There’s nothing sad about bluefish showing up this month!
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On The Fly Saltwater
March 2026
Article and photos by Jimmy Jacobs
There are some species of fish that rarely get specifically pursued by saltwater fly casters, yet show up fairly regularly on the end of a fly line. That’s because they hang out in the same habitat or general area of some other targeted fish. And, in some cases, these untargeted fish end up offering some good sport and preventing fly fishers from getting skunked during the day on the water.
In warmer climes those could be ladyfish, barracuda or jack crevalle. But on the North Carolina coast that scenario has played out more often with bluefish. On a couple of occasions, the blues have saved several fishing ventures for the crew of On The Fly South.
After all, how can you not enjoy hooking fish that strike savagely and put up a dogged fight? That’s particularly true for bluefish since they will attack a fly or just about anything else that you put in front of them that looks alive. Once hooked, they are some of the fastest and hardest pulling fish for their size.
Our first encounter with the Old North State’s blues took place off of Cape Lookout a few years back. We were fishing with Capt. Rob Passfield out of Harkers Island during the false albacore run during some mild weather in the early fall. Our day started well enough with the albies blowing up on a couple of bait balls near the boat that led to a hook up and a break off. Then the water went silent. After some time prospecting around, it seemed the albies had simply disappeared.
Capt. Rob Passfield with one of Polly Dean’s bluefish.
As we watched and waited for those fish to reappear, to break the boredom, we started blind casting. In short order our flies began to attract strikes. Hooking into the first of these, we were surprised that the resulting bluefish was perhaps a pound and a half. Even on a 9-weight set up that size blue was no pushover.
You’ll recall that earlier it was noted that bluefish will attack just about anything that moves. That’s especially true with a school of these brutes create a feeding frenzy that’s called a “blitz.” When that happens, the blues force a school of baitfish to the surface and as they feed the surface begins to churn as thought a huge washing machine is at work.
On this occasion, however, the blues were staying deeper. While sitting in the back of the boat awaiting my turn on the bow, I discovered that bluefish don’t even have to see movement to provoke a strike. My fly line and Clouser Minnow were dangling over the side of the boat and a few feet below the surface. Suddenly the rod tip was jerked violently down, but fortunately I did have a good grip on the handle. After a short fight a bluefish of a couple pounds was a the gunnel.
They were not the fish we set out to catch, but the day still offered some entertaining angling as we continued to take turns casting to the blues.
Our problem with targeting the false albies in this area has been we have shown up during periods of surprisingly mild weather in the fall. On another occasion, when the albies were not cooperating we headed to Radio Island that sits in the mouth of the Newport River between Beaufort and Morehead City. The weather was such that we figured on having a decent beach day, but took along our fly rods as well. The public beach on the east side of the island is also known for some good spotted seatrout fishing in the early fall.
Casting on the beach at Radio Island.
After lounging on the sand for a while, it was time to sample the fishing. Once again, the target species for the day proved elusive. If they trout were there, they did not like any of the fly patterns we offered. Then, perhaps 40 feet off the shore a spray of minnows erupted from the water. A quick cast to the disturbance was rewarded with a hard strike and a fight that produced a bluefish from a school that stayed around long enough to provide a couple more such opportunities.
So, when is the best time to find the blues on the North Carolina coast? These fish migrate inshore beginning in March and stay around through October annually. Fish in the two-year-old class that are around 20 inches are most prevalent, but they do appear along this coast as large as 34 inches and 19 pounds. In fact, the all-tackle world record for the species was taken from North Carolina waters in 1972. That fish weighed 31 pounds, 12 ounces.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when encountering bluefish. First off, have plenty of flies handy. Their mouth full of wicked teeth make short work of anything they bite into. And, of course, those teeth also tend to cut your leader. Still, it is surprising how often these fish can be landed on shock tippets of 20- to 30-pounds. The second fact to heed is, if you are after the really big bluefish, you had better have some wire between you fly and tippet.
