Triggerfish are occasional visitors to the
Maryland - Virginia coast. They may be seen
first in early summer around floating debris or basspot flags
far from land. They are often
finicky this time of year and accompanied by equally finicky dolphinfish. Locating a
bucket floating will solve this problem as the fish will swim in and you just pick up the
bucket and dump the fish in the cooler!
By mid season they are likely to be around many
wrecks, artificial reefs, floating objects, etc. By this time they are usually more voracious eaters. A small treble hook and a slice of skipjack
or dolphinfish belly will normally be attacked by groups of greedy triggers. They are great
fighters and delicious.
By late summer they can be caught bottom fishing around wrecks
from the beach out to 20 miles or so. They may even venture inside inlets,
especially around jetties, concrete pilings or rock outcrops.
Clean them by cutting their armor with a boxcutter.
Start by the vent which is the only spot soft enough to cut from the outside. Once a cut
is started, the blade will easily slice from inside out. The meat is white, firm and
excellent table fare.
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Wreck Fishing
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