Florida Sport Fishing - Crushing Crevalle

Home

Featured Articles

Crushing Crevalle

Written by Captain Marc Noe

JIGGY WITH JACKS AS SEEN IN THE MARCH/APRIL 2007 ISSUE

Who says getting’ jiggy with jacks isn’t a ton of fun!

Though no professional would ever dare say, “Let’s go crevalle fishing today,” anyone who has ever found themselves smack dab in the middle of a jack feeding frenzy, will readily admit that pound for pound, crevalle are one of the toughest fighters found anywhere!

jack crevalle

You should know that the jack family encompasses nearly 200 sub-species. One of the most common and easily recognized is the star of this particular show, the crevalle jack. Crevalle are versatile, underwater killing machines capable of thriving in brackish backcountry waters, rivers and creeks, to high salinity coastal estuaries and beaches - and every point in-between. Crevalle move on their own schedules and according to their own wishes. They may turn up anywhere and at any time. Simply put, they make their own rules!

With that said, what the crevalle lacks in friendliness, it makes up for in looks. Crevalle are beautifully painted with shimmering silver bodies glowing with a bluish-green hue. Their backs are often green while their bellies are almost always golden in color. Crevalle’s soft dorsal and anal fins are almost identical in size helping it dart after baitfish efficiently and accurately. Distinguishing black marks compliment their gill plates and base of each pectoral fin. With elongated, slightly compressed bodies full of muscle, they are full of pulling power. Large eyes and a blunt snout give the menacing fish a threatening, bulldoggish appearance. Their expression seems to say, “You Want Some More of Me?”

Currently, the state record crevalle tipped the scales somewhere in the neighborhood of 57 pounds and was close to four feet in length – a true beast of a fish! Few of us will ever encounter an extraordinary specimen of this size, but more than likely if you fish in Florida waters for very long, you will come face-to-face with double-digit crevalle nearing and potentially exceeding the 20 pound mark. Crevalle this size are thrilling for anglers of all skill levels due to the determined fighter’s unwillingness to surrender, even when brought boat side for release.

fishing for jack crevalle

Jack in the box:

Crevalle can be crushed in many different venues across the state, and throughout the entire year. My experience has proven that almost every coastal region has a population of resident fish that range to 20 pounds. Typically during the spring through fall, crevalle enter coastal bays and estuaries from deep Atlantic and Gulf waters as they closely follow bait migrations. These visiting fish add to the fun and create even more opportunities for exciting encounters.

During the later part of last year, many of my clients had the opportunity to experience this added action first-hand. For two months straight, like clock-work during the outgoing tide along the edges of the shipping channel in Tampa Bay, acre size schools of 5 to 15 pound crevalle churned the surface of the water into a foamy froth in their seemingly never-ending feeding frenzies. After a full-day of chasing redfish, snook and trout on the flats and back in the mangroves, my guests battled hard-fighting crevalle after hard-fighting crevalle. Many had never seen such a sight with jacks packed so tightly together that their backs were literally exposed as they competed for food; it was a savage sight to say the least!

Not all crevalle encounters will be as dramatic as the picture I just painted, but locating the hot action is not much harder than searching for areas of churning white water. There is no doubt that there will be birds of all sizes scooping up the scraps that the jack leave in their oily wake as the piranha-like predators tenaciously destroy every baitfish in their path. This sort of exciting top-water action occurs daily in bays and harbors around the entire perimeter of the state from Pensacola to Jacksonville.

fishing for jack fish Smaller numbers of crevalle are notorious for crashing seawalls and river banks as they herd baitfish into tight areas with little to no escape. Being in the right place at the right time when this chaos ensues is the key to connecting. The fast moving pods have a bad habit of creating a big commotion one minute, and then disappearing just as fast, only to pop up again further down the canal or river system as they continue their pursuit. However, crevalle are not unwise - they revisit selective ambush points time after time.

