, then crank as hard and fast on the reel as you can to rip the jig up from underneath them. Keep up the pace until your spoon hits the surface, because often a jack will chase it right up to the boat and strike at the very last second. If not, send the spoon back down deep and repeat the process over and over again, like a yo-yo.

And remember: hold on tight.