Fish of the Day Bully Jacks

FISH OF THE DAY! BULLY JACKS!

The Bully jack Fish or any of the numerous species of fishes belonging to the family Jacks the most known are caught most frequently by anglers like the temperate and tropical areas of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans are Amberjacks and Jack Crevalle. The Bully Jacks body size and shape can be very different among jacks; there are literally more than 100 different Jack species. All of them have a laterally compressed body, a row of enlarged scales along the side near the tailfin, small scales resulting in a smooth appearance, and a most identifiable forked tail. Colors range from bluish green, silvery, or yellowish sheen on the body. Jacks are very fun fish to catch.

The two  most popular targets for anglers are also the mighty amberjack of  the  tropical Atlantic  and one of the largest members of the jack family, getting up to lengths  of 6 feet and 100lbs,the Jack Crevalle also of the warm Atlantic waters and the yellow jack known by its golden-yellow sides and fins.

Jack Crevalle is beautiful fish with bluish-green to greenish-gold on their backs and has silvery or yellowish bellies. Jack crevalle is often found in the surf in warmer months, when the water is green. Pound for pound, jacks have more stamina than other fish, due to their large liver and blood supply. Jack fishing is truly a war sometimes taking up to 90 minutes to land a fish that weighing only 30lbs.

The Bully Jack Crevalle fish's reputation as one of the biggest bullies in the waters is well deserved. Jack's, as most anglers call them, are almost always ready for a brawl and when you present them with jigs, bait or lures they'll often crash the party by breaking tackle and/or fishing lines in an instant.

Amberjacks, are the largest of the jacks, have dark stripes extending from nose to in front of their dorsal fins.   Amberjack usually 50lbs or less can be found around rocky reefs, debris, and wrecks, typically in 20 to 75 foot of water. The Amberjack is excellent table fare as compared to the Jack Cravalle which is not so good.

Amberjack are schoolers and feed on baitfish, squid and crabs. Tackle use 50 to 100 pound tackle, but lighter tackle can also be used in many situations. Amberjack are bullies, so you can make all the noise you want, and almost any lively baitfish will get a bite. The best bait is blue runners, pinfish, pigfish, grunts, cigar minnows and sand perch.  Always use just enough lead to keep the bait in the middle of the water column above the reef or structure so not worry about the Amberjack come they will come. Once they get fired up they will come to the surface and explode on top-water plugs, jigs, spoons and diving lures.  So have all those in your tackle box. Amberjack are extremely strong with great endurance. To avoid lost or broken tackle, it’s important to have the drag set, if you do not you will regret it!

Jacks Cravalles are must smaller than Amberjacks and not so good to eat but still a great fight when you hook one, they are fairly small and are caught mostly on light tackle by anglers fishing for other species inshore. Jack Cravalle like shallow flats like where you fish for trout and redfish and will devour almost anyl bait, live or dead, as well as lures. Jack Crevalles usually like a faster retrieve if you happen to find a school they are bullies so fish faster with top water to lures and spoons. All we can say is retrieve artificial lures fast and make noise with plugs you may be using... Topwater plugs are great when they wake up or fast-whipped jigs.