Home Forums Fishing Saltwater Best Atlantic Coast Offshore State

If you want to fish offshore anywhere on SC's or Georgia's coast, you really have to love it because you've got to run 65-70 nautical to get to migrating dolphin, wahoo, blackfin tuna, and bill-fish if that's your goal. I'm jealous as hell of those who live in the Outer Banks region of NC. Being the most prominent landmass point on the east coast not only places it in closer proximinity to gulf stream, it also acts like an extreme narrow bend in a river, which also concentrates and confines migatory fish to a much smaller area. In some instances boats only have a short 15-mile trip to get to the fish which makes for less time and cost than anywhere else in the US for offshore trolling with the exception of FL (more on that). As you see on TV, there's seasonal bluefin and yellowfin there, but also phenomenal almost year-round fishing for wahoo, blackfin, dolphin, and some type of billfish. On winter-weather days you can fish close in for stripers, kings, or fly-fish for little-tuny and false-Albecore within sight of the beach. Fifty years ago, with the exception of BFT, I would have said the same about Florida's south coast but now due to overcrowding, it's overfished to the point of over-regulation.

I never believed it was possible to deplete the fish stocks using a hook and line. I've now seen it happen in Florida and with recreational fishing only for some species.

I think Fisher's has changed some:

https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/fishers-island-new-york-e1888959

I've seen this as well. When fleets of for-hire vessels anchor over productive reefs and rock piles every day of the year it can and does affect the viability of certain species. While everyone complains about government regulations, restrictions on size and creel limits do have a positive affect.

Bluefish are best described as an acquired taste. Meat is dark and oily. I’ve had it coated with Hellman’s mayo and baked, baked with cognac and smoked and made into a pate. I liked the pate spread the best.
Smaller the blue, likely a little better tasting. We caught several a the RACE which is off Fishers Island and exit’s to the Atlantic and Montauk. The fish were all over 14 pounds, caught jigging.

Jigging monster blues at the Race (especially years ago when it was guaranteed success) is one of life's great pleasures. Bluefish of any size are great fighters. I like to eat them but they need to be eaten fresh. Bleeding them helps as does cutting away the dark meat when preparing.

Bluefish is one of those fish people either hate or like. They are pretty oily so you have to cut out the dark streak along the back. Because they are so oily they smoke up nicely. People who don’t like fish that taste fishy won’t like them. Meat pretty soft and they don’t keep so eat same day or smoke. Some folks fillet then let the fillets set in milk overnight to get a milder taste. Personally I love catching them and like the flavor but then I like mackerel too

Rick

Every Blue I ever tasted was nasty.

Until I was surf fishing with a friend.
He fired up a charcoal hibachi, wrapped the fish in foil with some
spice concoction. It went water to plate in less than an hour.
Maybe it was the oceanside atmosphere, or not.
That blue was darn good!

North Carloina got some good fishing most of the year and the gulf stream is about 40 miles offshore.

We called them snappers and they were the best ...night fishing on a chum line we would catch up to 15-18 lbrs. Smaller ones got filleted the big ones produced beautiful tomatoes.

most of the over fishing in FLA is shrimp boat by catch killing so many small game fish

If you're catching blues, I humbly suggest John Hersey's book Blues. Every chapter ends with a recipe.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/blues_john-hersey/406360/#edition=2148737&idiq=2074170

I've done Maine and Massachusetts the last couple years. Have had a blast out of Boston. lost several monster tuna, caught a ton of strippers and sharks. I'm defiantly going back.