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Post by tolentino on Jun 18, 2017 18:16:14 GMT -5
Got to SSP in the early morning and fished till 11:00am. It was hard to catch bait all through. Totally cought 4-5 pin and 1 greenback, usually same can be cought through 1 or 2 casts. Guessed the new sabiki bought from on site bait shop didnt work well. Finally landed 1 under size grouper about 15'', 5 mackerel, few grunts and 2 unkonwn fish. Grouper, grunts and unknown fishes tossed back, 1 mackerel gave away to an unknown but very friendly buddy fished beside me. Finally kept 4 for dinner.  BTW, anyone can help with the fish ID? Pic attached. Thanks!  |
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Post by Mackerelman on Jun 18, 2017 18:36:52 GMT -5
Excellent Report by the Way. The Bottom Picture Looks Like a LEATHERJACKET. Handle those with Extreme Care. They have some Nasty Spines & they will Hurt.   |
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Post by limelight on Jun 18, 2017 19:24:43 GMT -5
Got to SSP in the early morning and fished till 11:00am. It was hard to catch bait all through. Totally cought 4-5 pin and 1 greenback, usually same can be cought through 1 or 2 casts. Guessed the new sabiki bought from on site bait shop didnt work well. Finally landed 1 under size grouper about 15'', 5 mackerel, few grunts and 2 unkonwn fish. Grouper, grunts and unknown fishes tossed back, 1 mackerel gave away to an unknown but very friendly buddy fished beside me. Finally kept 4 for dinner. BTW, anyone can help with the fish ID? Pic attached. Thanks! As Mackerelman says that fish is a Leatherjacket ,it has really tick tuff skin and has sharp spines , good catch, nice macks. |
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Post by detroitd on Jun 18, 2017 19:48:15 GMT -5
I didn't even scroll down past your text to the photos and I knew it would be a leather jacket. Such a pretty fish and benign looking, but painful from what I hear.
Nice job on the macks!
D
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Post by SkyJay on Jun 18, 2017 21:27:17 GMT -5
years ago in 1987, my son got a few of those guys in his castnet, at Simmons Park.
Niether of us had ever seen them, and
both of us got stung.
I scoffed at him, as he put one one his hook
and pitched it out in the little pass adjacent to
the swimming area, and started to walk it down the shoreline with the outgoing tide.
In very little time, and much to my amazement
a giant Snook came out of the water, attached to my sons line.
Seemed like Skipjacks are prone to being eaten by big Snook.
After a long, and fierce battle up and down the shore, i waded out and lipped the giant 44 inch beauty.
Fast forward about 10 years to the South Skyway Pier.
Again, now a grown man, my son catches
a bunch of Skipjacks in his net attempting
to catch bait.
This time, after the painful lesson he had
learned, he gingerly picked up each little fish and pitched them back into the water.
Except the last one.
Something stopped him.
He looked at me and said, "dad, whatd'ya think? Think anything out here would eat this little guy?"
" Ya never know," I replied," fire him down and see"
He hooked the Skipjack through the tail and dropped him in, slowly feeding out line into the incoming
tide towards the east side rockpile, about 200 yds north of the baitshop.
I watched for a minute to see if he'd get bit, but after 5
minutes shrugged it off and mumbled "not this time I guess"
I picked up my rod and was headed to the baitwell,
when I heard my son say "there he is",
and looked around to see him bowed up on yet
another Skipjack eating lunker!
This time, an outsize Gag Grouper considerably
larger than the average Gags we had been
catching.
He fought the fish to the bridge like a pro,
and I stuck the gaff home on an incredible
33 inch 13 1/2 pd Skyway Gag and brought him up
to the deck.
The moral is, Skipjacks attract big bites, and should not
be overlooked as a good bait. Especially in a pinch.
Fish On
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Post by eaglesfanguy on Jun 18, 2017 23:30:50 GMT -5
They will sting ya but no worse then a lively pinfish. ANd i have also had fantastic luck using even as dead bait. Caught some bbig mangos on those guys.
