HomeFishing Bluefish
Species · Southern New England

Bluefish

Also known as blues, choppers, snappers (juveniles), gators/slammers (large).

A fast, aggressive schooling predator with razor teeth, famous for the surface 'blitz.' Among the most accessible saltwater gamefish in the region — they hit lures and bait savagely.

When they run

June–October; best mid-summer through the fall run (late July–September), tapering as the water cools.

How to catch them

  • Casting poppers / topwater
  • Casting and jigging metal
  • Trolling spoons and plugs
  • Chunk/live bait
  • Fly fishing blitzes

Bait & lures

Poppers and pencil poppersDiamond/metal jigsSpoonsChunk menhaden or mackerelLive eels — always on a wire or heavy leader

Where to find them

Open water and rips, beaches, harbor mouths and estuaries — wherever baitfish concentrate near the surface.

Catch reports from cruisers

No catch reports for Bluefish yet. Landed one in these waters? Add the first — real reports only, moderated before they appear.

Report a catch

Augusto fishing notes are a starting point, not a guarantee — fish move with the water and the season. Nothing here is a substitute for current state regulations or local knowledge.