By Joe Cermele

That guy in the photo is Andrew Metzger, better known to frequent F&S.com readers as Koldcut. Andrew lives in Colorado, but he's originally from eastern Pennsylvania. For the last few years all I've been hearing from Andrew is, "the next time I'm in PA we have to fish." Well, he was in PA last week and we fished. And he got a righteous taste of what us Northeast saltwater guys deal with all fall: Wind when no wind is forecast, the fish you want being non-existent even though they were everywhere the day before, and bluefish (a.k.a. lemonade). Only Andrew's tall glass of lemonade came with a twist.

Last Friday, Andrew and I met up with "Hook Shots" regular Captain Eric Kerber with one goal...get Andrew a false albacore on the fly. In the days prior, the albacore were thick, crashing anchovies on the surface, birds diving, the whole nine. We get to the sweet spot and it's gusting hard southwest, there are little whitecaps combing over the chop, and the birds are flying around hungry and confused. We held our ground for a few hours, but the albies never showed. What did show were the ever-faithful bluefish that can turn a no-albacore frown upside down.

The difference, however, between the standard "savior" school of blues and the blues we found Friday was that every single one was a 16- to 18-pound beast. I mean I've caught blues this size one here, one there, but neither Eric nor I had ever seen whole schools of such massive specimens. 

The first one I hooked on spinning gear never stopped taking line. I never got a crank. The next torqued the reel so hard it bent something and I could barely turn the handle. But as the fish came to the surface, I noticed it had 4 friends with it. Andrew, in a mad dash, picked up my 12-weight, slung a hunk of feathers behind my fish, and was treated to a ravenous pack of super-gators charging the bug. Whamo! Down dove the fish. Zing went the drag. The rod bowed to the brink of destruction, and 15 hairy minutes later, Eric sunk the net on 36-inches, 18-pounds of Jersey bluefish on the fly. Andrew didn't even have a steel leader tied on, but managed a perfect strip strike into the corner of the fish's mouth. I still can't believe we landed it.

Now, I have caught a lot of blues in my day, but this was hands down the biggest I'd ever seen landed on the fly. For two native Northeasterners like Eric and I to get all hot and bothered about a bluefish is rare, but this fish had our jaws dropped. Once again, the lemonade fish came through in a big way, and we sent Andrew back home to CO with a sore wrist, a mangled streamer, and an epic tale to tell.

Great fishing with you, Koldcut. Sorry you have to go back to catching stuff that your bluefish could cut in half faster than a Slap-Chop takes down a parsnip.

Comments (19)

from buckhunter wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Kold, That is a beautiful fish. I am so jealous.

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from 357 wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

awesome fish

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from HeidelbergJaeger wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Jealous of the fish, jealous of the home location! I am a displaced Denver Broncos fan. What a game last night. If I ever get to Colorado again, I'll want to go fishing up near Granby / Grand Lake or go hunting for a nice Colorado Bull Elk!

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from timromano wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

bad ass. Nice work Andrew.

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from Ron Poehailos wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Nice catch, Andrew. Must have been a great fight on a fly! Glad you got a taste of the salt -- coming back soon?

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from DSMbirddog wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

That must have been a great day for all of you. Congrats Koldcut on hooking up with Joe and Eric! Nice fish guys.

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from deanlikes2fish wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Awesome!!

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from steve182 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

I have caught Bluefish that size but never on the fly. Nice catch. Watch your fingers.

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from Koldkut wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Steve, Eric made well and sure that I knew to stay away from it's mouth, he reminded me at least a half-dozen times in rapid succession when I was getting the fish for the pictures. Those two guys are like brothers. Totally sucked that we could not find that school again after those last few fish.

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from Koldkut wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

And I'm trying to find a way to get back there before the new year. The vacation time and money are not an issue, and the ol' lady is all about me going back.

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from tkbone wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

That's a hoss! Congrats! Caught some good blues in the teens up there last fall on conventional tackle when striper fishing and can't imagine the thrill of landing one on a fly.

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from dleurquin wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

That is one nice looking fish. And caught on a fly rod. Yesss!!!

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from Mokaphyyr wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Yeah, Koldcut has that effect oh fishing, even in his youth.

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from steve182 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Koldcut, back in my Striper bridgefishing days i watched many a bluefish snap at the seagulls that were on the surface under the lights. Seen many a onefooted gull. Not sure if that one did it, but when they snap, it souds like a beartrap, especially that size.

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from nuclear_fisher wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Nice job koldkut. I don't know anything about bluefish but that's a beast of a fish.

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from mike0714 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

As a kid i spent my summers between the AZ mountains and the family place out on Montauk. fluke, stripers and blues. haven't been back in a few years. i still say pound for pound blues are one of the hardest hitting fish. great to see someone else getting big blues.

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from mike0714 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

As a kid i spent my summers between the AZ mountains and the family place out on Montauk. fluke, stripers and blues. haven't been back in a few years. i still say pound for pound blues are one of the hardest hitting fish. great to see someone else getting big blues.

