Reviewing the photos of last summer this fine specimen of a jack cravelle caught my attention. The proper name is Cravelle Jack, Caranx hippos in scientific binomial nomenclature. My nephew, nicknamed Haas (as in Cartwright), was very proud and exhausted following a lengthy battle. We were fishing southwest of Perdido Pass in Orange Beach, Alabama. The bridge is located on the horizon between the (4) condos on the left and the (1) on the right. Thunder Bay Fishing Team were trolling for king mackeral with 30 pound tackle. Terminal gear included feather dusters of various coloration with cigar minnow rigs on 108 pound leaders. Kings are "toothy" and monofilament will not stand up to the king bite. I always drag a tuna teaser with 50 pound tackle well behind the king spread for the occasssional strike of something much larger. Humidity was very high on this July morning and Haas was sweating bullets, in reality to the point of "heat stress", following the battle on the Penn International II 50 TW and Penn Tuna Stick rod. Jacks are the stronger of the fish species in the Gulf of Mexico for its size class, comparable to Amber Jacks which are found in deeper waters. These fish will strip drag and turn sideways in the water column. Its like reeling a 4'x8' sheet of plywood. The best way to save time with jack cravelle is backing down with the boat as with the pelagic species like marlin and tuna. The "king corridor" is about 7 miles southwest of the Perdido Pass. We typically pick up a limit of kings within a few hours in the 40-45 feet depth while trolling parallel to the beach. After reaching the limit we spot for birds, downsize to 20 pound tackle, and target spanish mackeral. Bonita will wreak havoc on Penn 750 spinning reels and usually we run the fish with the boat to preserve the line spool. The Orange Beach charter fleet and most locals fish for the bottom species, red snapper. However, in past years season limits have decreased and fish size minimums have increased to eliminate overfishing the snapper population. There is much controversy over the seasonal regulations and the economic affect on the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach economy. We enjoy trolling for "smokers", i.e. kings that can smoke the drag on Penn 4/0 reels. These fish are very good eating. Note: the larger kings have been determined by marine scientists to contain a high mercury content. Read local advisories regarding a safe size of king mackeral for table fair. If you are interested in marine science I would like to suggest the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Guy Harvey Research Institute. Dr. Harvey's blog is listed on this site under "My Blog List". He has dedicated his life to marine conservation and remains the renowned artist of marine fauna and flora. Sales of his artwork fund his science institutions. The attached photo was taken with my cell phone. Regretably, the quality is not good. Typical coloration of jack cravelle includes beautiful shades of yellow.
