The bonito has a small mouth with prominent teeth and is a grasper. For albacore fishing you can use flies or lures that have a longer body. Bonito fishing demands long shank hooks on your streamers or you will be getting short strikes all the time and not hooking up. Even though the bonito has nice dental work, there is not much call for bite leaders of any kind as they do not bite down the way a mackerel or a bluefish does. In fact, the bonito is known to be leader shy, and heavy line or wire will greatly reduce the number of strikes you get.

There are many ways to pursue Sarda Sarda, the Atlantic bonito. A real easy way is to troll for them as you would for Spanish mackerel. They will hit all the same spoons, and the same rigs will work just fine. I find, however, that the most fun and exciting way is to actively pursue schools of breaking fish. This is classic surface action. You can cast to them with spinning rods or fly tackle. A small to medium sized boat of up to 24 feet is ideal for this kind of fishing. You need something that is easy to maneuver and get around in which can accelerate and slow down quickly. Combine this with the moderate southwest breezes we receive at this time of year and it is a great opportunity for small boat anglers to get in on some action usually reserved for the big boat boys.  If you have a fiberglass, flat bottomed skiff of 18 feet or more you are going to be okay. Something with a "V" bottom is going to serve you better because there is often a nice chop running. Actually, if the weather is nice and there is a bit of breeze the fishing is often better. This is because the fish cannot see or hear the boat as well, and you will be able to get closer to them.

The inshore water temperatures reach the mid 60's sometime during the April, and that is the time to find bonito over nearshore reefs and wrecks. They seem to like structure with which to break up current. When there is bait and water in their preferred temperature range, then the bones (as they are often referred to) will be over the Liberty Ships that are right off of Masonboro Inlet. Prime time for this fishery seems to be from mid-April to mid-May with the best bites usually occurring around first light.

For the average spin fisherman, a 6 or 7 foot, light action rod is about as good as it gets for these fish. Get a reel that can hold 200 yards of 8 or 10 pound test line and you are set. Capt Rick Bennett, of Wilmington, who knows as much (or more) about catching these fish as anybody, likes to use the Luhr-Jensen Crippled Herring spoons. For casting to surfacing fish he prefers the 1/2 ounce size. Position your boat up-current of the school. DO NOT run full blast into them or cut off another boat that is getting into position. That is bad form, and you will not make any friends by "bum rushing" other boats. There are other schools. And if you miss the first one, there is sure to be a second close  behind. When the fish are down near the bottom, Capt Rick will use anything from 1/2 to two ounce spoons. He adds, "...when the fish are down and I go to jigging, I will go as heavy as a 1 1/2 oz and sometimes a 2 oz depending on conditions of wind and waves. Heavier when it is windier." Rick will have his customers vertical jig the lures just off the bottom and work them up until the fish are located. Often the schools of bonito will show on his depthfinder and then it is easy to determine what depth the fish are using. Then it is simply getting the lure into the school and a bite is often not far behind.

Make sure your reel can hold about 200 yards of backing and has a drag surface that is up to the task of handling a fish that can swim upwards of 30 miles per hour. Clouser minnows, and other slim bodied streamers like the Bulletproof Baitfish are quite effective. But don¹t get hung up on fly patterns. They will hit just about anything. Good colors include, but are not limited to; chartreuse, blue and olive. Don¹t be afraid to try something else that makes you happy. It¹s all good! A leader of about 8 feet long with a 10 pound tippet is what I normally use. However there are record size fish here and a big fish on a light tippet could put you in the books.

When you first hook a bonito your first reaction may be, "What¹s the big deal?" Don¹t be fooled. They tend to hesitate for a second before they do anything. That is when they bust loose! Bonito can swim very fast. If you are using light line you had better have your drag set correctly or you will get snapped off in a hurry! The first run may be up to 100 yards or more. It will attempt to keep up with it¹s buddies in the school. When the fish realizes it cannot do this it will then sound and begin a back and forth, see-saw type of battle. Begrudging you every inch of line you gain back. When it sees the boat the whole thing will start all over again. The second run will not be as far as the first but just about as fast. When the fish is finally ready to be landed you can grab it right by the tail. Now is the tough part. Deciding whether to keep it or put it back. You see, unlike the false albacore (Euthynnus Alliteratus), the Atlantic bonito is quite good to eat. If you decide to release it, get the hook out quickly and drop it head first into the water. If you want to keep the fish however you must get it on ice and bled out quickly. If the fish is taken care of properly on the boat you will be pleased with the results later on.

The Atlantic bonito is about as good a way that I know of to start spring fishing. If you get the word that, "The bonito are in!" Then drop everything and make arrangements to get to Wrightsville Beach or Atlantic Beach and get after them. What better way to spend an April morning than out on a boat. Through the inlet at first light. Seeing fast swimming fish, fresh from the deep ocean, blasting baitfish right out of the water in the dim light of dawn. I can¹t think of anything I'd rather be doing.

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