It Just Happened! It is no secret that bonito are one of the show’s favorite fish. While they are not giant fish, they sure do fight like they are! They are plentiful most years, and with the right tackle just a whole lot of fun. Talk about accessibility; they are a small boater’s dream fish - close to shore, and great light tackle fighters without the need for a whole lot of expensive gear. To be truthful, this show was put together on a moment’s notice! Darren was out at Barnegat Ridge the previous day with a few offshore “virgins” looking for a day of action. These guys had never been out of the sight of land, and had no expectations on the day. By 9am, they had had enough. Darren had personally never seen the numbers of fish on the ridge that were there that day - truly just amazing. In fact, he and his crew released over 60 bonito that short morning; so many that Darren reported that his crew actually gave up reeling in fish! On the ride back to the inlet, Darren set the wheels in motion. He called Bill who then mobilized a camera crew, and a shoot was planned for the next day. The plan was to troll until they found the body of fish that were there the day before, and then set up a chunk slick of spearing and get those fish on some seriously light tackle.
Chunking spearing is one of our hosts’ favorite ways to fish. Viewers may recall a show from a few years back, “Barnegat Ridge Bonanza”, in which Bill and Darren used spearing to get into some great light tackle bluefin tuna action right behind the boat. Perhaps the best part about chunking spearing for bones is the use of such light tackle. With Penn AF 4000 spinning reels and light International 965 baitcasters (our back bay fluke and weakfish tackle), these pelagics put up one heckuva fight!
About the day
The show opens with our hosts pulling a bonito trolling spread on the north ridge, in the same area Darren had fish the previous day. They did pick a few fish, but didn’t encounter the big mass of fish they were looking for. So, off to the south ridge they went. In short order, fish were again coming steadily, but still not the non-stop action Darren had seen the day before. One great trick that our hosts use regularly is to mark a waypoint on every knockdown. By about 10am, the pattern of waypoints showed a distinct cluster on the southeast wall of the south ridge. Getting impatient, our hosts decided to anchor in the middle of the densest pattern of marks.
With 15 pounds of fresh spearing caught the previous evening by Darren’s buddy Matt, they began throwing heavily. To be truthful, our hosts sat on anchor for 2 hours with only a bunch of bluefish bite-offs (the credit clip), and three bonito. They were getting a little nervous that the proverbial “should have been here yesterday” syndrome was about to become reality, when Darren caught a glimpse of a greenish flash in the slick. From then on it was several hours of torrid action, punctuated by multiple double-headers. They constantly witnessed fish racing through the slick, almost like they were being hand fed (hence the show’s title). It really was epic fishing, and our hosts were thrilled to have had the cameras on board.
With such light tackle, controlling the fish was sometimes a problem. And, with the full moon tide and the strong current flow (many of you no doubt noticed the anchor amidships) the fish usually ran up-current and under the boat, and on more than one occasion right at the lower units! After getting his fill with the light spinning outfit, Darren remembered his fly rod tucked away inside the rod storage. One of the many great features of the North Coast is that it can fit that fly rod in one piece in the lockable under-gunnel storage. He missed a fish on the first cast, but hooked up solid on the second. Man, those fish are engineered for the long rod! At the same time, Bill began throwing a jig, and hooked up as well. Our hosts closed the show there, but much to the cameraman’s dismay, they kept right on fishing. And while they never did get one to come up and hit a popper, they still had one of their most memorable outings of the year. If you have never hand fed bonito, they you are totally missing out!
