bonitos

[teddysclaw]

I see that there are some bonito being caught on the bluefish boats. Is there a lure or jig that targets these fish moreso than the bluefish? Bluefish are fun, but if possible i'd much rather catch a bonito. they're pretty good.

Also, are there any charters that are run for bonito? I've scanned the open boat section of the message boards but there don't seem to be any in there offering bonito trips.

Never caught one in my life, and always see people on the boat catching them. Would like to hook one this year.

thanks for any help

[Delawareriver]

Good luck finding a lure the blues don't like

[Dino]

small white bucktail jigs, and slim metal things like deadly dicks and plain ava 007s will work. try to make a long cast and rip it back fast !

[Tony Cav]

If your game.....fresh bonito are most excellent raw...sushi...They are one of the best but they must be handled properly and eaten fresh

[tombanjo]

Sushi bars usually braise the outside. Very tasty and very scarce. Not sure if they use these local bones.

As far as targeting them on a party boat the best thing to do is pick up a rental rod armed with a tailed 27 jig and make like you don't know what you're doing.

[Papasown]

Back in the day ( 1960's), when we targeted Bonito, we would troll a medium size Clark Spoon on a planer outside Barnegat Inlet. On a head boat, you might throw the Clark spoon with a small drail to get it down, then a medium to fast retreive, Good luck....................catch 'em up, Papa

[seadog]

Purple feathers, Mahi like em too.

[Ahab123]

Capt Rich on the Tuna Wahoo targets Bonito and he does a good job.

Scott

[Treebeard63]

It's been a while, but I used to target Bonito and Albies from the bluefish PB's quite a bit..Its best to do it on a less crowded boat (weekday), as you'll need to lighten up your tackle a bit to up your odds of a bite from a tunoid..I would usually try to get a spot on the bow to have some room to maneuver..I would lose the wire..use 20# mono or flouro leader on a light spinning outfit (12-20#) For lures, I'd throw a plain Ava 007, or similar small metal as far out as possible, and burn it back closer to the surface.. you may still hook blues, but you wont get as many bite offs with a longer metal.. but if you are gonna target the Bonito, you will lose stuff.. A cheaper option is to drift bait.. Hide a #1 or 1/0 live bait hook in a small bunker chunk, or better yet, a large spearing.. and flip it out on the outskirts of the slick and drift it back..use as little weight and rigging hardware as possible.. fwiw, I always use a baitrunner reel for better control... You will lose a lot of hooks to blues i guarantee..lol but a box of 50 bronze mustad 739573 hooks can still be had for the cost of 1 nice jig.. Anyway.. they are a blast to catch on light tackle.. Good Luck!

[jmurr711]

small slim metals or soft plastics on 20lb flourocarbon. reel twitch fast & if you think you are going to fast go faster