can anyone tell me how far you would have to go to find amberjack in miles and how deep the water would have to be. What method you would use to catch them???

Best method is always live bait, the bigger the better. Blue runner, green mackerel, piggy perch etc. on a single dropper loop with a heavy-duty circle hook works every time.

I would think you'd want at least 150' deep water, but honestly not sure of the minimum distance from shore.

ok thanks Zeek Im going out of portA on a 21 ft bay boat sounds a little far for me.

Buddy of mine was 32 miles out this past weekend and came in with a boat load.

bigdtbone,

Yes that is far for a 21' bay, I have done it but would not do it without a buddy boat. Have not seen to many bay boats with dual engines, so don't take the chance. Realize that now is the "of" season, so if you are in trouble out there, you will not have much help...

Gl when you go and stay safe............

I went last weekend for 3 days out 80 miles, we killed them, I used porgy perch for bait, about 6-7" live on 14/0 circle hooks with about 4' of 400# nylon coated cable leader with a large swivel connecting it to my main line, 350 yds of #80mono fishing with an AVET Pro30w reel on a Senator 9/0 rod. I have used this combo many times and its 100% for me. I will be going back in Nov. I have only had 1 bite off with this setup in yrs, probably from a very used leader that should have been trashed. I also had very good luck with sharks on this trip also. In Aug I fished this same leader setup with my Penn 9/0 in 900' water and did excellent #100 mono on the 9/0. For kings I used to troll with 4-5' of #80 wire leader with 8-9/0 hooks freelined with no weight or 1oz bass bullet weight fished with a Senator 6/0 with 500yds of #50 mono.
I used to fish out of Freeport and caught my best AJ's about 25-30 miles out with this same setup with Senator reels.

I usually look for wrecks or structure on my Garmin, I find the fish marking about 20-30 feet above it. Drop a big live bait down there and hold on!

careful what you wish for

This is a decent fishing report, thanks

Big baits, big hooks, big line. Lock the reel down and use the boat to pull them away from the structure.

Yes, you can take a 21ft out far enough, but going this time of year is sketchy at best. With the storms that pop up unexpectedly that boat will seem really small. Now in aug/sept when the wind isn't blowing... Go for it. I know some guys that take a 21 ft boat out to Falcon/dutra/dumping grounds bill fishing from Port A. You just have to know your range of the boat and have plenty of experience out there in case anything were to go wrong.

50 miles out of Rockport you can get into em.

go to falcon 57 sm from port o connor 386'deep use big live bait drop right on rigs corners bam!

Wow, Falcon is pretty far for a bay boat. I have heard that it is 60 miles from POC. That would be a bit scary for my 21' bay boat.