Without a doubt, this is a misunderstood and not very appreciated fish in this area of the country. Most people think of the Blue Fish as a nuisance and few people actually target these feisty critters.

Think about it, they are easy to find. Look for the diving birds or the frantic commotion on the surface. When you find them, you can throw almost any lure or bait and they will chase it all the way back to the boat.

When you hook one of them, they run fast, hard and they jump. What more could you ask for? And for those of you that have a smoker, these are one of the best smoked fish that you could ask for. Cut the head off, gut the fish and split it down the middle, leaving the two halves connected. Get you smoker going and place the fish, skin down on the grate. Depending on the temperature of your smoker, leave the fish on for a couple of hours to four or five hours. If you like you can baste them with a beer, butter, garlic sauce that you have made by taking a beer, some butter and a few crushed garlic cloves in a pan and simmering over low heat until all of the flavors have come together.

I can remember many a morning when Larry Beutlich and I broke the jetties with a smoked blue fish in one hand and the steering wheel in the other. After you have smoked the fish, you can pick the meat from the body and mix it with some sour cream and chives and it will be the best smoked fish dip you have ever had.

And last but not least, these fish are a fly fisherman's dream fish. As with lures they will eat almost any fly and again when you find them, you will be able to fly cast to many a successful catch.

So, next time you find a school of blues, don't say to your fishing buddy, IT'S THOSE DARN BLUES, LET'S LEAVE HERE. It is a fish that is ready to give you some fun and taste pretty darn good smoked. One more thing, they have very sharp teeth and will bite you given the chance, so watch their mouth.

There are some very nice trout along the edges of the ICW and your favorite big trout spots. Try a MirrOlure top water fished from the edge of the shoreline to about half way back to the boat. If you have a couple of strikes but do not hook up, be ready to quickly follow up with an Exude RT Slug on a 5/0 Worm Hook. Something like the X-Point, rigged with just the Rt Slug. Toss it just past the missed strike and work it as if was injured. You will be surprised, how many fish that extra effort will produce.

There are some real nice reds on the lower end of the river around the Green Cove area on the flats and deeper drops. Try a silver fast sinking crank bait like the MirrOlure 32 M. This lure sinks fast and has a rattle that attracts the strike. You can rip it once you get it down or slowly turn the handle with an occasional strip action. Either way, you should find this lure produces good numbers of fish.

The flounder are here. Big numbers of those tasty flat ones have shown up at the jetties and in the creeks. Try a shrimp, mud minnow or mullet on a jig head, fished in the small run outs or around dock piles. I also like to take a finger mullet and cut it in half and use the head half on a jig head or a Carolina rig. Some soft plastics that work well are the Sea Striker trout grub in root beer, white with green tail, root beer with silver or gold flakes, Exude shrimp and paddle tail minnow. Work this the same way you would a live bait. The only difference in soft plastics and live or natural baits is, when you feel the strike with a soft plastic, you do not have to wait for the fish to eat it. He has already done that and it is time for you to set the hook.

The offshore action is on fire. I went last week and in just a few hours had several king mackerel, Bonita, cuddas and a couple of sharks. Lots of cuddas that ate well that day. I had 5 king mackerel halves and lost a couple of whole fish to them.

Fast trolling a big Clark Spoon behind a Sea Striker #2 planer will work or for those who like to slow troll, try a live poggy or cigar minnow on a Sea Striker live bait rig. For the fast trollers, I like to troll at 6 knots and for the live baiters try from 1/2 to 1.5 knots. Keep an eye on your baits and as long as they are swimming, your speed is good.

Mark Williams says the offshore bottom fish is slow at best. The only hope is a long trip to deep water and this should produce a fair catch of snapper and grouper with some nice beeliners.