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Post by shadowxmas on Jun 19, 2017 1:18:28 GMT -5
Nice catch Tolentino. That small grouper will grow and make for some tasty dinners when it is legal. Hopefully if it is caught again before being legal the fisherperson will do the right thing and throw it back.
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Post by shadowxmas on Jun 19, 2017 2:16:28 GMT -5
I know all of us on the Forum follow the regulations. It is the other people I was referring to.
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Post by tears143 on Jun 19, 2017 6:05:45 GMT -5
They will sting ya but no worse then a lively pinfish. ANd i have also had fantastic luck using even as dead bait. Caught some bbig mangos on those guys. No, they will sting ya.. and then your hand will grow 3x... >.< Much much much worse than a pinfish... |
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Post by SkyJay on Jun 19, 2017 8:16:48 GMT -5
They will sting ya but no worse then a lively pinfish. ANd i have also had fantastic luck using even as dead bait. Caught some bbig mangos on those guys.[/quote aparently you have not been properly introduced😜 |
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Post by seabird on Jun 19, 2017 11:00:54 GMT -5
tolentino: Beautiful catch and good to see to see some action on the SSP! Glad you handled that nasty skipjack carefully.
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Post by Mackerelman on Jun 19, 2017 13:07:59 GMT -5
tolentino: Beautiful catch and good to see to see some action on the SSP! Glad you handled that nasty skipjack carefully. Seabird: It is not a Skipjack. It is a LEATHERJACKET. It is a Big Difference. |
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Post by seabird on Jun 19, 2017 14:30:51 GMT -5
tolentino: Beautiful catch and good to see to see some action on the SSP! Glad you handled that nasty skipjack carefully. Seabird: It is not a Skipjack. It is a LEATHERJACKET. It is a Big Difference. Ok, I stand corrected. I thought skipjack was another name for the Leatherjacket. |
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Post by Mackerelman on Jun 19, 2017 14:42:43 GMT -5
Seabird: It is not a Skipjack. It is a LEATHERJACKET. It is a Big Difference. Ok, I stand corrected. I thought skipjack was another name for the Leatherjacket. A Skipjack is a Tuna.  That would be like Calling a Bluegill a Pinfish. They are very similar in looks.   |
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Post by SkyJay on Jun 19, 2017 17:38:56 GMT -5
If I want to call it a Skipjack, I'll call it a Skipjack.
Just like we call Mangrove Snappers Mangos,
and some people call Scaled Sardines Greenbacks,
while others call Threadfins Greenbacks.
Sand Perch get called Squirellfish all the time,
and The Real Squurellfish gets called a Razorfish.
We've called them Skipjacks forever, and there
aint no Skipjack Tunas in these parts ir theyre
at the least very rare.
Leatherjacket is fine with me, but I like
Skipjack better.
Thats what Ive always heard em called
on the pier.
Might as well call them little Demons from Hades, though
cus when one gets ahold of you, yer gonna know you just got G O T.
Lighten up guys geez.
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Post by tears143 on Jun 19, 2017 18:05:06 GMT -5
If I want to call it a Skipjack, I'll call it a Skipjack. Just like we call Mangrove Snappers Mangos, and some people call Scaled Sardines Greenbacks, while others call Threadfins Greenbacks. Sand Perch get called Squirellfish all the time, and The Real Squurellfish gets called a Razorfish. We've called them Skipjacks forever, and there aint no Skipjack Tunas in these parts ir theyre at the least very rare. Leatherjacket is fine with me, but I like Skipjack better. Thats what Ive always heard em called on the pier. Might as well call them little Demons from Hades, though cus when one gets ahold of you, yer gonna know you just got G O T. Lighten up guys geez. No Skyjay, we cannot lighten up! We need to get see more pictures of them endanger ARS! :-p Going out on the 12hrs this Sunday to the middleground. Crossing my fingers! |
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Post by detroitd on Jun 19, 2017 19:51:12 GMT -5
Skipjack, leatherjack.
Don't sting ya, good for bait, then they do sting ya.
Roughly handle with care.
