For those that are interested in deep-sea fishing, one of our readers (Tex Mex) sent the following narrative and pictures (which you can click to see the full size):
Went after the Amberjack on 26 Oct 07, in Dadepo, Pusan, Korea and caught about 25. As normal, the weather was beautiful all week up until the day we departed Seoul and reached Taegu, at which time the rain came upon us, go figure. It cleared up that night but at 0300 the rain and cold weather came down hard again and delayed our departure on the boat until 0600 instead of 0400. The fishing started up fast and we had about 15 Amberjack on the boat by 0730 between four of us. Then the bad weather turned up again and we were only able to catch about another 10 in the next two hours before the captain of the boat stated the weather was to dangerous for us to continue fishing.
Needless to say, the trip was cut short but we still had a great time. I went on this trip two years ago and we were able to catch over 100 Amberjack between five of us in an eight-hour trip. It takes about 45 minutes for the boat to reach the prime spot so you actually fish for about 6 hours. These fish are some strong pulling fish that can snap rods in two. For those that don’t know, the Amberjack usually run between Sep-Nov and suddenly disappear in December. I think we would have caught more had one of our fisherman not got sick as soon as we departed. The nasty waves hit him quick, causing him to spend most of the trip discarding his lunch from the night before.
I was going to say that these are a lot smaller than the Amberjack my neighbor used to catch back in Florida, but I just read that there are two varieties; the Greater Amberjack , which average 20-50 pounds and can grow up to 170 pounds, and the Lesser Amberjack , which average 4-8 pounds. Either way, Amberjack is some good eating, especially if grilled.
Nomad, you are correct, these are the lesser Amberjacks. They do catch some on occasion that go about 20 pounds out there. I have never caught any of the big ones but I can just imagine what they feel like if these smaller ones break rods and peel line like they were some 20 pound tuna. And you are right about the grilling, they are great on the BBQ. Koreans will eat them sashimi style as they do with anything that swims but I am kind of picky on the sashimi I eat and this is not a fish I will eat that way.
Lesser or greater, that’s still a nice batch of fish. Congratulations! The important thing is that you got out there and had fun.
Always helps the fishing when one angler spends time “chumming’.
Anyone ever heard of, or seen anyone do, this? I saw it on the Discovery Channel the other night, craziest thing I’ve seen in a while. Nothing like using your own body as bait!!
Jack, you’re exactly right about the chumming. My neice didn’t get the nickname “Captain Chumchucker” for nothing. (see my web page) That trip everyone on board was begging her to “chum” in their area.
We have caught some real nice amberjack off the Texas coast. They will really strip some 100# mono quickly at first.
Rob, That noodling (aka grabblin, grabbling, curling, etc) has been around for a real long time, especially in the midwest where the alligator threat is minimal. (would never do that in Louisianna). My grandfather used to do it back in Illinois in the river during the depression, but they would catch all kinds of fish by hand, catfish, carp, buffalo, etc. He told me that my grandmother was the best around at catching carp by hand. Now we just drag a 10′ logging chain behind the canoe attached to a hand crank generator and up they come. All you got to do is scoop em up quickly before they get their wits back.
For more noodling info, you HAVE to see the Girls Gone Grabblin video over at: http://www.catfishgrabblers.com/
It is very cool. There are now lots of grabblin/noodlin vids on youtube now as a few more states have opened up the sport. Most people are now using preconstructed boxes/tubes to lure in the fish (usually under marinas). Much safer than sticking your hand blindly in a hole under a tree along the river bank. That way you may just come back with nubbins.