A great way to hook Spanish mackerel is to cast a silver spoon into feeding schools.

Cero and Spanish mackerel are the unsung heroes of Key West’s nearshore waters. The schools, often mixed together, blast baits with abandon as they swarm the wrecks, reef and patch reefs around the island. The only mystery about these fish is why anglers pay them so little attention. Target the smaller macks on light tackle and you’ll quickly see they are as capable of stunning runs and heart-stopping head shakes as their bigger cousins, the kings.

Maybe it’s because they’re so abundant that they’re taken for granted. Ceros are year-round residents of the Lower Keys, and in the cooler months, Spanish migrate from the north to join them. You’ll see their fast-moving schools in 20 to 60 feet between the islands and the reef, slashing the surface after baits, often as you motor past them on your way out for sails, tuna or grouper. Or maybe their reputation comes from their admittedly annoying knack for severing lines with their laser-like eyes and razor teeth.

Whatever the reasons for their rap, Capt. Steve Hassell and I quickly learned to appreciate these underrated fish on a day when we were penned in by high winds and had to stay close to shore. I wound up rediscovering Key West’s nearshore, mixed-bag fishery, and I’d put Spanish and ceros at the top of that class.

In fact, accessibility is the first virtue of going after the smaller mackerel. Depending on the wind direction, plenty of spots at all compass points—in the Gulf, in the Northwest Channel, and along Hawk’s Channel on the Atlantic side, many of them marked on Florida Sportsman Chart #11, offer excellent mixed-bag fishing featuring mackerel, Spanish especially. The ceros show inshore also, but the big ones, world records, are better known for schooling at the reef.

Ceros and Spanish can be caught by the same methods, in the same places, and at the height of their run near Key West in January through March, both ceros and Spanish average about four pounds. So it’s understandable that anglers sometimes mistake one species for the other. The simplest identifier is the subtle coloration difference. Ceros have a distinct yellow lateral line, and are seldom found in Florida above the Keys. Spanish have only bright yellow dots on their silvery skin.

It’s also noteworthy that ceros exist only in the warm Caribbean and some southerly Gulf waters by Texas, and nowhere else in the world. To make matters more interesting, scientists believe that there are two stocks of Spanish mackerel, one in the Gulf and one in the Atlantic. Both species spawn offshore starting in April. By then, the Spanish have started their northern migration, staying in waters above 68 degrees, and following the warming trend north. Their stocks move way up the eastern seaboard. Anglers in the Keys have a shot at either species year-round, but winter is the best season.

Captain Hassell and I started our day by netting pilchards and anchoring at the markers right in front of Key West, the most popular places to pick up blue runners and ballyhoo. East winds raged behind us, and while we collected a few blue runners on sabikis for the livewell, we listened to reports of rough seas and scuttled our plans to go offshore. Instead, we’d check the patch reefs along the shoreline, where Spanish congregate, before we turned north into the Gulf at Boca Grand and headed to the Grouper Bar.

Freewheeling birds lead to feeding mackerel.

We anchored over one of Hassell’s favorite patch reefs in Hawk Channel and set out the chum bags, hoping to attract a passing cobia or a few good snappers. First to arrive in our chumline behind our stern was a school of ballyhoo. A mack flashed through and scattered the ballyhoo on the surface, and then another cut the water like a knife. When the ballyhoo reschooled after a few minutes, Hassell had his cast net in hand.

“You can only take one throw at ballyhoo before they’ll scare off for awhile,” he said, “and you should take it soon after they show up, because they tend to drift away and disappear. You’ve also got to time that throw right, because they spook so easy. If they stay deep, you can put a few drops of menhaden oil into the water and that will bring them right to the surface where the net gets them.”