Along the many inland waterways, inlets and passes on both sides of the state, especially those with jetties, are key focal points where crevalle regularly patrol for their next easy meal. These areas provide steady tidal flow, thus an array of food sources. During migratory baitfish runs, crevalle encounters again come easy as they frantically break the water’s surface in pursuit of their prey up and down the beaches. Anchoring over near-shore wrecks, reefs and rock piles is yet another option, one that often produces multiple species of jack that are there feeding on shrimp, scaled sardines and threadfin herring. In fact, most of the time, you don’t have to look for crevalle at all - they find you!

Jack Prep 101:

Choosing which rod, reel and line combination that is ‘right’ for doing battle with jacks, depends on what size fish you expect to encounter in your particular area. Often, the ‘right’ equipment is what’s closet at hand. Regardless, in an effort to narrow down the appropriate gear for newcomers to the sport, let’s break crevalle into three distinct size categories.

Small jacks – 1- to 8 pounds

-Seven foot medium action graphite or composite spinning outfit loaded w/200 yards of 12 lb braid. Twenty-four inches of 20 lb fluorocarbon leader will suffice for the ongoing back and forth battles. An eight-weight is the fly rod of choice for subduing jack this size.

Medium jacks - 8- to 20 pounds

-Step up to a 6 1/2 foot medium/heavy action spinning outfit loaded w/300 yards of 20 lb. braid. Increase leader strength to 30 lb. Long-stickers will appreciate the added backbone of a ten-weight which will help even the odds with these brutally strong fish.

Large jacks – 20- to 40-pounds

Break out the six foot, heavy action spinning rod w/300 plus yards of 40 lb braid. Leader strength should be 50 lb. A twelve-weight fly rod is the right choice when attempting to restrain crevalle of this hefty size. In all cases for the fly angler, since most of the encounters will take place close to the surface, floating, sink-tip and intermediate lines will be the way to go. This class of crevalle is the meanest of the bunch and will make powerful runs in their relentless effort to let you know that they are in total control.

Bait Busters:

jack crevalle baits

Selecting bait to entice crevalle is not very complicated since they devour most anything smaller than they are. Live bait options include pinfish, pilchards, threadfins, Spanish sardines, mullet and more. They do like a chase, so the friskier the offering, the better! As a rule, match your hook size to your bait.

Artificials are very effective as well, and range from small jigs and soft-plastics to diving, suspending or surface plugs. It really does not matter what you toss in front of a hungry school of crevalle as long as it is moving erratically and it has a hook in it, you’ll surely connect! Do your best to match the hatch, meaning match your lure size or fly pattern to the color and size of the prevalent baitfish in the area. This step alone will increase the number of hook-ups and subsequent battles you will enjoy throughout the day.

No one can debate that the crevalle is a formidable adversary – one that should not be overlooked on your next inshore mission. You might just get so ‘jacked up’ on the excitement of it all, that you completely forget about chasing after the more glamorous species that often steal the headlines of area fishing reports and shallow water tournaments.

Recipe with a story:

I know. Many of you are thinking a recipe for jacks, what recipe? I once felt the same way until just this past October. I had three out-of-town clients aboard who were filling their Florida fishing fix with mid-size jack after jack for well over an hour. Before it was all over, they asked if jacks were any good to eat. I told them, as I had told many others in the past, these fish had a strong flavor with dark red meat that most anglers looking for a tasty meal didn’t bother with. Well, they thought they would enjoy trying it, as strong-tasting fish was not a problem for them. I was not so sure how this was all going to play out once we returned to the dock and ultimately the cleaning table. As luck would have it, none of my guide buddies were around to witness the hour of jack filleting. The most select choices of the fillet made it into plastic baggies and an ice-filled cooler for the trip home. We parted ways that afternoon and they said they would be in touch to book another trip, and that was that.

Sure enough, the guy who booked the trip called me the next evening after dinner. I was expecting him to scold me for allowing him to take the fillets home. But, to my utter surprise, he was a happy camper who went on and on about how tasty his fish dinner was. So, like you, I had to inquire exactly how he prepared such a great feast from a fish that most of us wouldn’t dream of preparing. Well, here it is… they marinated the fillets in milk. I’ve since given it a shot myself and low and behold, lemon, butter, garlic and seasonings to taste, and grilled jack is nothing to shy away from!