Where to go for monster AJS?

[Marko Pekic]

have caught some decent amberjacks and think theyre awsome sport. But i want the monsters so where is a pretty reliable place to target these fishh? Jigging and wouldnt mind even surface fishing for them? Have never caught kingfish but to me AJS sure do go hard (would they be considered as same as kingfish for fighting power) ??

[Marko Pekic]

probs one of my biggest iv caught here in WA which is quite good for around here although this was onli in 20 metres of water. Awsome fight on light gear

[Aaron Concord]

Marko,

I'd state that kingies are faster and more downright dirty in their fighting tactics than the same size AJ.

How far are you willing to travel?? Oman and Hawaii have donkey class AJ's, as do parts off the USA.

Off Queensland, the biggest AJ's I have seen have come off the jigging grounds off the tip of Fraser Island.  Some of these fish were 45kg specimens.
We don't get anywhere near as many shots at truly big kingies compared to NZ or southern Oz, so we chase the big AJ's for our mega jigging fix.

Off Brisbane/Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast/Fraser Island, most jigging is done in at least 60m and more reliably in 80-120m, so surface action is a tad unreliable!  They DO move into shallower water in autumn, though I do not know of anyone doing any good on surface lures in my neck of the woods.

Cheers,

Aaron.

[Andre van Wyk]

Like Aaron says, depends on how far you are willing to travel....

I'd say for your surest bet at size and numbers, and Captains who know how to put you on the fish on jigging gear, North Carolina in the USA would be the No.1 spot... plenty of excellent charters outta wilmington who specialise in jigging...

Fish in the 20 to 40 kilo class are common, with alot of the charters boating upwards of 50 fish before lunchtime ( or quitting because they are knackered ) with alot of fish going to 50 kilos and more in the mix...

[Mark Harris]

Like Andre I have always thought of North Carolina as the AJ fishing capital of the world.... there are even opportunities to fish for them in the top water there. I love the idea of an AJ on a popper.........

[Aaron Concord]

Mark,

The AJ's move into some of the shallower reefs off South East Queensland during March/April.
With the amount of GT anglers giving these reefs a hit, I think it will be only time before we see a few 20+kg models eat poppers or stickbaits.

Anyone have experience with these thing on surface lures???

I have not seen anyone write about anything that may show an AJ's lure preference?

I DO know that they are a hawk-eyed bugger, so perhaps a lighter single strand leader would help too??

Dunno!

Aaron.

[Mark Harris]

Given the fact that when they are on in deepwater, AJs absolutely smash jigs with a reaction strike often on the drop or when you are just straight reeling, I reckon if they are in the topwater and excited, they would take straightforward blooping poppers.

I have watched a few videos of the North Carolina guys catching them on cheap, basic bloopers.

[Warwick Joyce]

After reading the ocean active update from nick it looks like there are a few horse AJ's up Oman way.

[Dmitrii Novgorodtcev]

I heard of Yemen as very good place for monster AJ, but it is not safe to travel there now.

[Stewart Martin]

Hi Aaron,

Have you heard from anyone in south east qld whos had topwater succes with big AJ's??  I fish the SEQ reefs extensively for GT's and have yet to hook a big AJ. We catch a few high fin Amberjack year round on poppers & stickbaits and fly but theyre a smaller species at around 3-5kg.

A big AJ on a topwater lure would be awesome!

If anyones hooked one on topwater in Queensalnd Id love to hear about it!

[Dustin Foo]

I wouldn't class them as a "reliable" catch - certainly not enough to justify flying all the way from AUS - but the eastern Atlantic islands throw up some absolute monsters every now and then. They are highly esteemed as a food fish there which probably contributes to their rarity/difficulty. The spear fishing record caught two years back in Madeira which weighed around 75kg and some of you might have seen the photo captain Jason of the Bocinegro sent around of a larger fish caught in the Canaries (home of the previous spear fishing record).  Most anglers in that area tend to favour jigging quite deep but they must come into shallower areas at times otherwise the spearos would never be able to reach them.  I've fished both areas but the only AJs I caught were the juveniles that hang around floating stuff!   

Friends in Bermuda claim there are some real whoppers in their area too.