Down at Pirates Cove for the week fishing and enjoying the beach. Wind has been pretty steady out of SSW and with a chance of storms after lunch. Got the boat out Sun. for a little trolling and water temps were around 66-67, found 1 blue at 10". Got out this morning early for a possible AJ trip, boats were stacked up just outside the inlet working the blues. Catch a few for bait and head to our AJ spot, nice ride out as the winds hadn't picked up. Get 2 rigs in the water and on our first drift we break off one, loose one 20 sec. into the fight and a rod doubles over so we put Kevin on it. This is Kevins first battle with an AJ and we coach him to stay after it. He handles the rod well working around the motor 2-3 times, he has sweat on his brow and the fish is getting back every inch he gains. Finally, he hands the rod off to his dad, Wow! Dad is impressed and I decide to put a one more click of drag on the fish. Big mistake as the hook straightens out and pulls free just 10'-15' from the boat. Run back and give it another try and don't have time to get the rod in the holder before the drag is singing. So the crew tells me to work the fish in. I end up on the bow for most of the fight, my first big battle and it worked out ok fighting the fish around the cabin. Finally I get it in gaff range and sling it over the side. Ends up more than my 50# scale can read and measures at 54". All this in less than 45 min. with seas and wind building so we head in at 9:40. Having a great time even though the wind has kept the fishing down. Kevin is pictured here on his battle.

Pretty work Kevin! Great report and pics Netman. AJ on the grill tonight!

Nice job on the AJ they are a beast to bring in and when they are that big it will put a hurting on you. I hear that the average life span of a croaker on some of those AJ spots is about 4 seconds.

Nice AJ. I heard that they are now good to eat. What do you guys think? I never had them before.

One of the most bland fish I've ever tasted. Didn't want to keep them then, and won't be keeping any in the future. It was hard enough to keep down the fillets I brought home. For me, AJ's will be strictly catch and release.

I like them

Awesome fish congrats! Looks like it was a fun day.

The big AJ's have worms and the smaller ones are just OK, in my opinion. I won't kill one to eat because there are a lot better fish out there to eat that are much more plentiful. I see that as a catch and release fishery, that way they are always there for the younger folks to battle. Hopefully they will leave them for those that come later as well. Just a thought.

I've always released as well. Looks like I'll keep doing that also. Thanks for the advice. C&R is great for future youngens.

We usually keep one to grill as AJ is a poor quality meat after freezing. Out standing on the grill, I use a lemon pepper seafood seasoning and lemon, grill the 1 1/4" steaks 6 min each side over charcoal. Would put it near the top of the list. Also the one pictured did not have the parasites that are common with them, back in June cleaned some spanish with what looked like the same parasite. Our time on the AJ spot was cut short when a dive boat set up while we were well into a fight. Talked to the guy running the boat and he said we were ok (talking distance from boat), I just didn't feel right with divers in the water, we dropped a bait in and hooked up before they got in the water, all the divers heard the drag going off and got excited about the action and we driftrd away landed the fish and left. Went 1 for 4 on em in less than 40 min, was hoping to give the boys another chance as hookups were quick once you got over them.

Netman, maybe that's what I'm thinking of. I might have pulled some out of the freezer and it didn't taste good or it got mushy, like king mackeral does. Anyway, the only one I killed I shot with my speargun diving at the CLT. Boy did that piss him off! LOL! That sucker kicked my hindparts all around that tower! LOL! Anyway, that was my lifetime quota of AJ's. Caught a bunch on rod and reel after that, but let 'em all go. But don't let that stop anyone else from taking one home, but I really don't recommend the speargun. LOL!

Unfortunately, I had to freeze mine before cooking them. After freezing and thawing, the meat smelled really fishy. Didn't have any problem with the fillets being mushy. Meat looked good after cooking, just bland as hell! Will be strictly a C&R fish for me in the future.

I do wonder what they'd taste like after being smoked with oak, but won't let my curiosity get the best of me.

I do wonder what they'd taste like after being smoked with oak, but won't let my curiosity get the best of me.
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Apple is the best wood to smoke AJ, forgot to bring mine down. Not to many apple trees here at Pirates Cone!!!