# The Rail



## Phaedrus (Mar 25, 2011)

Fished the incoming at Rudee earlier this evening. Landed two nice blues on white and red Gotcha. The guy next to me caught a trout on a chartreuse grub and he also landed an unidentified fish that I am not even going to say what he thought it was because I will be ripped on about it.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Nice work. Congrats on the catch.


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## andrews (Jul 20, 2009)

A bad fish ID is the LAST thing you'll get ripped on for, it's the stupid things that get everyone riled up.


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## Suavea (Oct 9, 2002)

Was it white on the bottom and very large buck teeth and it blew up like a ball? Did it have a flat mouth brown with black & dark spots? Did it look redish large flat mouth with wings? Just describe it lots of help out here.


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## Phaedrus (Mar 25, 2011)

He is going to post it on a Virginia fishing forum. He thought that it was a juvenile tarpon. Grey/silver with a big mouth and no teeth. He was a local guy who fishes there regularly.


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## Islander80 (Mar 27, 2010)

Sounds like a hickory shad. Is this what he caught? http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/fishfacts/hickoryshad.asp


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## Phaedrus (Mar 25, 2011)

I don't have the picture, but this does look very close and would make a lot more sense. I will look around and see if he posts it on another site.


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## SurFeesher (May 5, 2010)

I'd put my money on a Shad. Similar features.


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## Samblam (May 22, 2011)

These shad are really thick up here in the James river right now.


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## andrews (Jul 20, 2009)

Aye, shad, if he was jigging. It's uncommon, but you'll see a few caught every year, you'll see them cruising around in the rocks.


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## dropinbrix (Jul 10, 2011)

We got 6 or 7 Shad last weekend at Avalon jigging for bluefish. Gotchas were the lure of choice, yellow head/white body.


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## SpeckledJihad (Jan 31, 2012)

dropinbrix said:


> We got 6 or 7 Shad last weekend at Avalon jigging for bluefish. Gotchas were the lure of choice, yellow head/white body.


Probably was hickory shad. We caught and lost quite a few that day.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Lady fish?


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## 7.62 (Apr 15, 2011)

Can someone please explain how to jig for blues? I'm only familiar with burning spoons/gotchas or bottom rigging. Thanks.


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## andrews (Jul 20, 2009)

Jigging for blues is done with gotcha's


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## dropinbrix (Jul 10, 2011)

7.62 said:


> Can someone please explain how to jig for blues? I'm only familiar with burning spoons/gotchas or bottom rigging. Thanks.


Burning spoons and gotchas like tossing it out and reeling it back in real quick?


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## 7.62 (Apr 15, 2011)

Yeah...maybe burning is a freshwater term. Toss the lure out, count 'till desired depth is reached and reel it in fast..."burn it."

When someone says "jigging", I think of working it vertically at a specific depth. I don't really think of jigging as cast and retrieve. Even if you're bass fishing with skirted jigs, and you're flipping towards the shoreline and slowly working back to the boat, I don't think of that as "jigging." 

Maybe my terminology's all screwed up.


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## dropinbrix (Jul 10, 2011)

I think of jigging as casting out a gotcha and using a jerk reel jerk reel technique. Its like walking a spook, the gotcha has the same walk the dog action just underwater. Most people hold the rod pointing down but you can do it with the rod upright too.


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## Loop Wing (Aug 23, 2006)

7.62 this summer go to any pier around sunrise and check out all the guys with their rods over the side of the pier pointing at the water. Snapping the tip back towards the pier and reeling in on every snap. That is jigging a gotcha. Gives the gotcha a "walk the dog" motion under the water. I love fishing a gotcha like that. Insane action, and just wait for the spanish to show up and put the blues to shame.


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## dropinbrix (Jul 10, 2011)

Wait for the houndfish to show up. Poor mans sailfish, super fun to catch on gotchas.


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## SpeckledJihad (Jan 31, 2012)

Houndfish are only fun if the blues and Spanish aren't running. Otherwise they are a huge pain in the ***. 

@Dropinbrix, next one you catch must be boiled and eaten.


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## dropinbrix (Jul 10, 2011)

Ill boil it and eat it with sauerkraut.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Jigging is like hoping a jig head or bucktail off the bottom. Kinda like yo yoing think of it that way.


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