Need 2 know about Amberjack....

[Iyadiver]

Gentlemen,

Those of u who seen & shot Amberjack, can you fill up my curiousity, please.

This species is not common where I live cause my area is one of the desert in this country. However in other parts of Indonesia, the Indian Ocean side that is, this fish been taken by fisherman. The last issue of my local line fishing magazine has a photo of one at 110 lbs (50kg ) taken in Bali.

I personally never seen one in the water or at the fishery port ( I don't go here often). I have a few (5 ) hunting videos from the U.S and all the videos show this fish swimming around like a fool without worry or fear of divers. They are like whores trying to offer itself 2 be shot.


My question is :

01. Is this particular fish this stupid and always has "come-n-kill-me-attitude" ?

02. Is it delicous ?

03. What is value of the "sportmanship" involve in shooting this easy fish ? ( Ok we always eat what we shoot )

Thanks
IYA

 

[Hamrrhed]

IYA,

Living in Florida I had the oppotunity to shoot a couple of AJ's.
Usually they swam in schools about mid water and they often were relatively easy to shoot. Once one of the school were shot they rarely left the immediate area. I believe this is do to the fact that they are pelagic fish who are high on the food chain whose curiosity gets the better of them. Something like woaa what is that? Let me go check it out, next thing they know they're on the lunch menu.
Some of the divers I dove with after awhile ceased to target them because of this.
The meat is a white flaky fish which is good smoked and turned into a fish spread. Also its good on the grill. Basically its good eating.


01. Is this particular fish this stupid and always has "come-n-kill-me-attitude" ?
Somewhat.

02. Is it delicous ?
Yes

03. What is value of the "sportmanship" involve in shooting this easy fish ? ( Ok we always eat what we shoot )
Its good eating and once shot your in for a pretty good fight, not to mention sometimes people (me) are out hunting for meat.

Anthony
IYA:waterwork :head

 

[Iyadiver]

Hi Anthony,

Good 2 have you visible. Thanks 4 the reply on the Amberjack. Since it is a jack family, I am sure it gave a good fight. Damn such a delicous fish N I don't have any close to my near by water.

It is so sad to see all those videos I have, cause the waters where they are shot seems to be fish rich and the fishes are not as wary as those in my close by waters. In my area if the visibility gets to 60 feet, they won't let you come closer than 30 feet to them, in most cases. Even all kinds of groupers & Trevallies/Jacks as seen on Discovery channel look so friendly in many places but in my area they simply took off the moment they see you. They been over fished, bombed with explosive and "cynide-ded" by those irresponsible fishermen.

This is why I am still looking for a very long range gun not because of the power but I want to be able to shoot from far away. It is a lucky day if a diving day includes a view of a few 7+ kg ( 16 lbs ) fish swimming by. My country is big and there are damn good waters around but they are rather remote and too expensive to visit. Must fly on a jet plane plus charter a boat.

Ur question on the Rock Tip (pencil point ) has less penetration than a tri cut is true. You need 30% more power for the same penetration ( Steve Alexander ) but a tri cut produce a bigger open wound on the opposite ( my own finding ), thus if the flopper is not big enough or it is not Slip-Tip u tend to loose the fish faster if the tug of war is strong. A tri cut Hawaian Flopper if not machined well seems to produce inaccuracy on long range ( SASpearo told me ).


Cheers,
IYA

 

[icarus pacific]

Hey, you don't want those AJ's, send over my way... They're a good eating fish that like any other fish if you stick'em wrong, will take you for a real ride while busting your gear. I've taken them past 25kgs with my JBL's and my trusty Riffe's :inlove and when you throw 'em on the coals while some local sweety rubs your shoulders and life doesn't get much bettah.

Screw on a detachable tip, not an Ice Pick, but your basic double wing, cable detachable, get 10 feet away and launch.

sven

 

[Iyadiver]

Sultan,

My mouth is already watering on the AJ........

Please fill up my curiosity. Are you talking about JBL detachable spearhead or the Riffe double flopper detachable ?

As for JBL detachable, I tried them all and they cut open the wound bigger than a Riffe Ice Pick.

I have a Riffe detachable double flopper but since it is so big I never get to really use it. One of my pro hunter friend told me that it is very good but when I tried, it comes off to easily when I move around too much............. any tips ???

Thanks
IYA

 

[icarus pacific]

The JBL's worked for me, the nice thing about them is that the cable holding the tip to the shaft is pretty short so the fish doesn't get to twist itself around the wire and opening up it's side. Of course this is predicated on hitting the fish in an area other than the gut :rcard

The Riffe double flopper/detachable is fine too... if it's loose, either put a wrap of electrical tape or throw some grease in the socket to help hold it or better yet, knurl the tip's shaft so it's more of an interference fit. A simple grab with some Vice Grips would probably do it.

Probably the best answer to the holes in the fish is to get on that thing on the quick and finish it off.

sven

 

[sturgeon]

AJs

Iya,

In Florida (USA), amberjacks are considered a trash fish. Market value for AJs is $0.50-0.70/lb. To put things in perspective, market value for grouper, snapper, hogfish, cobia, wahoo, and mahi ranges from $3.00-$3.50/lb (I used to be a fisheries biologist for the State of FL). Although, I must say amberjack can be damn tasty when smoked.

I shoot AJs (so far up to 50 lbs) with a 110-120 cm Euro style gun rigged with a single 20mm band and a 6.5-7.0 mm Hawaiian flopper style shaft. The shaft usually only gets bent if the fish can make it to a wreck.

