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Tailing Bluefish on Long Island

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albieonthefly

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This behavior is called daisy chain similar to tarpon , when several males circles the female, like Sergio mentioned some sort of courtship I've witness this on several occasions sometimes they don't even respond to any lure/fly its obvious they were hungry I would be too! after chasing and mating ...cool shots man.

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That's my theory too--I see them do this on the south shore of the Cape.  They come into the shallows over a relatively dark bottom and the water is warmer there.  They aren't actively feeding, just lazing around.  But when I have caught them there, I have had them puke up 10" squid.  I think they are feeding in the colder, deeper waters of Nantucket Sound and then coming into the shallows to rest and warm up.  And they won't always hit a fly or lure there--they can be down right frustrating--but usually, with a little experimenting, you can find something they'll hit.  

 

Yeah,I think ya hit right there,squid.I throw a regular popper and most of the time they'll hit it but sometimes not.I throw a topwater squid pattern and I don't get a refusal.

 

We were throwing to blues last week and the bass were beating the blues to the fly.Never thought I'd be disappointed by 26-30" bass but when it's between that and 33-36" blues,well,I'll take the blue,much better fight!

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This behavior is called daisy chain similar to tarpon , when several males circles the female, like Sergio mentioned some sort of courtship I've witness this on several occasions sometimes they don't even respond to any lure/fly its obvious they were hungry I would be too! after chasing and mating ...cool shots man.

 

Had this happen in Montauk about 4 years ago.... for three days in a row slick calm in about 18' of water, daisy chaining while finning. Could only get them to take surf candy flies and they had to be retrieved as fast as possible... many follows to get one to take, but it was a blast to watch them..

Edited by BW
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Got out this afternoon despite the wind and found 'em tailing and lazing around just like in the video, despite some chop on the water.  Poppers on a floating line and Kinky Muddlers on an intermediate both worked--too much fun.   I love sight casting to big blues--best one was 12#'s on the Boga and had lots of sea lice.

post-11489-0-33976200-1465952822.jpg

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  • 3 years later...

It being late May on Long Island, I have been encountering finning blues in the back of the local estuary at the higher tide stages. They are incredibly finicky in this mode! In dense fog I have observed them cruising slowly with their noses out of the water and their mouths open, lazily paddling along. At first I thought I had found a giant eel but confirmed it was a ~3lb blue. I saw 2-3 others doing this bizarre cruising this morning and sadly could not elicit any strikes on poppers, Ray's flies, guitar minnows, or the single feather flatwings that had been working in this area, albeit with more wind and current

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5 hours ago, dkanoafry said:

It being late May on Long Island, I have been encountering finning blues in the back of the local estuary at the higher tide stages. They are incredibly finicky in this mode! In dense fog I have observed them cruising slowly with their noses out of the water and their mouths open, lazily paddling along. At first I thought I had found a giant eel but confirmed it was a ~3lb blue. I saw 2-3 others doing this bizarre cruising this morning and sadly could not elicit any strikes on poppers, Ray's flies, guitar minnows, or the single feather flatwings that had been working in this area, albeit with more wind and current

I see the same thing every May in my area. Blues from 5 to 15+ pounds tailing and daisy chaining. Super fussy and very challenging to catch at times. Anyone who says blues are mindless eating machines hasn’t seen them like this. Probably the only time I commit time to targeting them. This is my fly after a morning session today vvvv

F664125F-99F8-4F68-BF8A-6FE62E6FADF8.jpeg

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8 hours ago, Nikoli said:

I have seen them do this mid sound in over 100 foot of water. I’ve been told they are warming up. The ones I have seen are big. You need a super calm day and luck to find them.

I'd agree w/ the warming up,not mating as regardless of species there are certain body movements that indicate spawning (fish "shuddering" as milt or eggs are released) that are not exhibited and,as is understood,bluefish spawn offshore.

I will reiterate from my post of several years ago;I've never had them refuse a floating squid pattern.

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