Back when the big bluefish showed..

My cousin in the late '80's or very early '90's. We were in Mexico Beach, Fla. at the time but they made it here as well. Lots of fun, they would bite all night long. I don't think they ever showed again.

https://s8.postimg.cc/wcbckjq1h/IMG_5688.jpg

I remember. You could catch 'em like that, back then, but I've never caught them big like that since. Most of the ones I caught then were 6-8 lbs. Other folks, as is usually the rule, caught some much bigger.

A blue that size is a serious pull too.

And I remember someone relating that when that school of Atlantic/East Coast Blues came through they ate everything... Everything... And that it took a season or longer for fish stocks to recover.

Old Perdido Pass Bridge was still standing if that helps the timeline

Fished the east coast of Fl a lot back in the mid 70's and never caught 1 over 2 pounds off the piers from Sabastion inlet north to Melbourne

A high school buddy of mine fishes Jersey Shore. They catch blues like this all the time. If its not 10#, its not worth taking a picture of!!
I've never caught one over 2, maybe 3# down here.

The big ones are fun to fight but I think the 2#, 3#, 4# make for better eating .

I've got a picture somewhere, taken around 1988 or 89, of a big blue I caught off the jetties at Alabama Point. It went somewhere between 11 and 12#, put up a heckuva fight. Even more so at the end as a big bull shark was chasing it down as it got close to the rocks. One of my favorite memories of fishing at the coast and it made a big impression on me as a young teen.

I believe the year the Big Blues came was 1983 or 1984. I was down for a week in May as I best recall. I caught quite a few big ones that week and I think the biggest was around 12 pounds. I have never seen them since.