As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species.īluefish eagerly take a wide variety of fresh baits. As juveniles, they fall victim to a wide variety of oceanic predators, including striped bass, larger bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), weakfish, tuna, sharks, rays, and dolphins. Bluefish are preyed upon at all stages of their life cycle. Others hypothesize that bluefish school with like-sized individuals, because they swim at the same rate, thus expending the same energy when traveling, and thus having identical food intake requirements. Some hypothesize that because of cannibalistic behavior, bluefish tend to swim in schools of similarly sized specimens. Baitfish, such as bunker, will willingly run themselves high and dry on the sand, where they will suffocate, rather than be shredded by the marauding bluefish schools.īluefish are cannibalistic. This behavior is referred to as a "bluefish blitz". Thousands of big bluefish will attack schools of hapless baitfish in mere inches of water, churning the water like a washing machine. They should be handled with care due to their ability to snap at an unwary hand.īluefish are extremely aggressive, and will often chase bait through the surf zone, and literally onto dry beach. They are also present in the Gulf of Mexico throughout the year.ĭepending on area and season, they favor menhaden and other sardine-like fish (Clupeidae), jacks (Scombridae), weakfish (Sciaenidae), grunts (Haemulidae), striped anchovies (Engraulidae), shrimp and squid. By October, they leave New England waters, heading south. By June, they may be found off Massachusetts in years of high abundance, stragglers may be found as far north as Nova Scotia. By April, they have disappeared, heading north. Bluefish commonly range in size from seven-inch (18-cm) "snappers" to much larger, sometimes weighing as much as 30 pounds, though fish heavier than twenty pounds (9 kg) are exceptional.īluefish are found off Florida in the winter months. Its single row of teeth in each jaw are uniform in size, knife-edged and sharp. Coloration is a grayish blue-green dorsally, fading to white on the lower sides and belly. The spiny first dorsal fin is normally folded back in a groove, as are its pectoral fins. The bluefish is a moderately proportioned fish, with a broad, forked tail. It is the only extant species of the Pomatomidae family. The bluefish, called tailor in Australia, is a species of popular marine gamefish found in all climates. The long awaited return of our mobie app is back on Apple App Store and Google Play Bluefish Species Information Scientific Name:ġ4.4 kg (31 lb 12 oz) Hatteras, North Carolina, USA Check out our new Android or iOS app for Fishing Status.
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