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from Carl Huber wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Mike0714; I also spent my childhood out in Montauk. I would catch fluke app 16" off he jetty by Gosman's Dock. More Blow fish and Mackerel than I could count. Caught my first Stripper by the Light house. Cooked Lobster tail was 50 cents a pound. If the deep sea guys brought in less than 15 sharks and swordfish it was a slow day. I have two memories that stand out. First was when Frank Mundus harpooned a record Great White that was feeding on a whale. When it was on the dock it struck me that it was as big around as a nearby VW Bug. Second was a gentleman that had a Giant Tuna stuck in the back of his station wagon. When asked he said they were selling it for cat food. Nobody ate them. Getting back to the picture. The nice thing about Blues when they school up they're all the same size. That fish has 300 of his same size buddies under the boat. Good times! My son lost his first Stripper off that jetty and has been after him ever since. Maybe I'll change his name to Ahab.

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from Tricia Sohanic wrote 34 weeks 3 days ago

Great job Andrew! Cant believe your variety of catch last week.
Giant blues, giant sea bass, giant eel, sea robin, burglars, and even a gull. that is amazing...great stuff

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from Koldkut wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Steve, Eric made well and sure that I knew to stay away from it's mouth, he reminded me at least a half-dozen times in rapid succession when I was getting the fish for the pictures. Those two guys are like brothers. Totally sucked that we could not find that school again after those last few fish.

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from Koldkut wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

And I'm trying to find a way to get back there before the new year. The vacation time and money are not an issue, and the ol' lady is all about me going back.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from mike0714 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

As a kid i spent my summers between the AZ mountains and the family place out on Montauk. fluke, stripers and blues. haven't been back in a few years. i still say pound for pound blues are one of the hardest hitting fish. great to see someone else getting big blues.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Carl Huber wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Mike0714; I also spent my childhood out in Montauk. I would catch fluke app 16" off he jetty by Gosman's Dock. More Blow fish and Mackerel than I could count. Caught my first Stripper by the Light house. Cooked Lobster tail was 50 cents a pound. If the deep sea guys brought in less than 15 sharks and swordfish it was a slow day. I have two memories that stand out. First was when Frank Mundus harpooned a record Great White that was feeding on a whale. When it was on the dock it struck me that it was as big around as a nearby VW Bug. Second was a gentleman that had a Giant Tuna stuck in the back of his station wagon. When asked he said they were selling it for cat food. Nobody ate them. Getting back to the picture. The nice thing about Blues when they school up they're all the same size. That fish has 300 of his same size buddies under the boat. Good times! My son lost his first Stripper off that jetty and has been after him ever since. Maybe I'll change his name to Ahab.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Tricia Sohanic wrote 34 weeks 3 days ago

Great job Andrew! Cant believe your variety of catch last week.
Giant blues, giant sea bass, giant eel, sea robin, burglars, and even a gull. that is amazing...great stuff

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from buckhunter wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Kold, That is a beautiful fish. I am so jealous.

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from 357 wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

awesome fish

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from HeidelbergJaeger wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Jealous of the fish, jealous of the home location! I am a displaced Denver Broncos fan. What a game last night. If I ever get to Colorado again, I'll want to go fishing up near Granby / Grand Lake or go hunting for a nice Colorado Bull Elk!

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from timromano wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

bad ass. Nice work Andrew.

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from Ron Poehailos wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

Nice catch, Andrew. Must have been a great fight on a fly! Glad you got a taste of the salt -- coming back soon?

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from DSMbirddog wrote 34 weeks 5 days ago

That must have been a great day for all of you. Congrats Koldcut on hooking up with Joe and Eric! Nice fish guys.

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from deanlikes2fish wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Awesome!!

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from steve182 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

I have caught Bluefish that size but never on the fly. Nice catch. Watch your fingers.

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from tkbone wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

That's a hoss! Congrats! Caught some good blues in the teens up there last fall on conventional tackle when striper fishing and can't imagine the thrill of landing one on a fly.

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from dleurquin wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

That is one nice looking fish. And caught on a fly rod. Yesss!!!

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from Mokaphyyr wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Yeah, Koldcut has that effect oh fishing, even in his youth.

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from steve182 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Koldcut, back in my Striper bridgefishing days i watched many a bluefish snap at the seagulls that were on the surface under the lights. Seen many a onefooted gull. Not sure if that one did it, but when they snap, it souds like a beartrap, especially that size.

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from nuclear_fisher wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

Nice job koldkut. I don't know anything about bluefish but that's a beast of a fish.

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from mike0714 wrote 34 weeks 4 days ago

As a kid i spent my summers between the AZ mountains and the family place out on Montauk. fluke, stripers and blues. haven't been back in a few years. i still say pound for pound blues are one of the hardest hitting fish. great to see someone else getting big blues.

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.