The Horse Eyed Jack
Big John happily reels in his catch, a great Horse-eyed Jack, perfect for the grill! |
June 22
Outside the Reef: Plenty of mahi
mahi are still being caught along with
yellow eyed red snapper and grouper.
I’ve seen large schools of tuna
feeding outside the reefs now.
Inside the reef: Horseyed jack are
spawning this month and are caught
easily in passes. I’ve been catching
both mutton and grey snapper in cuts
in the reef.
Flats: Silky snapper, permit, barracuda
and bone fish have provided anglers
with action this week.
Horse eyed jack-similar in size
and appearance to his cousin the jack
creville, horse eyed jacks have a
more curved head and larger eyes.
These fish are known as real brawlers
to sports fishing anglers. I usually
catch them in fast moving schools
from the surface to depths of 60 feet.
Lone horse eyed jacks can be caught
as deep as 400 feet. They can be
caught on mullet, sardines, jigging,
spoons and even flys.
When I am grouper fishing, I will
typically see schools of 10 to 20 passing
right under the boat. If I am quick
enough I and can get baits down to
their depth in time, I can get at least
two on before they move on. Throwing
a dozen live sardines in the water
as soon as I see them sometimes can
keep them around the boat longer. By
doing this I’ve been able to land dozens
of these fast hard fighters in a
go.
Like their cousins, the jack
creville, amberjack and black jack,
horseyed jack are always back breaking
fighters that grow to a size of up
to 38 inches. Fish of 20 inches are
more common. No matter what size
they are, these fish are packed with
100 percent pure fight. And they
make a nice complement to any
barbeque grill at the end of hard day’s
fishing.
Captain Dilzon Murcia is the project
manager for Island Ferry and owner operator
of Dilzon Charters, a sport fishing
charter business. To catch the fish
featured this week, and other large fish,
call Dilzon at 620-6118 or drop by the
Island Ferry office and schedule your
next fishing adventure.Click for Belize Fishing Reports main page
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