A fun way to stock up on a first-rate kingfish bait.
They’re lean, mean, biting machines and offshore anglers love ’em. Sound like king mackerel? Close—it’s one of the top baits for tempting the pugnacious pelagics. Officially named Atlantic cutlassfish, marine biologists call the ribbonfish Trichiurus lepturus, which some anglers call “silver eels.” By any name, the ribbon has a beastly head, a body like a blade and a thin ribbon-like fin running the length of its back, down to a narrow, pointed tail. Its shiny, high-vis profile appeals to kingfish, and for bait-focused anglers, catching ribbons can prove quite entertaining.
Brine fresh ribbonfish, then freeze in a vacuum-seal bag for later use.
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Take a look at a ribbonfish’s intimidating assortment of dental equipment and it’s easy to see that this guy’s built for grabbing live prey. Needlelike canines line the top and bottom jaws, with elongated lances protruding from the front. Therefore, sturdy rigs are a must. Eight- to 20-pound main line with 30- or 40-pound monofilament leaders tied to 2/0 longshank hooks will suffice, but adding a 6-inch trace of No. 3 wire will minimize bite-offs. For simplicity, use pre-rigged wire with barrel swivels for attaching to the main line and snap swivels for hanging the hook.
Ribbonfish thrive in estuaries and other muddy bottom environments from Maine to South America. In Florida waters, they’re found more commonly on the East Coast, par-ticularly in major inlets such as St. Johns, St. Augustine and Port Canaveral. Although ribbons occasionally turn up in castnets full of menhaden (pogies), it’s tough targeting these fleet-finned hellions with anything but hook and line. It mostly entails night fishing because, like goggle eyes, that’s when they feed most. Fortunately, hook-and-line operations can produce 100 or more in a good night.
Kingfish tournament veterans Steve and Scott Senecal catch their ribbons mostly in Port Canaveral, where the voracious baitfish put on quite a show as they leap across the surface to nail finger mullet and other forage species. Sometimes, the nocturnal action grows so intense that all you need to do is drift an area and watch for the carnage.
Ribbons follow schools of smaller baitfish from the open water to sea walls, jetties, piers and bridges. To find the concentrations, work chrome or blue Rat-L-Traps in the likely areas. After a busy night, Scott said he often retires bald lures, completely stripped of paint by ribbonfish ferocity.
Ribbonfish experts congregate the critters by hanging a fluorescent light tube—connected via alligator clips directly to their boat’s main battery—from the stern. Casting an eerie green glow, the light attracts small forage fish, which in turn draw in the ribbons. Once you’ve located a concentration of ribbonfish, 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 add just enough visibility to make the baits stand out in dark water.
Medium-action 6 1⁄ 2- to 7-foot spinning rods—the same ones you’d use for sabiki (gold-hook) duties—will handle most ribbonfish. A hooked ribbon fights a respectable fight, but it’s wise to get them in fast. 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 are almost always fished dead, but handling the fresh catch requires planning. Prior to the trip, prepare a brining solution, which toughens the big baits for freezing. Without this step, thawed ribbons turn mushy and wash out quickly. In a 70- to 130-quart cooler, mix two 1-pound boxes of baking soda, three 3-pound boxes of coarse Kosher salt (not iodized) with a 5-gallon bucket of sea water 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, but don’t let the ice form a solid sheet over your ribbons—premature freezing prevents thorough brining. Conversely, leaving ribbonfish in the brining solution for more than 24 hours tends to blow out their stomachs and ruin the baits. After 8 to 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 your ribbonfish, freezing multiple baits in the same sleeve works fine as long as baits lie flat with at least 1⁄ 4-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.
Veteran ribbonfishers use fluorescent light tubes to attract bait and rig small light sticks above the hook.
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To thaw, just put the fish on the deck for a few minutes. (Tip: It’s actually easiest to rig baitfish when they’re still partially frozen as the rigidity facilitates handling. In the water, the bait will thaw quickly.)
When it comes to rigging ribbonfish for king mackerel, a stinger rig with multiple trailing segments is the way to go. A common setup uses a 1⁄ 4-ounce jighead as the lead hook, because a jig keeps the bait tracking straight through the water. Run through the bait’s lower jaw and out the topside.
However, the Senecal brothers also rig ribbons with a single lead hook, which allows the baits to flutter and flow erratically. Personal observation has shown them that ribbons don’t always swim straight. Very often, they dart and dash in varying angles, and occasionally turn perfectly vertical to target surface meals.
With the right handling and preparation, ribbonfish will add a productive facet to your kingfish arsenal—they seem particularly attractive to big smoker kings. And this is one baitfish that’s also a blast to catch.
FS
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