The thug materialized with shocking swiftness from beneath the seaplane ramp and made a beeline for the scad I had on, which had eaten a Gotcha I had tossed into its school. My 8-weight cringed and awaited the inevitable impact, the resulting fight from which I expected to last about three seconds, given the size of the hook on the Gotcha and the size of the AJ. But you never know what is going to happen while fly fishing, and somehow the little hook found its way out of the scad and into the corner of the 12-pound amberjack's mouth.

Many 12-pound game fish can be handled quite easily with an 8-weight, but the AJs of Midway Atoll aren't your normal or average game fish. Like the rest of the game fish around this remarkable central Pacific atoll, they seem to be on some kind of drug, maybe methamphetamine, which gives them ungodly strength and plenty of gumption to go along with it. Or maybe they are just crazy. In any case, I knew when I saw the beast coming for that scad that I was about to bear witness to an outright assault the likes of which forage species fear greatly. I am sure I saw the scad faint a moment before impact.

Luck and skill combined that late-May morning to allow me to get that AJ to the side of the boat for a quick release after a 10-minute fight. I didn't know it at the time, but there was another AJ waiting for its turn, which would come right after Adam Williams and I ate lunch. (Catching game fish all morning on Midway tends to make one very, very hungry.)

So, after shoveling some groceries down our gullets, we again appeared at Capt. William "Bamboo" McCue's 22-foot Glacier Bay catamaran in the boat basin and motored over to the seaplane ramp. The scad were there, as were many other potential victims of the AJs hiding under the lip of the ramp, but I doubted that the scene could somehow replay itself. I sent a fly toward the scad and, sure enough, one at it. I just about had it to the boat when a streaking shadow from beneath the ramp again homed in on the hapless scad and nailed it broadside, but this time the hook didn't gain a purchase in the AJ's maw. Of course, that didn't stop the 8-pound AJ from hanging onto the scad for five minutes. Yes, I fought the AJ even while it wasn't hooked. It just didn't want to let go of its lunch.

Wait. It gets better.

I had the AJ alongside the boat when, from beneath the boat, here comes a 15-pound AJ, which comes up alongside the smaller AJ, eyes it up, and then attempts to swallow it head first.

Now, a 15-pound AJ isn't big enough to eat an 8-pound AJ, but that fact didn't phase the bigger fish at all. It tried three times to get its little brother into its mouth, then gave up when it came to grips with the sad fact that there was no way it was going to swallow so big a meal.

Welcome to Midway, where the word assailant takes on a whole new meaning.

Feed Me!

Like the perpetually famished plant in "Little Shop of Horrors," the amberjack of Midway want to eat and eat well, all of the time. They aren't all that picky about what they eat, just as long as whatever you show them looks more or less real and tasty. I think the reason for their super-aggressive feeding behavior is the extreme competition among the game fish here. With so many game fish in the water, including several species of shark, four species of trevally (ulua), uku, grouper, kawakawa, ahi and the rest of the gang, the game fish that doesn't move instantly and assertively to eat is going to miss out. It is that simple. You snooze, you lose.

No better example of this can be seen than what happens when the daily fish-feeding show goes down at the boat basin. Beneath the docks are great hoards of oftentimes huge giant trevally (120 pounds or so), amberjack (kahala; some in the 80-pounds-plus range for sure) and thick-lipped trevally (butuguchi). When leftover chum is tossed into the placid waters between the docks, the surface erupts as if someone pulled the pins on a dozen fragmentation grenades and lobbed them in. Shove your hand in the water at this time and it will immediately be inhaled, along with the lower half of your arm. Seriously. You might get some of it back if someone helps you quickly enough.

The speed these fish maneuver at is astonishing. Like I said, you have to be fast if you want to eat. This fact, and Midway's amazing number of game fish and all the species thereabouts, is why anglers from all over the world come to Midway.

Just About Everywhere

There's a variety of structure and habitats around Midway, including a massive lagoon with coral heads scattered about the sandy bottom, the reef that forms the perimeter of the lagoon, docks & piers, seawalls, a derelict barge, natural and manmade points, manmade FADs (fish-attracting devices), the aforementioned seaplane ramp, rocks and humps in deeper water, buoys and so on. The only place I haven't seen AJs is out in the middle of the lagoon on the broad, sandy stretches of bottom, so most places you fish can and often do hold amberjack.

There's no telling how big the AJ is going to be. The smallest I have caught went around 8 pounds or so, and the largest I have seen caught was a beast of nearly 60 pounds taken by Adam Williams while jigging near a FAD. However, AJs weighing about 90 pounds (and then some) are all over, with some of the biggest being right in the boat basin, but those are nearly impossible to catch because (1) you can't fish from the boat docks (to do so is like shooting fish in a barrel) and (2) even if you could lure a big one out from the docks by teasing it out (from a free-floating boat) and then casting to it, it is nigh onto impossible to stop such a fish from running right back under the docks and cutting you off. I was able to pull that stunt off just once (in May of 2000) and knew I had been very lucky to get the 50-pound AJ into the boat.

Tackle and Tactics

For spinning gear, use a medium-weight fast-action rod rated for at least 17-pound-test line for sight casting (you can select the size of the AJ), but go heavier if you can't see the fish because it could easily weight more than 50 pounds and you're going to need a stouter rod and heavier line. PowerPro braided line (www.powerpro.com) works well in many cases, as does Stren Hi-Vis Gold (www.stren.com). Whatever reel you select, it must have super capacity and a serious drag. I really like Shimano's Baitrunner reels (www.shimano.com), which performed very well on Midway's AJs. Surface plugs, jigs and crankbaits all work. You can't use cut bait inside the lagoon, so bring some Jack's Juice (www.jacksjuice.com) with you and spray your lures with it. The scent can make a big difference.

Level-wind reels are good for jigging and trolling. Load them up with at least 30-pound-test line.

PHOTO 10 HERE: Never give up! Stay the course and one of these will be yours.

On the fly, I suggest you go no lighter than a 10-weight, with a 12-weight being even better. Fly Logic's FLO+ (www.flylogic.com) series of rods impress me quite a bit. Floating and intermediate lines are all you need. Beef up your leaders! Deceivers, Superclousers, poppers and Chum flies in 2/0 to 5/0 are good. A Ross Canyon Big Game reel (www.rossreels.com) is a superior choice for its good drag and capacity. If you are not a purist, spray your flies with Jack's Juice, too, but remember that this is against IGFA rules, so any potential record you catch will be nullified. Teasing with hookless surface plugs ripped through a chum line can really excite the AJs, which will usually mangle the first fly they see near them after they have had a go at the teaser.

Getting Going

Ready to go? Hit www.fishdive.com to begin your Midway AJ adventure. Tell the AJs I sent you.