These fish will test your patience, your tackle and your sanity. Funny Fish, such as skipjack tuna or Spanish macks, are reliably unreliable.
These late summer fish are funny as in crazy. The start of summer football two-a-days usually coincides with the arrival of Funny Fish. It’s that time of year when the farmers are drying their second or third cut of hay, the humidity is off the charts and everyone thinks of the beach.
Even the Gulf Stream has warmed up, and it’s pushed its way inshore about as far as it will go. That seasonal surge of warm, tropical water stays until the apples fall from the trees and then it retracts. When it leaves, it takes away all those wonderful pelagic fish, but not before we get a crack at ’em.
Button up your chin straps, folks, we’re in for a ride. These fish will test your patience, your tackle and your sanity. They come by the name Funny Fish because these Atlantic bonito, false albacore, skipjack tuna, Spanish and small king macks and even mahi mahi aren’t predictable like striped bass. In fact, they’re reliably unreliable.
The Funny Fish catch of the day goes to Eric Harrison’s juvenile king mackeral. Photo by Ingrid Niehaus
On some days they’re blowing up bait in every rip, along every drop-off and on a variety of tide seams. Birds are diving, silversides are spraying and fishing is a full-out blitz. Glassing the water with your binoculars makes boat captains bury the throttle. But frequently, and upon arrival, it all disappears.
The fish are fast, no question, and they run edges at the speed of heat. They’re unlike striped bass leisurely feasting upon 18-inch long menhaden. They ain’t like savage bluefish that eat until they vomit and then begin eating again. No, Funny Fish are connoisseurs and they pick their way through a buffet of many small portions. They like their fish to be all of a few inches long, if not smaller. They’ll shred young-of-the-year butterfish, bay anchovies, glass minnows, tinker macks and sand eels. They swim and eat, swim and eat and they’re steadily consistent until they are not.
Funny Fish are thieves in the night. They pop up on the tide seams you just left, and if you return to the scene of the crime they disappear and resurface where you just were. Try to out-think ’em, go on, I dare you, but odds are high that you’ll be left holding the bag. Stake out and wait patiently in a proven spot uptide and they might arrive. Run-and-gun your way around the bay and you might get a shot. Inevitably they’ll zig when you zag, and that’s part of the fun. They’ll pop up in the spot you just left and when you follow in pursuit they wind up back where you started.
Author shows unique markings of false albacore. Photo by Angela Keer
Funny Fish take advantage of a man when he’s down. They arrive when warm temperatures have made striper fishing a challenge. Anglers looking for a bent rod and singing drag are suckers, for these fish are the new game in town. We bite, hard, and that’s why we go. The fact that they drive us nuts is par for the course. We were going stir crazy from lackluster striper bites, anyway.
Toss some tin, cast a fly, but hold on to your grip when you get a grab. Funny Fish stretch your line and make drags sing. They’re strong and fast, but they don’t respond well to pressure. As fast as they tore out your line they’ll double back and head straight for the boat. Savvy captains put outboards in gear, and quick-thinking anglers reel nearly as fast. Get one in the boat and it’s a cause for celebration. Enjoy it, savor it, for there might be a long time before the next one clears the gunnels.
Ask Peter Jenkins, the owner of the Saltwater Edge in Middletown, Rhode Island. He’s the guy that caught the small mahi on a 3-weight. “Funny Fish drive anglers crazy because they’re so fast,” he said. “They’re among the most demanding saltwater targets in terms of casting skill. Fly-rodders that take three or four false casts usually watch the school pass them by. The faster the presentation the greater the hook ups, so water haul, double haul, shoot line on your back cast and present. Then hold on to your rod.”
Watch what you eat. Everyone knows Mahi and Spanish macks are good, but a bled, iced bonito on the grill is my favorite. Unless you like strong, oily fish best leave the albies alone. They taste just like they fight, which is strong.
First catches are hitting the wires, so get your gear and go. There’s no need to kill time slathering on sunscreen and sitting on a beach. Climb aboard a boat, hit the rock walls of the jetties or paddle your ‘yak. One hook up is all it takes. After that, you’ll be addicted.
Lefty Kreh is one of the most experienced, well-prepared and thoughtful anglers in the world. In this book he shares this wealth of experience with a variety of commonsense solutions to the problems that anglers face.
Includes how to pacify a fish, which hook-sharpening tools to use, when and how to take a rod apart when it’s stuck, what to do when a fish runs under your boat, how to dry waders and find leaks and much more.
