Bluefish have Moxie
It’s odd not having bluefish around. Once upon a time, they were ubiquitous, blitzing in midmorning on running tide, ripping up schools of bait, birds circling, blood in the water. Man, their energy drove the fishing.
In my neck of woods, they were hottest back in late 1980’s and early 1990’s, fading in 1995. By June, you always carried a good number of flies with shock tippets. Forget 40 pound mono! Big blues sliced through that. Yeah you might get lucky and land one, but the next blue cut you off. I used solid 60 pound tobacco colored wire, secured with a hay-wire twist. Pain in the ass, but mandatory. 
Hell under an summer moon, you could tangle with blues dogs into the teens. I mean it. What a war. The photo up top comes from that early era, decent double digit blue on a popper, with my old Winston fiberglass 10-weight rod. Note my shiny new fly reel. LOL About a year later a blue of 17 pounds destroyed it. Bent the handle over 45 degrees. And forced the spool to rub hard against the frame. Had to trash it. Blues have moxie.
