The boat captain spotted a brown object lurking just beneath an old plywood chunk. He circled wide of the floating object and headed a short distance upwind.
A stiff breeze ripping the water made visibility challenging, but it also helped muffle any sounds we made. With the wind quietly pushing the boat toward the floater, the angler tossed a popping cork rig baited with a live shrimp so it landed about 10 feet upwind of the flotsam. The angler released line so the breeze would carry the rig close to the wood.
As the cork approached the plywood, the angler jerked the rod to make a commotion. The cork splashed and bobbed underwater but never returned to the surface! A large fish ripped line from the screeching reel, bending the rod almost double. After an invigorating fight, the angler finally brought the powerful beast up next to the boat where the captain netted it.
Also called a blackfish, the peculiar dark sea creature somewhat resembled a crappie on bad steroids with three tails, hence the name tripletail. Blackfish occur throughout the Gulf of Mexico and usually start showing up off the Alabama coast as water warms in the spring.
“Once water temperatures rise to about 72 or 73 degrees, tripletail start showing up in Alabama waters again,” says Dr. John Dindo, a marine biologist with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. “They usually disappear when the water temperature starts to change after we get the first hard cold front in October or November.”
Few people leave the dock intentionally trying to catch tripletail, but nobody ignores this species if they happen to spot one hovering beneath an object. Unlike red snapper, grouper and other fish that typically stay around their favorite reefs, tripletail move frequently and drift with the tides and winds.
“We never know when we’ll come up on a tripletail,” says Skylar Beagle with Coastal Fishing Charters in Fairhope. “We might see 20 today and none tomorrow in the same places. Sometimes, we’ll run from one spot to the next not even looking for tripletail and almost run over one. Just when we think we have them figured out, they do something different.”
Look for tripletail around any floating objects, such as logs, driftwood, old crates, weeds or other flotsam. They commonly appear under channel markers, petroleum platforms, buoys, docks and bridge pilings. Tripletail might suspend near objects as small as an aluminum can. Occasionally, they sun themselves on the surface in open water.
When hunting tripletail, many anglers “run the crab lines” in the Gulf, Mississippi Sound or lower Mobile Bay. Crabbers mark their traps with floats. Crab trap lines might stretch for miles. Boaters running the lines look under the floats or other flotsam for dark objects. Polarized sunglasses help immeasurably. After spotting something, anglers stealthily “stalk” their quarry.
Whenever possible, approach a floating object from upwind. Let the breeze push the boat into casting range. Use an electric motor only sparingly for directional control. Avoid making unnecessary noise or vibrations.
“After we spot a fish, we ease up to it as quietly as possible,” Beagle says. “I don’t want to get too close, only close enough to see the fish and cast to it.”
Tripletail mostly feed upon shrimp or small crabs. Many anglers use popping cork rigs laden with live shrimp or crab pieces to tempt tripletails. Throw the rig several feet upwind of the fish. If that’s not possible, cast well beyond it and reel the bait slowly to the fish. If nothing takes the bait, pop the cork a couple times. If the fish doesn’t bite, return to that spot later.
“To catch tripletail, we usually fish with popping corks and live shrimp,” Dindo says. “We float it right by the objects. Depending upon the fish’s mood, we might get two or three attempts at it, but it if doesn’t hit by the third cast, it probably won’t hit at all. We might have to come back to that object later.”
Tripletail sometimes hit artificial enticements such as spoons or jigheads sweetened with soft-plastic trailers. Scent-enriched baits such as Gulp! tend to tempt more tripletail than ordinary plastic ones. Fly anglers catch tripletail with feathery creations that resemble shrimp or crabs.
On light tackle, tripletail provide exhilarating rod-bending action. Spotting something brown under a floating object could cap off a day on the water with some delicious bonus fillets.
John N. Felsher is a professional freelance writer who lives in Semmes, Ala. He also hosts an outdoors tips show for WAVH FM Talk 106.5 radio station in Mobile, Ala. Contact him at [email protected] or through Facebook.
