THREE-STORY FISHING

Amberjack in the Middle

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can catch more fish and have more fun if you know how to fish all three stories of the water. On a family outing to Orange Beach, Alabama, my family and friends enjoyed rod-bending action all day.

Later in the morning, the live pinfish on the end of my rod jerked frantically. I could feel a hard thump on the line. As I began feeling pressure, I lowered my rod tip so it almost touched the water. As I felt the line get tighter, I reeled up slack and pulled back on the rod to raise the tip to aid the rod in battling the amberjack. The drag began to slip as I continued to apply pressure on the butt of the rod. When the fish tired, which rarely happened, I would reel. Often the big amberjack would change direction, and I'd have an instant to gain line. However, each time the big amberjack gave up line, he'd take all the line and move back on his next run. I found hooking an amberjack like mounting a tiger. I had no trouble getting on, but I had a difficult time getting off. Amberjack circle above the wrecks, chase baitfish and often hold in the middle story of water.

To catch these fish, I suggest using 30-pound test line with either an 8-ounce or a 12-ounce slip sinker on the line, a barrel swivel attached to the end of the line and 3 to 4 feet of 60-pound mono tied to the barrel swivel as a leader. Tie a no. 12/0 Mustad circle hook onto the end of the leader, and use a live pinfish, a pigfish or a blue runner for bait. "We let our amberjack lines down about half-way to the bottom, since amberjacks usually feed well up off the bottom," Walker explained. "Hold your rod tip high. When you feel the amberjack take the bait, bring your rod tip all the way down, and point it straight at the water. As the line tightens, start reeling. The amberjack has the bait, and the hook already will be set. When the fish runs, let it take line against the drag. Then when it stops, wind in again." The 2003 limit on amberjack states that each angler only can keep one, 28-inch-long from the nose to the fork of the tail jacks.

For more information on how to fish three stories of water simultaneously, contact Captain Bobby Walker, P.O. Box 100, Orange Beach, AL 36561, or call (251) 981-6159. You can contact the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau at (800) 745-7263 or www.gulfshores.com.

TOMORROW: REDS AND TRIGGERS ON THE BOTTOM