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Outdoors

Wrangling ribbonfish

The kingfish baits are surprisingly fun to catch.

By DAVID A. BROWN
Published October 29, 2005

If you think kingfish are vicious, take a look at one of their favorite meals - ribbonfish.

Officially named Atlantic cutlassfish and sometimes called "silver eels," ribbons define appetite and attitude.

A lanky predator with a ghastly head, ribbonfish have a blade-like body and thin ribbony fin running the length of its back, down to a wispy tail, and pack a serious set of dental daggers designed for grabbing live prey. A shiny, highly-visible profile is what appeals to kingfish. But for anglers seeking dependable baits, ribbons prove quite entertaining.

Hook-and-line rigs with 8- to 20-pound main line and 30- or 40-pound monofilament leaders tied to 2/0 long-shank hooks will suffice, but 6 inches of No. 3 wire minimizes bite-offs. Premade wire rigs with barrel swivels for attaching to main line and snap swivels for hanging the hook also work. Ribbonfish favor estuaries and other muddy-bottom environments from Maine to South America. Though ribbons occasionally turn up in cast nets full of menhaden or "pogies," it's tough to target them with nets. Armed with medium-action spinning outfits, anglers often bag 100 or more in a good night.

Kingfish tournament veterans Steve and Scott Senecal of St. Augustine say aggressive ribbonfish put on a fearless performance as they bound across the surface to pounce on finger mullet and other forage species. Ribbons hunt baitfish schools near sea walls, jetties piers and bridges. Probing likely areas with chrome or blue Rat-L-Traps helps locate the hot zones.

A fluorescent green light tube connected via alligator clips directly to their boat's main battery and hung from the stern will attract baitfish and congregate the curious ribbonfish. Once the stars of the show arrive, thumbnail-size chunks of fresh shrimp or previously-caught ribbons will bring plenty of action.

These perceptive hunters will sniff out anything edible, but mini light tubes clipped to the hook shanks help the baits stand out in dark water.

A hooked ribbon puts up a respectable fight, but Steve advises a prompt retrieve. Intense feeding competition reaches cannibalistic heights when the struggling commotion of a hooked ribbonfish presents an easy target for its brethren. Reeling up half a ribbon is nothing rare. Maximize this aggression by tossing in rigs with fresh bait near the point of attack.

Ribbonfish almost always are fished dead, so handling the fresh catch requires planning. Prior to each trip, the Senecals prepare a brining solution that toughens the big baits for freezing. Without this step, thawed ribbons turn mushy and wash out quickly. In a 70- to 130-quart cooler, the anglers mix two 1-pound boxes of baking soda, three 3-pound boxes of coarse Kosher salt (not iodized) with a 5-gallon bucket of seawater and an 8-pound bag of ice. Initially, the brining solution should sit just above the cooler's drain plug. Add more ice as needed to maintain a chilly slush. Yet don't let the ice form a solid sheet over the ribbons - premature freezing prevents thorough brining.

Conversely, Steve said leaving ribbonfish in the brining solution for more than 24 hours tends to blow out their stomachs and ruin the baits. After 8-12 hours of brining, remove and freeze.

Plastic food storage sleeves closed with a vacuum sealer will keep ribbonfish in good freezer condition. Depending on the size of the ribbonfish, freezing multiple baits in the same sleeve works fine as long as baits lay flat with at least a quarter-inch of surrounding space. Lacking this option, double wrap them in heavy-duty aluminum foil and be sure to force out all of the air.

Thaw the ribbons by laying them on the deck for a few minutes. Most anglers find rigging easiest when baits are partially frozen, as the rigidity facilitates handling. Baits thaw quickly in the water.

When it comes to rigging ribbonfish for king mackerel, stinger rigs with multiple trailing segments is the way to go. A common set up uses a quarter-ounce jig head as the lead hook. Run through the bait's lower jaw and out the topside, a jig keeps the bait tracking straight through the water.

To reduce the tackle visibility against the shiny sides of a ribbonfish, kingfish pro Marc Collins of Stillmore, Ga., covers his wire and hooks with chrome spray paint that matches the bait's natural coloration. Some accomplish the same by using shiny silver-colored wire and matching hooks. But Collins finds that it's easier and more economical to simply alter the appearance of his standard tackle rather than buy another set for one type of rigging.

Another school of thought leads anglers to rig their dead ribbonfish with red treble hooks in hopes of triggering feeding instincts by simulating a bleeding bait. Whatever color you choose, Collins advises against using stainless steel hooks for ribbonfish rigs so the tackle can dissolve in saltwater if a fish gets away.

"Sometimes we have 4-5 hooks in our rigs, and that's a lot of (hardware) for a fish to have to survive."

[Last modified October 29, 2005, 01:45:21]