We welcomed Captain Bear Smith as our guest speaker for the October 7th meeting. Topic: Spanish Mackerel
After the ladies settled into their seats for the next hour, Capt. Bear Smith began his presentation by introducing himself and telling us a little bit about his charter services. www.commonhooker.com. He didn't waste any time, though, jumping right into the topic at hand: Spanish Mackerel, immediately following his introduction.
Catching Spanish Mackerel, Capt. Bear said, isn't rocket science, which means there's no stealth style involved, no special technique used, no silly "be very quiet" rules. They're an easy species to lure and catch if they're in the neighborhood, but not so easy to keep on the line once hooked. >We'll get into that a little later<. They are one of the few pelagic species that actually come close enough to shore for inshore anglers to catch during certain times of the year which is early Spring when they're migrating north, and early Fall when they're migrating back south. They are one of the most fight-worthy fish out there.
After this brief overview, he went over several subjects such as identification, rigging, how to prepare them for cooking and then he opened the floor for Q & A.
First things first though: In order to be able to identify a Spanish Mackerel when you catch it, you have to recognize the distinctive features that separate it from similar looking fish, like Cero and King Mackerel. Capt. Smith taught us how to do just that. Because of their shape, they are a very speedy fish that can dart and slash and switch directions in a split second. They are easily excited by the smell of bait in the water and can be worked into a frenzy under the right circumstances within a matter of seconds. This is one of the reasons they are so exciting to catch.
After this brief overview, he went over several subjects such as identification, rigging, how to prepare them for cooking and then he opened the floor for Q & A.
First things first though: In order to be able to identify a Spanish Mackerel when you catch it, you have to recognize the distinctive features that separate it from similar looking fish, like Cero and King Mackerel. Capt. Smith taught us how to do just that. Because of their shape, they are a very speedy fish that can dart and slash and switch directions in a split second. They are easily excited by the smell of bait in the water and can be worked into a frenzy under the right circumstances within a matter of seconds. This is one of the reasons they are so exciting to catch.
One of the "distinguishing features" that he made an extra effort to emphasize was the set of teeth this species has, strongly encouraging us to keep our fingers as far away from the mouth of this fish as possible - for obvious reasons. We may not get that finger back if we're not careful! Because their teeth are as sharp as razors, they can slice right through a monofilament line or leader while speeding away with your lure or bait without you ever realizing they were there in the first place until it's too late. For this reason the Capt. recommended using a piece of tackle that he refuses to use for most other targeted species because it is a repellant for most fish and that is the dreaded "wire leader". But you'll definitely need this if you really have your heart set on boating a Spanish Mackerel. It's one of the few lines that their teeth can't cut right through. DO NOT waste a good, high-end lure trying to catch a Mackerel, you'll only loose it in the end.
If you are planning on targeting this fish, one of the easiest and fastest way to attract them is to toss out a little nasty to us but delicious to them chum. You can literally attract a school of 100 or more doing this. Be aware that this will also attract other fish as well. Fish you may not be so excited to catch, like catfish, ladyfish and jacks. But you gotta take the bad with the good. It's the chance you take when tossing chum. On the bright side, though, ladyfish and jacks are really sometimes as much fun to catch as Spanish Mackerel. Catfish? - Well...not so much!
These fish are constantly moving and zipping through the water at a high rate of speed attacking unsuspecting bait fish that simply can't outswim them. Unlike a trout or redfish which can chill-out in one spot for hours at a time, Mackerel are never in one place for very long and can't be still for even a second. They have to be constantly on the move. They want their bait moving and they want to chase it down. It's just part of their DNA. A lot of Spanish Mackerel hook-ups happen purely by accident, fishing for trout, retrieving line at double-speed and catching their attention in the process.
Capt. Smith then moved on to a review of tackle. He recommended, and uses himself, light tackle. In fact it's the same set up he uses for catching trout, a 4000 series reel on medium-heavy 7 ft rod. He first starts to search for them by using a lure that will attract them visually, such as a spoon. He won't actively work the spoon by hand, but instead he'll troll with it, just casting it out in the distance, putting the rod in a rod-holder at the back of the boat, and letting the spoon slowly flutter and flash underneath the water as he moves forward at a steady pace. When he notices several consecutive strikes on the lure, then he'll stop and toss out a bit of chum and he doesn't have to wait long for a reaction to that. That's when the fun begins.
These fish are constantly moving and zipping through the water at a high rate of speed attacking unsuspecting bait fish that simply can't outswim them. Unlike a trout or redfish which can chill-out in one spot for hours at a time, Mackerel are never in one place for very long and can't be still for even a second. They have to be constantly on the move. They want their bait moving and they want to chase it down. It's just part of their DNA. A lot of Spanish Mackerel hook-ups happen purely by accident, fishing for trout, retrieving line at double-speed and catching their attention in the process.
