ateupwitit

What type of gear do you guys use while hunting amberjack? i.e. reel,line,rod sizes, lead sizes, leader length, bait, etc.....you know what I mean give me the lowdown. I have been using a Okuma Titus 50 with 80lb line and 130lb leader mono rigged like I would to catch snapper with a 16oz weight and swivel 6' leader with a circle hook.

After this weekend I realize I need to upgrade my line and hook size. We landed many AJs including a 84Lber but we were broke off and pulled hooks too many times.......thanks for any input.

Tuna Man

Personally if targeting AJ's I like a spinner w/50-80# braid, like mono leader and a butterfly jig. Now that is fun.

Ocean Man

I don't see anything wrong with your set up, any more would be overkill. It's not often that you are going to be catching 80lb AJ's and if you up your line and leader size you may not get any bites. As far as pulling hooks, you may need a bigger hook to match your bait size.

countryjwh

i like the set up personally. maybe bigger hooks like already stated.

bellafishing

Are you using 80lb braid or mono? I assume braid since you're hunting reef donkeys. Lock the drag all the way down on that 50. I know she's good for it!! Then make sure you don't get your ass drug over the side!! God I love AJ's!!

Bob

Harry Brosofsky

I use a Penn Torque 300, 80 lb PP with a bimini twist at the end, 50-80 lb fluoro leader tied to the bimini with an albright knot, mounted on a 7' Chaos T-80 jigging rod. Works well with jigs and also with carolina rigs...lots of backbone, lots of drag, lots of torque.

Harry

Clay-Doh

This is what my rig looks like to catch AJ's. Its the only way I can.

And I aint talkin about the rig behind me, talkin about the "rig" in my right hand! :letsdrink



Heres the "rig I used to use. This time its in my left hand.



Just clownin around. Seriously, I couldn't catch an AJ on a rod and reel if my life depended on it. I really wish I could figure out how you fishermen do it, cuz biullreds, rays, and catfish is about the extent of my fishing career, other than the few sharks I have got lucky with.

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DreamWeaver21

When we are trying to catch them we use Shimano TLD 15-25s with 65lb braid and 100lb mono leader. 13/0 or 14/0 mustad circle hook. But all too often they find the Penn 8500s with 25lb mono we have out for flat lines and we wear ourselves out trying to wrestle them in on spinning tackle.

ateupwitit

thanks for the info,I was scared to lock the drag all the way down....maybe thats why it took an hour to land the fish:hotsun:dohbut even the 20-40lb'ers fought like they were amped up on Red Bull and Steriods. AJs are some the funnest fish to catch in my opinion,.........but then again all fish are fun to catch. We were using mono but I'm in the process of switching to 80lbPP, I have it on my jigging reels but not on my larger reels too much money to spool.

wrightackle

It sounds like you are fishing deep water so this advice may not apply. On the public wrecks in 80-100 feet of water try freelining a ruby redlip or a white snapper. It is a lot of fun to watch them come up and nail these baits. You usually can catch keepers that way. The guys that advised using conventional reels like the tld's are right on the money. The drags on those reels will stop an AJ a lot quicker than spinning gear. For some reason you don't cramp up as bad fighting fish on conventional reels.