{"id":5114,"date":"2020-07-19T12:47:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T16:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/?p=5114"},"modified":"2022-03-08T13:50:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T18:50:49","slug":"greater-amberjack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/greater-amberjack\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Amberjack"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Greater<\/figure>\r\n\r\n

When asked to describe the fighting characteristics of the greater amberjack, a crusty old veteran offshore fisherman was heard to remark “Find out for yourself \u2013 hook your line to a locomotive and let \u2018er take off. Just make sure it\u2019s a really big, really fast locomotive.”<\/p>\r\n\r\n

It\u2019s been said that a lifetime of battling amberjack will lengthen your arms by several inches. Like most fishing tales, there\u2019s no scientific evidence to back this up, but a day of wrestling these offshore brawlers will definitely leave your shoulder joints crying uncle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The greater amberjack, or AJ as it\u2019s often called, is a give-no-quarter, rock \u2018em, sock \u2018em battler that will try to wrench your hands from your arms, your arms from your shoulders, your shoulders from the rest of you and the rest of you from the boat. On top of this fighting style, the AJ gets B-I-G. Okay, all you barbell boys and girls, put down the protein shakes and pick up a rod \u2013 you\u2019re in for a tussle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Couple of qualifiers on the AJ: They\u2019re big, strong fish that live pretty far offshore and grow well over a hundred pounds. In short, don\u2019t chase these critters unless you\u2019re in pretty good physical condition and can handle a fairly long boat ride. The suncoast is blessed with a plethora of species that Grandma and the kids can have fun catching \u2013 the AJ is not one of them. Certainly there are exceptions, but by and large amberjack are not a good “family trip” fishing quarry. Now that the negatives are out of the way, let\u2019s get busy catching a few of these brutes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

First of all, let\u2019s tackle an identity crisis: the greater amberjack, lesser amberjack and banded rudderfish are all very similar fish. It\u2019s important to know the difference due to the relatively large minimum size for greater amberjack: 28 inches fork length. The lesser AJ has a slightly deeper body and proportionately larger eye than his bigger cousin. If your “amberjack” has tips of white on his tail fin, chances are you\u2019ve got a banded rudderfish. It\u2019s tough to tell these three apart, and unless you\u2019re really sure of the species identification, the best rule may be to throw back any specimen under 28 inches in length.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

If you\u2019re out to take on the AJ, the first piece of equipment you\u2019ll need is a pretty big boat. While small AJ\u2019s and rudderfish are commonly taken from as little as thirty feet of water, the big boys live farther out. Most serious amberjack fishermen generally run to wrecks and rockpiles in at least fifty-foot depths before dropping their lines. For suncoast anglers, this means about a fifteen to twenty mile run into the Gulf. The legendary stretch of Gulf bottom known as the middlegrounds is prime AJ country, but the eighty \u2013 plus mile run puts it out of reach of most anglers. Many anglers will book a trip onboard a party boat and venture on an overnight adventure to this angling Nirvana. While not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, this trip provides the potential for some serious tackle \u2013 busting action, and the price tag (about $125 \u2013 150) is not terribly steep.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

AJ\u2019s are creatures of structure and the many wrecks and rockpiles dotting the Gulf bottom are welcome havens for the big jacks. AJ\u2019s will weave in, out and around the structure, constantly searching for food. They usually travel in small groups, so if you hook one, chances are there\u2019s more of them about. When they\u2019re in a feeding mood, AJ\u2019s aren\u2019t real picky about their diet \u2013 they love cut fish, squid or even crabs. A big live fish is an old standby, and<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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\"catching<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

is generally the bait of choice.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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When gearing up for AJ\u2019s, leave the light stuff at home \u2013 this is the realm of forty \u2013 pound class tackle and up. If you get into the really big \u2018uns, you\u2019ll hook one that just doesn\u2019t stop no matter how hard you pull back. Greater amberjack reach weights of 150 pounds and up \u2013 a fish of this size will scrap just about any tackle you can wave at it. Sixty-pound line and hundred pound leader is a good choice for small to medium AJ\u2019s, but if the big boys are lurking around, you\u2019ll need eighty pound gear\u2026and the back muscles to use it. While reel drags need to be smooth, they need to be set tight \u2013 the first place Mr. AJ is gonna head is back to the safety of his shipwreck. You need to stop him before he gets there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Amberjack fillets usually end up in restaurants in one of two forms: fried or grilled on a sandwich called a “Gulf tuna”, or smoked, ground, mashed and seasoned into the heavenly concoction known as smoked fish spread. Amberjack has a stronger flavor than flounder, grouper or snapper, which is why it is often smoked. It is, however, delicious fried or grilled as well. One good \u2013 sized AJ will keep you in fish for awhile.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A final thought: the commercial amberjack industry has come under a great deal of scrutiny recently, due to what has been reported as a decline in amberjack stocks. Without engaging in this debate, it is important that every angler observe game laws and only keep those fish he \/ she is going to use as food. The fish of the Gulf of Mexico are a precious natural resource, and are well deserving of our respect and conservation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

That\u2019s it for the amberjack. He\u2019s big, he\u2019s mean and he\u2019ll put a whuppin\u2019 on you. If you win the battle, though, that first bite at the dinner table will make you forget about how much you hurt.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

The bag and size limit changes occasionally, so be sure to check them before you go fishing (click here<\/a>)<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Buck Davidson<\/p>\r\n

Greater Amberjack<\/h4>\r\n

See our quality fishing gear here.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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When asked to describe the fighting characteristics of the amberjack, a crusty old veteran offshore fisherman was heard to remark “Find out for yourself \u2013 hook your line to a locomotive and let \u2018er take off. Just make sure it\u2019s a really big, really fast locomotive.”…….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[769,832],"tags":[1164,1165,1021,729,1167,1168,1166],"class_list":["post-5114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fishing","category-game-fish-in-the-gulf-of-mexico","tag-aj","tag-amberjack","tag-fish","tag-fishing","tag-greater-amberjack","tag-jack","tag-wreck-fishing"],"views":253,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5114"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6159,"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5114\/revisions\/6159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boaterscatalog.com\/nbcat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}