Scott

 

[icarus pacific]

...it was me

was it Buddha or Ghandi that once said, "One man's trash fish is another family's feast"?

sven

 

[andrsn]

i've not been a fan of aj's either. i've never shot one; don't really plan too, just because of that... low table fare. i guess if you have a smoker or means of getting hold of one, fire away. the sailfish i got(many moons ago) went to the smoke house and it was pretty damn yummy as fish dip. made good holiday presents, too.

here's a lil story about my encounter w/ ajs:

aquiles(yeah, it always starts w/ the cuban ) and i were out late one evening in about 95ft last august. we had noticed alot of the fish were deep and we were tagging lone muttons here and there. the viz was better than decent, but the light made it difficult to make out things on the bottom. i noticed a bunch of movement in one spot and headed down to check it out. as i got to about 50ft i noticed they were amberjack. about 20 of them. i've never seen amberjack schooling, but what the hey, they were definitely aj's. i kept dropping, and noticed they could care less about me. i had pulled in some of my float line and held on at a point where my bouy would keep me from sinking at about 85ft. i was sorting through the bunch for the largest fish and just as i extended my arm/gun, they all noticed me. no, they didn't bolt... they all came right up to me. i'm like.."what the f$%#?" all of them started doing circles around me, each and everyone as curious as the next guy.

it was pretty awesome. they were all about 25-30#s and long and sleek. of course, when i got to the surface, my gun was still loaded. we called it a day, and i pretty much smiled the whole way back to the marina.

smoke em' if ya got em

later days,
andrsn

 

[Iyadiver]

Thanks Sultan for the detachable info.
Thanks 2 Sturgeon too for the AJ info.

Anderson : I will shoot one if were you. Good story.


One thing I can not figure out is Cobia, most American & Australian fish guide book mentioned it as delicous. I took a few and stop taking it because it is not delicous for me, generally we don't like it except to make a salted fish. This fish is also easy to shoot cause they like coming to us divers. However they are not all that common in my nearby waters and usually small under 15 lbs.

Grouper, snapper & mahi-mahi are "valuable" too here.

I guess different part of the world has different favourite fishes.
I was told by a Japanese cook that a parrot fish is one of the best shashimi fish. I know in Hawaii they are quite popular, I suppose Hawaii is very much Japanese influenced, after all Japs owned probably half of the island now. To me I will prefer a yellow tail ( Hamachi ? ) anyday cause they sure taste good raw and this is one species my water do not carry.

Parrot fish is considered "reef decoration" fish among my friends. We don't target them at all unless there is specific order from a friend or boat crews who like eating them.

However, I must shoot at least one AJ if I ever see one ( must be in Bali at least ) . Must let my tounge decide the taste.


Cheers,
IYA

 

[sturgeon]

AJs

Anderson,

You're right about the amberjacks circling like that. It's really cool when a big school does it. They'll get so close to you and each other that sometimes it can disorientating and they'll just sit there and swim tight circles around you until you run out of air and have to surface. I rarely shoot them anymore unless I'm looking for one for the smoker. If I do shoot one, the challenge is to try and stone it because there's absolutely no challenge in just hitting it. Plus, if you can stone it, you guarantee your shaft won't get bent. You can really light 'em up if you were so disposed because once one gets hit (stoned or not) the rest of the school, or at least a few of them, will ride that wounded fish almost up until the time you remove it from the water.

Scott Turgeon

 

[andrsn]

iya, cobia and wahoo are my two favorite fish to eat. maybe the cobia's different in your area.

sturgeon, i felt like i was drunk and the room was spinning. my favorite is when the 1000+ jack crevelles form a wall in front of you in south miami. now that's a sight!

 

[sturgeon]

AJs

Iya,

If you haven't done so, you should definitely shoot at least one nice sized AJ in your lifetime. They give a good fight (unless you stone them of course). You're right about different fish in different places having different values. When I was in Barbados nasty barracuda were the prized fish to get. In Tobago I was selling 'cudas and horse-eye jacks and buying yellowfin tuna and wahoo filleted for less than I was selling whole nasty fish for. I've seen cobia here in S. FL sell for as much as $5.00/lb (whole fish). I sure do love cobia sushi. And in the northern Gulf of Mexico (LA, AL, and MS) amberjack is an esteemed fish that is sold at top restaurants (usually blackened). Don't be surprised though if you kill a big one and the back third of it is full of worms (at least here it's guaranteed).

Scott Turgeon

 

[icarus pacific]

mmm, a Lewinsky...

all this taliking about smoker's is getting me turgeon...

Hey, I've got nooo problem lobbing some stainless at a cobia. None.

sven

 

[rigdvr]

gotta do it

Here in rig country, AJ's are a mainstay! Shot one last weekend that went 72 lbs. and my buddy shot one 120 last season(he got that one on scuba gear) This fish is good eating if prepared correct. Try marinating in Italian dressing then grilling. As for the fight, make the best shot you can or be prepared for a brawl. These guys are no joke.

 

[icarus pacific]

About damn time.

I was kinda waiting to here from someone down there that also appreciated AJ's. Thanks.

 

[Dogmatrix]

Sven... I am part time Army Reserve in Australia... there is nothing wrong with the aj's... well not anything big... *grins*
later

 

[icarus pacific]

down there?!

by "down there", I was thinking of the Gulf (of Mexico). But Austrailia'll will do!

sven

 

[Dogmatrix]

*grins* Australia is south... "deep south*... southpark fans will get it

 

[rigdvr]

sven,
Thought I'd give the Aj some of the respect it deserves...one hell of a fish! Takes balls to shoot big ones on the rigs(over 100) they sure put on one hell of a sleigh ride and I dont like being a human pinball.:duh