Halfway through the fated bout with her first almaco, Gina felt the line go slack, then suddenly retighten as the fish bulldogged it back for the safety of the reef, nearly taking her along for the ride. The captain wrapped one arm around Gina’s waist, one hand around the rod, and the two tumbled back into a seat from which they waged an athletic tag-team battle to raise the fish.

If almacos have invaded your favorite bottom-fishing hotspot, convincing them to bite is no great feat. Like most jacks, they are rapacious feeders willing to gobble up most any kind of small live fish. Pinfish are popular baits and easy for the fisherman to obtain; using No. 8 Haybusa sabiki rigs aboard the Free Spool, we capitalized on the cool-weather congregation of pins at a range marker south of Government Cut. In bays with grassflats, pinfish are a snap to catch on tiny hooks and bits of shrimp.

Other types of baits would likely work just as well, for instance herrings, sardines, runners and cigar minnows. Jacks are the dogs of the ocean—if it runs, they chase.

Off Miami and much of Florida’s Atlantic coast, the real challenge is getting the bait to the wreck or reef where almacos might be hanging out. Contrary winds and ocean currents can test a skipper’s ability to position the boat in the right spot for anchoring or drift fishing. In the Gulf of Mexico, it is a little less complicated, but still a subject that takes time to master.

Forgione has a knack for locating wrecks using land-based ranges, such as tall buildings, but for most anglers a GPS unit is essential. The GPS comes in handy not only for finding a spot, but also for determining the net drift resulting from wind and current. When you mark the wreck on your fishfinder, and confirm the latitude and longitude numbers you used to get there, you can cut the engines and wait for the GPS to give you the distance and bearing back to the spot. Last year the federal government switched off the Selective Availability (SA) signal-scrambling feature on GPS satellites, making repeated passes over even a small wreck a cinch.

When you return to the wreck, maintain your heading to put your boat in line for setting the anchor or drifting over the prime fishing area. The latter approach may be the most practical choice on sites deeper than about 150 feet, especially if a strong current is present. Drifting also allows you to get away with somewhat lighter tackle, as generally less weight is required to reach and maintain depths if the boat is keeping pace with your bait. As a rule, the faster the drift the farther upcurrent you’ll need to drop your anchor or bait.

Sometimes you can power-drift over a deep wreck, keeping the bow pointed upcurrent and using the throttles to hold position, although this approach, like anchoring, may require the use of sinkers measured in pounds instead of ounces.

For livebait fishing, Forgione uses a sliding sinker rig that allows for adding or removing sinkers as needed. The rig is a good setup for amberjacks as well as groupers and snappers, and works equally well at anchor or adrift.

To retain the maximum breaking strength of your fishing line, first tie a Bimini twist in the line. Run the doubled line through a swivel, and tie off to a second swivel. The first swivel will carry your sinker and be free to slide up and down the fishing line. To rig the sinker, tie an 18-inch piece of monofilament to the other end of the sliding swivel and make a loop in the end with a surgeon’s knot. Loop on a bank sinker large enough to keep your bait near the bottom in the depth and current you plan to fish. Add even more weight by first running the dropper through an egg sinker, then anchoring it with the bank sinker. The mono dropper should test less than your main line, allowing you to break free if the sinker hangs bottom structure. The sliding swivel arrangement permits a fish to take the bait without feeling unnatural resistance (more important for snooty snappers and less so for the bellicose amberjacks).

For the bait leader, tie on 30 feet or so of heavy monofilament (50- to 80-pound is typical for mixed-bag bottom fishing) and finish with a strong, sharp hook. Why the long leader works better than a short one is up for debate, but the belief that it does is widely held among professional fishermen in South Florida. In other parts of the state AJ fishermen use just a few feet of mono. Keep in mind that the longer you make the leader, the farther you’ll have to hand-over-hand the fish to the boat when you get the swivel to the rodtip. There are also IGFA guidelines to consider, if you’re seeking a record.

Hook a hearty live baitfish through the lips and you’re ready to go. Drop the sinker to the bottom, reel up a few feet, and hang on tight. When you feel a fish take the bait—a sensation varying from a subtle thump to a steady tug on the line—resist the urge to jerk up on the rod to set the hook. Instead, crank the reel handle to pick up the slack in that long leader, and keep turning until the rod bends over convincingly.

This style of fishing—deep water, heavy sinkers and swift current—generally demands heavy tackle, such as a sturdy conventional trolling combo in the 30- to 50-pound class. But if you’re looking to pursue AJs or almacos on lighter gear, or fill one of those vacancies in the record book, you could scale down to spinning or casting tackle and work a deepjig through the water column over a wreck or reef. In areas where AJs are abundant, sometimes a plain white bucktail never makes it to the bottom. Amberjacks are also known to follow hooked fish to the surface, or rise to investigate the sound of an engine. At the surface you can get them on freelined baits or even top-waters.

Of course, if you’re really anxious to see your name in the books, you might keep an eye out for rambunctious juvenile almaco jacks around offshore weedlines, near deeper ship channel buoys and on the surface near wrecks. Hang a chumbag over the side and in a few hours you might fill the roster of light line and fly record classes, turning an incidental catch into a meritorious moment.

FS