2 things-

What kind of fish is this, and is it small for it's species? Attachment 2181

And a quick story: Tues am walking halfway between the B'rooms and Octigon, older guy sitting on a bench. I hear the unmistakable sound of a rod going bye-bye and a line snap. I say "your rod just got yanked over the rail". He says... wut?

Dude is still holding the reel and bottom half of the rod in his hand, the fish took the top. Guy had baited and dropped hook before assembling the rod. Luckily he had another but TIA for fish ID.

Looks like a bar jack

Could be a small amber jack

Maybe Lesser Amberjack?

The three mentioned are what I heard from the pier guys. Just a curiosity thing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pop Jiggity

What kind of fish is this, and is it small for it's species? Attachment 2181

And a quick story: Tues am walking halfway between the B'rooms and Octigon, older guy sitting on a bench. I hear the unmistakable sound of a rod going bye-bye and a line snap. I say "your rod just got yanked over the rail". He says... wut?

Dude is still holding the reel and bottom half of the rod in his hand, the fish took the top. Guy had baited and dropped hook before assembling the rod. Luckily he had another but TIA for fish ID.

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Thanks for posting this. I caught some of these last year off the beach in Fort Morgan and I had no idea what they were. The ones I caught seemed a bit more blue in color than what you have, but the body shape and tail are very similar. They seemed like super small (like 10") tuna but I knew that wasn't the case. I studied up on my fish before I hit the beach so I would know what I was catching, but I didn't see this type of fish in anything I'd read. Even searched afterwards, but I didn't have a pic, so I couldn't be sure what I was finding was a match. I think what you have here is what we were catching (using gulp shrimp on fish finder rigs).

Do people eat these when larger size?

Amaco Jack

Looks like an amberjack or banded rudderfish. The bar jacks that I've seen and caught have a blue/purple lateral stripe. Those little AJ's (if that's what it is) swarm the east jetty at Destin through the summer. I've eaten a lot of them before there was a size limit in Fl.

Almaco jack I think. The dark bar above the eyes.

The dorsal and anal fins look a lil short to be an Almaco Jack. I'd say a Lesser Jack.

According to my Gulf fishes ID book, its a lesser amberjack. Size limit is 14-22".