Chumming Inshore Speedsters

By Nick Honachefsky
Aug 29th 2017

When summer speedsters enter Jersey waters, it's game on for lightning quick action on light tackle.

Bonito, false albacore, Spanish mackerel and even skipjack tuna will patrol the inshore grounds, zipping from area to area in the bluewater anywhere from 3 to 15 miles out. Chumming and chunking for the speed demons can be a blast.

Start by finding a ridge, anchor up and begin to carpetbomb the area with a handful of fresh spearing, live peanut bunker or killies. As the chum flitters about and sinks, the oily slick and lively baitfish begins to form and establish itself, and its time to send out baits. Fluorocarbon leader is a must with the line-shy speed demons. Start with a Spro 50-pound barrel swivel, then 30-inch section of 20-pound SeaGuar or Yo-Zuri TopKnot fluorocarbon leader and a No. 1 Gamakatsu live-bait hook.

Hiding the hook is of paramount importance and on dead spearing the hook can be poked into the mouth of a spearing, pushed out the gills and hooked back in right behind the gill plate or just underneath the backbone, almost like a butterfish is hooked when chunking for tuna. Drop the bait in the water, open the bail and pull off two pulls of line off the reel so there is no tension on the bait in the water, keeping it flowing down the water column freely and without friction. Keep ahead of the current by continually pulling line off the reel before it catches up to you. Once a pickup occurs, flip the bail and engage the reel, and lift back on the rod fairly gently as the speed of the takeoff will usually set the hook.

Live baits like peanut bunker and killies really incite the fish and pitching live baits to the speed demons can be the most fun and rewarding on light tackle, with wild visual strikes, sometime only yards from the stern of the boat. Light tackle set ups consist of 7-foot medium to fast action spinning rods such as Shimano Terramar or St. Croix Tidemaster series rods matched with reels with smooth drag systems like a Shimano Stradic 4000 or Okuma Azores Z-40 spooled with 12-pound monofilament line.