Contradictions, contradictions...ho hum....
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Post by Mackerelman on Jun 19, 2017 20:19:21 GMT -5
Whatever You Guys want to call them is fine with Me.
All I know is wherever You get stung at, it hurts like Hell.
Call it whatever You like. I call them Pure Hell.
And Yes Tears; Bring on the Red Snapper. I am also going out on the July 8th trip with Monty.
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Post by detroitd on Jun 19, 2017 20:29:00 GMT -5
Whatever You Guys want to call them is fine with Me. All I know is wherever You get stung at, it hurts like Hell. Call it whatever You like. I call them Pure Hell. And Yes Tears; Bring on the Red Snapper. I am also going out on the July 8th trip with Monty. I call them AVOIDANCE! All I need was to be told they sting. I will not test out that theory! Nope!!! |
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Post by SkyJay on Jun 19, 2017 21:42:00 GMT -5
Kind of a cross between a hornet, a catfish, and a 110 outlet. Lol
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Post by Mackerelman on Jun 19, 2017 21:48:42 GMT -5
Kind of a cross between a hornet, a catfish, and a 110 outlet. Lol The 110 Outlet may be safer ! LMAO ! |
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Post by Mackerelman on Jun 19, 2017 22:14:37 GMT -5
Another Thing that I learned Many Years ago about Fishing in Saltwater, You don't go Sticking You Hands in a Fish's Mouth.
Saltwater Fish Bite ! LOL
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Post by SkyJay on Jun 19, 2017 22:22:45 GMT -5
Lip em like a bass! Lol
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Post by shadowxmas on Jun 20, 2017 2:47:58 GMT -5
I didn't even scroll down past your text to the photos and I knew it would be a leather jacket. Such a pretty fish and benign looking, but painful from what I hear. Nice job on the macks! D How could you know what the fish was without looking at the photo? The only description in the text was that a couple of unknown fish and other fish were released |
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Post by shadowxmas on Jun 20, 2017 2:56:25 GMT -5
Skipjacks or leatherjackets whatever you refer them to be very carefully handling them and keep them in mind for bait as Skyjay shared they make good bait for snook and other fish.
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Post by shadowxmas on Jun 20, 2017 3:00:24 GMT -5
Another Thing that I learned Many Years ago about Fishing in Saltwater, You don't go Sticking You Hands in a Fish's Mouth. Saltwater Fish Bite ! LOL That also goes for freshwater depending on where you are fishing. Have you ever watched the fishing program "River Monsters" on Animal Planet? Jeremy Wade mainly goes for freshwater fish and the ones he has chased do bite big time and one episode the fish was very very small but did some big time damage to men. |
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Post by seabird on Jun 20, 2017 7:58:18 GMT -5
Here is a link to the Leatherjacket. It is called by more than one name (some might be swear words!). There another fish called leatherjacket, it is very similar to a triggerfish. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherjacket_fish |
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Post by detroitd on Jun 20, 2017 8:08:07 GMT -5
I didn't even scroll down past your text to the photos and I knew it would be a leather jacket. Such a pretty fish and benign looking, but painful from what I hear. Nice job on the macks! D How could you know what the fish was without looking at the photo? The only description in the text was that a couple of unknown fish and other fish were released Because I'm smart like that. |
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Post by detroitd on Jun 20, 2017 8:14:38 GMT -5
Geez oh Pete's people! Fish are called various names. Depends on region, monikers you've been "handed down"(my Grandad called them Skipjack), appearances, whatever. Until we start calling them by their Genius and species nomenclature, call them George. No standardization. Docks to restaurants, names vary.
Bottom line take home message that I believe came across is to be careful, these JoeBobs sting!
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Post by skywaypa on Jun 20, 2017 8:47:41 GMT -5
These little bastards were THICK in the keys last December. We were using the J type hook removers on them and then pliers to throw them overboard. Forget using them as cut bait... you need a leather punch to get the hook through the skin and you can't ever take the skin back off. Bad times. Didn't try them whole though... that might have been a good idea.
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