I would say it's a stretch. I had a charter yesterday during which we caught spotted seatrout to 24 inches, pompano and redfish to 32. The last fish of the day was a 15-pound jack crevalle, which easily outfought any fish we'd caught. It was no contest.
I'll take jacks 10 pounds and up all day long.
Last year, I had a fellow from Marietta, Ga., out and we experienced some slow fishing in bad weather conditions. Late in the day, I saw a massive wake coming toward us. Only trouble was there were no boats around. So, I figured it had to be fish.
My client hooked up and we knew it was a monster fish. He nearly ran out of line, but managed to work the fish in nicely. After about 40 minutes, the line went slack. I thought the fish had worn through the leader, but the jig's hook had straightened.
I waded back to the kayak to re-rig, but instead grabbed a heavier rod with a topwater plug. When I got back to the spot, I saw the wake about 300 yards away and heading toward us. When the fish got near enough, I chunked the plug their way and hooked up immediately.
I handed the rod to my client and he held on. We ended up getting spooled for the first time in my life.
I got a good look at the fish in the school. They were jacks in the 25-pound range.
Bluegill? Hardly.
Big jacks are some of the toughest customers in the salt.