Can anyone tell me the easiest way to tell the difference between a Juvenile King and a Spanish Mac and what's the size limits? I'm always worried when I think I'm catching Spanish Macs because I've always heard Juvenile Kings look almost identical and I believe there's a big difference in the size limits.
Small young kings can have spots. Since juvenile macs and kings do look alot alike a trick I tell my guys at work, if they aren't sure, is to take a look at the lateral line. On kings the line drops pretty rapidly below the 2nd dorsal, on the spanish macs the lateral line curve slopes pretty evenly downward.
One time I caught a huge spanish mac while we were catching kingfish offshore. It had dots but they were faded and hard to see. I called it a spanish but the captain corrected me. Since then I have come to the conclusion it was a spansh of about 15 lbs.
However, I have heard some people say that juvenile kingfish have spots. But, like Ray said, he has caught small ones without spots.
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