The author's Jack Crevalle caught in Nicaragua on a bucktail jig
Jack Crevalle
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Jack Crevalle Description
The poor Jack Crevalle is the Rodney Dangerfield of gamefish. Despite aggressively attacking lures and putting up a very strong fight for its size, it is generally not a highly regarded catch and is rarely specifically targeted. People are generally disappointed when they see how small of a fish put up such a big fight that tired them out.
The Jack Crevalle is a tropical fish found throughout North and South America as well as Africa. It is not a good fish to eat, which is probably one of the reasons it is not highly sought after. It tops out around 40lbs and the bigger ones will pull harder than any fish of equivalent size that I can think of.
Jack Crevalle Pound for Pound Fight Rating - 9 out of 10 on the Saltwater Scale
Jack Crevalle are one of the toughest pound for pound fighters there is. They pull hard and don't give up. They rarely break you off in rocks or other structure, but they pull and pull and pull.
Jack Crevalle Culinary Rating - Low
I'm sure someone somewhere likes them, but they are nearly universally regarded as a very poor food fish. They have dark bloody meat that does not look at all appetizing.
Jack Crevalle Tackle
Scale your tackle to the size of Jack Crevalle you are targeting. Like the rest of the Jack family they do not have sharp teeth and so you do not need wire leaders. A Daiwa Pluton baitcasting reel is a perfect choice for Jacks up to 20lbs or so, while the middle sizes of the Daiwa Saltiga spinning reels will handle the biggest ones. Click here for tackle recommendations.
Jack Crevalle Techniques
Jack Crevalle readily attack lures and bait. They are often seen feeding at the surface as they splash around chasing baitfish.
Jack Crevalle Lures
Poppers and jerkbaits worked quickly and aggressively will catch these guys. Jerk-Jerk-Pause is a good rhythm to default to. They aren’t shy. You can also catch them trolling Rapalas and similar plugs but I’m not a big fan of trolling. I've heard that bucktail jigs work well but I've never tried them. Practically any lure that imitates a baitfish should give you a shot at catching these.
Jack Crevalle Baits
I never fish for them with bait but I’m sure they eat any local live baitfish.
Where to get the big Jack Crevalle
Florida gets some nice ones. My biggest one was caught on the Pacific Coast of Panama. I have never heard of any guides that focus on them specifically but you shouldn’t have a hard time finding guides who can find them for you.
Other Jack Crevalle Resources
The above barely scratches the surface on how to catch Jack Crevalle. The resources below will provide a wealth of information:
This site has a number of excerpts from various sources and is a great resource: http://inshore.com/tips-jacks.html
Caranx hippos
Home
Other Species
Jack Crevalle Description
The poor Jack Crevalle is the Rodney Dangerfield of gamefish. Despite aggressively attacking lures and putting up a very strong fight for its size, it is generally not a highly regarded catch and is rarely specifically targeted. People are generally disappointed when they see how small of a fish put up such a big fight that tired them out.
The Jack Crevalle is a tropical fish found throughout North and South America as well as Africa. It is not a good fish to eat, which is probably one of the reasons it is not highly sought after. It tops out around 40lbs and the bigger ones will pull harder than any fish of equivalent size that I can think of.
Jack Crevalle Pound for Pound Fight Rating - 9 out of 10 on the Saltwater Scale
Jack Crevalle are one of the toughest pound for pound fighters there is. They pull hard and don't give up. They rarely break you off in rocks or other structure, but they pull and pull and pull.
Jack Crevalle Culinary Rating - Low
I'm sure someone somewhere likes them, but they are nearly universally regarded as a very poor food fish. They have dark bloody meat that does not look at all appetizing.
Jack Crevalle Tackle
Scale your tackle to the size of Jack Crevalle you are targeting. Like the rest of the Jack family they do not have sharp teeth and so you do not need wire leaders. A Daiwa Pluton baitcasting reel is a perfect choice for Jacks up to 20lbs or so, while the middle sizes of the Daiwa Saltiga spinning reels will handle the biggest ones. Click here for tackle recommendations.
Jack Crevalle Techniques
Jack Crevalle readily attack lures and bait. They are often seen feeding at the surface as they splash around chasing baitfish.
Jack Crevalle Lures
Poppers and jerkbaits worked quickly and aggressively will catch these guys. Jerk-Jerk-Pause is a good rhythm to default to. They aren’t shy. You can also catch them trolling Rapalas and similar plugs but I’m not a big fan of trolling. I've heard that bucktail jigs work well but I've never tried them. Practically any lure that imitates a baitfish should give you a shot at catching these.
Jack Crevalle Baits
I never fish for them with bait but I’m sure they eat any local live baitfish.
Where to get the big Jack Crevalle
Florida gets some nice ones. My biggest one was caught on the Pacific Coast of Panama. I have never heard of any guides that focus on them specifically but you shouldn’t have a hard time finding guides who can find them for you.
Other Jack Crevalle Resources
The above barely scratches the surface on how to catch Jack Crevalle. The resources below will provide a wealth of information:
This site has a number of excerpts from various sources and is a great resource: http://inshore.com/tips-jacks.html
Jacks like these aggressively pursue metal jigs retrieved quickly . These were caught out of Sierpe in Costa Rica.
Jacks like these pull hard but unfortunately don't taste great.
A nice Jack in Trinidad that ate a sardine meant for a Tarpon
Click on any pic in the gallery below to enlarge
