# fish ID ? ....



## FLAN (Aug 16, 2005)

I caught a half dozen of these cute little fish Sunday at the north jetty.

They were all about 6" long, and hit a spoon on nearly every cast.

Does anyone know what they are? Are they good for bait?

thanks, Flan


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## goatruckman (Apr 16, 2006)

ive always called those yellow tails..... they got some pointy lil fins that will ***** the heck outa you when you try and grab em. i cought a few today walkin the rocks past the boat cut today.


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## jared_simonetti (Jul 17, 2006)

that is a fish we call a skip jack or leather jack dont touch the dorsal fin i catch alot of them in florida when i am netting bait


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## quackersmacker (Jun 15, 2005)

leather jack

http://www.acfishing.com/fishid/leatherjack.gif


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## txjoker (Jun 21, 2005)

Do people use them for bait?


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## SpookJr (Jul 30, 2004)

In FL if there are no pilchards/goggle eyes/threadfins I sometimes use them for snook and tarpon. They're really not the number one choice, but they are hardy baits. They are considered pest on the sabikis.


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## Hou-Chap (Nov 10, 2004)

I've always heard them referred to as "Skip Jacks"...


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## 9-Lives (Jul 9, 2006)

Skip jacks are all the same color....tails and fins a bit darker...


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## haparks (Apr 12, 2006)

*some one pm me and tell me what the dorsal fin will do to u ---is it like a hard head-- they make my hand go numb when i gotten hit*


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## Sponge (Jun 22, 2004)

They are leather jacks!


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## crtarpon (May 11, 2005)

Leather jacks and I've had them on for hours as bait without any takers.


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## JWJBigfish (Jul 29, 2004)

We use those for bait offshore, we catch them with sabiki rigs at the near shore platforms. They are very hardy and are excellent live bait for sow snapper, amberjack, ling or any pelagic I can think of. They have fins as sharp as hypodemic needles and can be tricky to handle, we use a rag. One jumped in my boat at the jetty the other night and finned my palm pretty good when I tried to toss him overboard. It hurts but doesn't last long. It won't do any permanent damage. Bigfish


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## Redfishr (Jul 26, 2004)

Try to run a hook through their backs and you'll see why they call them Leather Jacks.
Their little fin hurts like a hard head stick.


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## lone star (Aug 4, 2004)

*snapper blues*

These seem to be what we call blufish on the east coast. Their big and mean as far south as northern fla, then they don't get much over 12 inches thru the gulf. We've hit schools while tuna fishing that hit 20 lbs or so. The large blue water fish (like tuna) feed on these en masse as the schools can go far miles. Somewhere back I saw a saltwater sportsman series of pictures caught with a fast action camera that had a 500 lb blufin tuna porpoising out of the water , chasing and nailing a big 20 lb bluefish in mid air. Outragous!! 
When they are this size they are referred to as snapper blues, and they are known to tear the feeder fish into a frothing mess. We used to work the schools with spoons and streamer flys just like we do feeding trout down here. These have sharp-*** teeth too. They hit the swivel before the leader just like a mack. In the Phillipines we got them even smaller. We'd gut and scale them put em on a stick along the backbone and roast them against the fire. Not bad if you soak the hell out of them w/ soy sauce first. Keep 'em tight fellas. G


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## EchoDuck Jr. (Jul 16, 2004)

they do hurt... never caught anything with em' but i only used them once.


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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)

I caught one on a spoon in the surf the other day. I was trying to get a grip on him and like the others mentioned, I had a dorsal fin in my finger. It hurt like hell, I couldnt fish for 15 minutes b/c my finger was numb.




Skipjacks look more like ladyfish.


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## Aggieangler (May 28, 2004)

So these are definitely different than the ones we catch in the bay that we call ladyfish. They don't have a yellow tail or that prickly spine. We also call them skipjacks.


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## FALCO (Aug 25, 2005)

hey lonestar i think u getting confused the leather backs dont get big at all u siad u called the bluefish but bluefish are completly differetn i dn i dont live on the east coast but i think u might be confused. As for bait there has been plenty of times were i was trying to catch kings and bonita with spoons and these little guys would swim with the kings and bonita and come up and grab the spoon and the kings act like there not even there so if that says anything i dont think there good for bait


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## lordbater (May 21, 2004)

I believe I've heard them called butter tails before.
I've caught nice snapper with them..


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## rotti (May 12, 2006)

We caught about 8 or 10 a few weeks ago the night before we headed offshore. Figured they would be great live bait.....we were wrong! I finally had one hit on one of them and the fish (prob a king) spit the bait. At one point we were in a school of snapper (bottom fishing) and I decided to drop one down. On the average drop w/ a cigar minnow or squid....it took about 10 seconds to get a bite.....after 5 minutes I pull this "leatherjack" up and figure it may work better as cut bait.....drop it back down and notta! I did get about a 2" cut across my palm trying to catch one in the livewell though!!!


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## Lav20 (Mar 22, 2005)

lone star said:


> These seem to be what we call blufish on the east coast. Their big and mean as far south as northern fla, then they don't get much over 12 inches thru the gulf. We've hit schools while tuna fishing that hit 20 lbs or so. The large blue water fish (like tuna) feed on these en masse as the schools can go far miles. Somewhere back I saw a saltwater sportsman series of pictures caught with a fast action camera that had a 500 lb blufin tuna porpoising out of the water , chasing and nailing a big 20 lb bluefish in mid air. Outragous!!
> When they are this size they are referred to as snapper blues, and they are known to tear the feeder fish into a frothing mess. We used to work the schools with spoons and streamer flys just like we do feeding trout down here. These have sharp-*** teeth too. They hit the swivel before the leader just like a mack. In the Phillipines we got them even smaller. We'd gut and scale them put em on a stick along the backbone and roast them against the fire. Not bad if you soak the hell out of them w/ soy sauce first. Keep 'em tight fellas. G


That ain't no bluefish. Bluefish are much uglier, usually have a 5 o' clock shadow, wear wife beaters and don't have yellow tails. Sort of a silvery/grey color. Like Kingfish meat.


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## Brian Constantine (Jul 12, 2004)

That is not anything closely related to a Bluefish. Catch a few 20 pounders off Wasque on Marthas Vineyard and you'll know what a Bluefish is!


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## lone star (Aug 4, 2004)

These seem to be of the blufish family. They have the same shape, tenacity and mouthgear of the northeast version, although they don't get big here. I've never caught them any bigger than this in the gulf. It seems from florida down around the bend to texas they stay small. We used to nail the big boys in bait shredding melays under birds while searching for tuna. From maine to the carolinas they can get to 20 lbs. from there south they shrink. I've seen schools miles wide with tuna feeding on them. Real cool!! G


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## reddrum (Aug 11, 2005)

*Leatherjack ID*

Here is a pic of the leatherjack (_*Oligoplites saliens*)_

They are in the Carangidae family with jacks and pompanos


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Aggieangler said:


> So these are definitely different than the ones we catch in the bay that we call ladyfish. They don't have a yellow tail or that prickly spine. We also call them skipjacks.


Right u are.... I like to call them poormans tarpon.


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## bobber (May 12, 2005)

reddrum said:


> Here is a pic of the leatherjack (_*Oligoplites saliens*)_
> 
> They are in the Carangidae family with jacks and pompanos


Dang, thats what jumped into my motor well fishing a few weeks ago at SLP. Thought it was a shad so tried grabing it. Ouch!! Ouchie lasted 15 minutes. Tried it for bait and notta!


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Lonestar
i live on the East Coast and that is not a Bluefish. They don't have yellow tails.


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