Big runs of huge bluefish are now occurring everywhere, from the mouth of the Cape Fear River northward to Cape Hatteras. In spring, they show up at artificial reefs between 10 and 20 miles offshore first. Then they move to the inlets and piers by mid-May. After reaching the inlets, they move into the sounds and rivers. In winter, the biggest bluefish can be found along the northern coast at the inlets and outer banks from Ocracoke to Hatteras northward.

Big bluefish will eat anything. Metal and hard-plastic lures work best and heavy mono or wire leaders will keep the fish from biting off the lures. Live and cut baits also work well for catching bluefish. Presentations that work for bluefish run the entire range of saltwater techniques. Trolling, drifting, anchoring and casting, float-fishing, bottom-fishing, surf-fishing and pier-fishing are all methods anglers can use for catching bluefish. Most anglers prefer keeping the smaller fish. But larger fish can be tasty as well when properly prepared.

In the 1990s, recreational landings ranged from 289,619 in 1996 to 2,228,907 in 1990 with an average landing of 681,525 fish. In the 2000s, recreational landings ranged from 780,444 in 2002 to 1,246,512 in 2005 with an average of 885,999 fish.

KING MACKEREL
King mackerel may be the most intensively managed game fish in the ocean. Fishery managers have studied kingfish so much that they know how to tweak the size and bag limits to obtain an objective of a specific number of fish surviving to reach a certain size. As the subject of more tournaments than any other large pelagic fish species in North Carolina, king mackerel are extremely important fish for local economies. The recreational catch versus commercial catch ratio favors recreational anglers on a 60 percent to 40 percent basis, with 5 percent of all king mackerel landed by humans taken in recreational king mackerel tournaments.

The current size and bag limits of three fish measuring 24 inches have been in place for many years and anglers and fishery managers are happy with the consistent results. Plenty of big kings weighing more than 30 pounds are caught each year.

King mackerel are fairly easy fish to catch, roaming everywhere from the surf zone to the Gulf Stream. Land-based anglers catch them by suspending live baits from trolley rigs at the ends of ocean-fishing piers. Anglers in boats target them by using lures, hard-plastic baits and live baits.

The best places to find kings are structure areas, with natural ledges and artificial reefs top choices. Open-water areas that hold concentrations of baitfish also have many king mackerel. Kings are close to shore in summer and fall and then move out to warmer waters at 35 to 55 miles in winter. Kings will strike baits and lures intended for much larger game fish, such as wahoo and yellowfin tuna. Slow-trolling a live menhaden is the ticket to catching most tournament-winning kings.

In the 1990s, recreational landings ranged from 75,590 in 1996 to 196,069 in 1990 with an average of 129,586 fish. In the 2000s, recreational landings ranged from 67,273 in 2002 to 145,420 in 2005 with an average of 113,141 fish.