Used to be there were two things you could count on at Thanksgiving time on Hatteras Island: Getting stuffed and the annual fall run of big bluefish. Actually there are two separate runs of bluefish. The first comes from the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay in late October to mid-November. The second comes a little later as northern bluefish (slightly bigger than their Chesapeake cousins) move down the coast from their New England summer. When conditions are right, these fish will chase anything and everything in their path up onto the beach leaving thousands of their prey stranded on the sand. They will churn the water red with their feeding frenzy. And they will literally attack anything that hits the water. While plugging with spoons is generally considered the favored tactic for catching bluefish in a feeding frenzy, almost anything will work. I have heard of one fisherman who, running out of conventional metal lures, attached a hook to a "pop-top" and successfully cast it into a pod of feeding bluefish. But overfishing and down-turns in reproductive cycle have led to a severe decline in the bluefish population. In the late 80's and early 90's commercial fishermen used helicopters and spotter planes to local large schools in the Chesapeake Bay making it easy pickings for commercial seiners to circle up vaste pods of these fish and "harvest' them. We still don't clearly understand the reproduction cycle of bluefish, but it does appear that it is on the down-side right now. The combined result is that the once legend bluefish blitzes of Hatteras Island are now just that - once legend existing primarily in the memories of sportfishermen who were able to witness and participate in this awesome annual event. I have been fortunate enough to have benn involved in my fair share of these blitzes and have a tale to relate to you of one such blitz. When we first moved down to Newport News, our backyard neighbors were from Europe. Steve and Tony were from England and Norway respectively. We became good hard friends. They have two sons, Alexander and Michael. Alexander was quite the young fisherman who at the age of 10 had already caught several species in Norway. But he had never caught the big Blues. So I invited him to accompany me on a fishing excursion to the Outer Banks to try for them. I filled his head with stories of their fighting power. For there are few fish that fight better than a large bluefish on light line from the beach. Starting in late October, we began to go down to the beach on weekends to check conditions and try our luck - but to no avail. Several trips resulted in our returning with nothing but a few stories such as, "You should have been here yesterday." But on one of those trips (a Sunday in early December), we looked over the bulkhead at the Avalon Pier and could see the schools feeding just out of casting range. Again, the oldtimer standing by us said, "You should have been here yesterday." Alexander shot me a dirty look and dejectedly asked, "Why couldn't we have come down yesterday?" "Relax," I said. "They'll come in on the tide." We drove down the beach looking for signs: Gulls wheeling and diving like crazy or cars pulled over to the side of the road with fishermen jumping out and running over the dune. We drove across the bridge to Hatteras Island. There's a jog in the road just before you reach Rodanthe that the locals call the "S" curves. Just there! There they were. Fishermen running over the dune. I told Alex to get ready. We pulled the car over to a safe piece of grass on the side and grabbed ready rods and tackle from the trunk and dashed over the dune. Sure enough! The fish were there. Several fishermen were already engaged with big fish (17-20#'rs). I made a first cast and hooked up immediately. "Hey, Alexander!" I hollered. "You wanna' fight a big fish?" Alexander was only 12 at the time. "Yeah!" he said. And after loostening the drag a little more, I handed him the rod. It almost pulled him in the water. I cast with a second rod and again immediately hooked up. There is nothing like the feel of a large bluefish on the end of the line. They pull drag. They jump. They buck. They rattle their gill plates. It is truly a magnificent sight. We finally landed three losing a couple of good lures in the process. We processed them there on the beach for the long drive home. It had been a memorable day. Young Alexander was fired up. Me? I was just tired and, after having gotten my feet and legs soaked in 45 degree water, was beginning to feel the effects of a nasty flu-bug that would lay me out for almost a week afterwards. But that is another story. Big Bluefish The funnest way to catch big bluefish is on a 9' medium action rod spooled with bout 250 yds of 15-17 lb. test line. Use about a 3-4 oz. Hopkins or Gator lure and sight cast right into the middle of a pod. The fish will strike almost immediately. Then hang on. Sadly, there is no known way to make them remotely edible. These are oily, fishy tasting fish with lots of dark meat. There is an old joke that the best way to prepare them is "Planking." Take a cedar board, tie a blue fish to it and stand it up in front of a fire. When the fish is done, untie it, throw it away and eat the board. In actuality, there are a few preparations that make them semi-palletable. My favorite is bluefish cakes. Boil the bluefish and then crumble it into a bowl with Old Bay Seasoning, mayonaise, some parsley and onion. Fry or broil for about 20-15 minutes. Makes a cheap version of a crab cake.