Capt. Smith then moved on to a review of tackle. He recommended, and uses himself, light tackle. In fact it's the same set up he uses for catching trout, a 4000 series reel on medium-heavy 7 ft rod. He first starts to search for them by using a lure that will attract them visually, such as a spoon. He won't actively work the spoon by hand, but instead he'll troll with it, just casting it out in the distance, putting the rod in a rod-holder at the back of the boat, and letting the spoon slowly flutter and flash underneath the water as he moves forward at a steady pace. When he notices several consecutive strikes on the lure, then he'll stop and toss out a bit of chum and he doesn't have to wait long for a reaction to that. That's when the fun begins.
Another small piece of advice the Capt. gave us when tying a spoon on is to stay away from using a shiny silver swivel and use a black one instead. The reason is that Spanish Mackerel will attack a shiny silver swivel just as frequently as they'll hit a shiny silver spoon. The problem is that if a Mackerel hits the silver swivel, it's teeth are most likely close enough to your line that it might cut that in the process. A black swivel reduces those odds.
Once he's located the Mackerel and thrown out his chum, he changes tactics. Instead of taking a chance on losing some expensive spoons, he'll cast a lure that his father and grandfather have used for many, many years, It's a ten cent home-made lure called the McDonald Straw Lure. He walked us through the steps to make one ourselves but the picture below is self explanatory. Any color of straw will do. The secret is in the straw. It'll hold tiny bubbles of air inside and once it's under water and moving with your retrieval, those bubbles will flute out of the straw, making an air reed and attracting fish in the process. Very crafty, indeed!! He suggested tying a popping cork up higher on the line just to make it easier for casting. You can actively pop the cork as it's designed to be used or just drag the lure slowly through the water, either way will work just fine.
A few anglers he's run into have actually squeezed a bit of artificial scent, like Pro-Cure, up inside the straw to make it even more attractive to a fish. That's an interesting concept as well. By doing this, they've turned it into a scented bait. But when you're fishing in the midst of a school of Spanish Mackerel, there's really no need for the added scent. They'll attack anything that's moving. It's a simple as that.
A few anglers he's run into have actually squeezed a bit of artificial scent, like Pro-Cure, up inside the straw to make it even more attractive to a fish. That's an interesting concept as well. By doing this, they've turned it into a scented bait. But when you're fishing in the midst of a school of Spanish Mackerel, there's really no need for the added scent. They'll attack anything that's moving. It's a simple as that.
Going one step further and making a slight improvement on this rig would be to purchase a clear popping cork. Mackerel can be as visually attracted to a colored popping cork as they are to the straw lure. A clear bobber reduces that distraction significantly. Check them out here and here.
Targeting and fishing for Spanish Mackerel can be done around inshore waters, 8-10 ft. deep, but they can also be caught in deeper water, like 20 ft. Bear switches to a different set-up for that environment using live shrimp instead of an artificial lure. He uses 25# fluorocarbon leader line, threading it through a 1/2 oz egg sinker, tying a loop knot to a long shank #2 hook and then slips the sinker over the loop knot covering it completely.
With a live shrimp on, he'll cast this rig out and reel it back in just the same way he fishes for trout with a jig-head and swim bait. Keeping this moving in the water by a constant retrieve will reward you with a few Spanish Mackerel if you're lucky. Letting this sink to the bottom will produce catfish. Wire leader isn't really necessary here because the length of the hook shank itself is pretty long and so acts as a substitute steel leader. You can use artificial lures here, but nothing imitates a live shrimp better than a live shrimp.
From there he went on to cover some basic regulations for keeping a Spanish Mackerel if you land one. They have to measure at least 12 inches in length from the closed mouth to the fork in their tail and you can keep as many as 12 per person. There's a reason why the bag limit is so generous, there can be as many as 1000 fish in one school.
And if Spanish Mackerel are such high energy predatory fish that feed on smaller fish, what feeds on them? Larger Mackerel, of course....like King Mackerel aka Kingfish.
So the question comes up about cooking and eating Spanish Mackerel. Capt. Smith told us that it's not a very popular fish to fillet and eat compared to other inshore and offshore species because it's an extremely oily, gamy and musky tasting fish. That being said, though, there are parts of the East Coast that embrace this type of fish. It just all comes down to the type of fish your taste buds are accustomed to. The Cero Mackerel, oddly enough, looks very much like its Spanish counterpart but has a reputation for tasting much better as does the Wahoo. His basic rule for filleting fish - any fish - is that ALL saltwater fish will be stripped of all skin, unlike freshwater fish where he wants the skin on. Fish skin from a saltwater fishery gives off a soapy taste when eaten (and I think we've all tasted that in our childhood - not a pleasant experience). He also takes time to remove the blood line of any fish he's filleting and with Mackerel in particular, he won't wait more than a day to cook it, basting it in butter or wrapping it up in cream cheese and grilling it. There are lots of recipes out there on YouTube. Just give a few of them a try and come up with your own favorite.