[GraphixDude]

Tonight was another phenomenal night of catching blues at Lynnhaven Pier.

I finally ran into someone from this website out there, and we were both tearing them up.

A buddy and I shared a rod and we caught 15 blues between us. It was so awesome. He caught one on a squid and then I went into the tackle shop and forked over five and a half bucks for a minnow looking lure with 3 nasty treble hooks (more on those hooks later) and from the first cast with that lure it was nothing but pure fun.

It is amazing to me how they appear in huge schools. You could see them hitting the top of the water and bunches of little fish jumping up out of the water to try to get away from them. When I casted the minnow lure (cant remember the name of it) and reeled it in with a fast retrieve you could see the blues coming up 4 and 5 at a time to try to get it.

There was a little bit of tragedy - I got bit on my finger pretty good by one of those Blues above my finger nail, but not bad. My buddy was trying to unhook one that had 2 of the three treble hooks deep in its mouth when it shook really hard and embedded the third treble hook completely through his finger. We had to cut the blues head off and he had to carry it into the bait shop to have the barb cut off and pull the hook out of his finger.

When the blues come, anything that even mildly resembles a minnow catches them. I put on a crappie jig and caught three while my buddy was unhooking his finger.

I saw some little kids swimming near near the shore while all those blues were hitting - will they bite a person when they are in that feeding frenzy?

For the last 4 days the blues come in really heavy from 6-8pm and bite best just before 8. What a blast! I took two of the blues home and even though I butchered the fillet with a dull steak knife (need to invest in a good fillet knife)I fried them and they were delicious.

Hope to see some more of you at the pier!

 

[rockhead]

yea sounds just like sunday night, basically just like a striper blitz where 3 or four fish are hitting your bait at once. cooked up the ones I got for dinner, I think I need to learn a new technique

 

[GraphixDude]

Mind you I only got 4 small strips of meat from my badly butched fillet job, but I coated them in an egg seasoning mix then rolled them in cornmeal with lemon pepper and cayanne pepper mixed in. Heated up a small pot of oil and dropped em in for a couple of minutes, and they were really tasty. Not as good as blue gills or bass from the lakes back home but still tasty.

 

[ropiv]

GraphixDude - I agree with you, those blues are pretty tasty when cooked right. Many will argue, and sure enough, the larger fish, the worse the taste. But for those in the 2 to 5 pound range, I think they're good eats. I like to melt butter in a pan, add garlic powder, red pepper, and some Chef Paul Prudhom (sp?) seafood seasoning (sometimes use Old Bay). Then put the filets in for a few minutes. Take them up, and spinkle lightly with black or lemmon pepper. Hmmm....ummmm....good eats.

The key to blues, IMHO, is lots of spices.

 

[rhino7628]

So basically, to cook blues, you want to add so much stuff that you actually cover up the bad taste, right?

 

[the rhondel]

Don't give up on the larger blues .If you will bake them with potatoes and wrap in foil that will draw out any "gamey" taste.Quite delicious!! the R

 

[sandcasting]

soak the fillets in milk for a few hours in the fridge and the fishyness will be drawn out by the milk. discard the milk, season to taste and fry. pretty tasty

 

[Heaver]

This is what I do with blues I decide to keep for food:

I usually immediately fillet any bluefish I plan on keeping, and place the fillets on ice. This removes the majority of the blood from the fillets and lends abetter flavor.

1) fillet fish, remove skin, ice

2) cut out any "blood line" on the fillet,

3) pound *tenderize* fillets briefly, make sure they are less than 1/2 thick. My favorite are 1-square inch "fingers" of fish.

4) rinse in fresh water with some salt added.

5) put in fridge and chill for an hour.

6) heat up some peanut or veg oil until hot.

(6a) Get the fires cooking.

7) get fillets, dip in milk, sprinkle with salt-n-pepper and a dash of old bay seasoning (or your choice of seasoning) and immediately immerse in hot oil. Fry until fish begans to flake easily, remove from oil. DO NOT OVER COOK.

8) serve with lemon wedges and fries.

Lou

 

[fishnkid]

Man, wish i was there. Blues blitzes are sooo fun. Just grab a gotcha plug and rip it across the water. i think thats what u meant by the minnow. Another thing i have been wanting to do is rip a stiper strike accrosss the water during one of those.

 

[Cameron]

Can you send me some directions to that Lynhaven location? I am coming from Richmond -

Thanks.

(PS - Hope you don't minbd divulging you hot spot!)

cameron[email protected]yahoo.com

 

[PlankCaster]

GD,
3 hook "minnow type" plug, my first thought is Mirrolure.
Tight lines and popped riggers

 

[rockhead]

yea mirro or gotcha, about the recipe, I did soak the fillets in milk, but then grilled and basted with a recipe i got online

 

[GraphixDude]

Looks like you guys know how to cook the blues. I have enough from todays slay fest to try all your recipes!

Yeah I found out today from one of the P&S fishermen at Lynnhaven that the lure I was using was the Mirrolure. I think the Gotcha and the Storm lures that Bucket let me use worked better though. Thanks again bro!

Thanks for the info and replys to the topic.

About the directions - I am really new to the area and still get lost going to the grocery store. You better let one of the natives tell you.

See you when you get there!