Jack crevalle from 15 to 25 pounds are abundant in our inshore waters and they are spread out all over. A lot of local anglers don’t realize how common these big fish are. Most of the fish hooked are never landed, simply because the majority of inshore anglers aren’t equipped for fish in this weight class. A lot of fisherman haven’t the slightest idea that jacks are the species running off with their lines. Giant jacks were periodically spooling my reels for years before I figured out what they were. My imagination was running wild as I speculated what these mystery fish might have been.

Big jacks crave big, active baits, like 7- to 10-inch mullet or hand-size pogies. The harder the bait is to catch the more the crazy crevalles want them. It doesn’t seem to matter what level the bait is presented in the water column; the colossal crevalle will somehow locate it. Jacks have kind of a reckless disposition. If you’ve ever observed jacks in captivity you might have noticed how they can’t sit still; they’re constantly all over the tank. In less than a minute each fish will travel every inch of the water column up and down the aquarium while other species remain cool, calm and collected. Jacks in the wild seem to follow this same pattern of restless behavior.

When targeting larger fish I prefer to place live baits on the bottom if the water is deeper than 10 feet. I thread an egg sinker followed by a bead and swivel on either 15- or 20-pound-test line, then I attach a 2-foot, 30-pound-test leader with a 5/0 or 6/0 wide gap bait hook.

On the shallow flats, particularly in the river’s tributaries where oyster mounds are prevalent, I use a Florida Flats Equalizer to float my baits. The clicking float drives the crevalle into a frenzy. Again I use 15- or 20-pound line; I thread on a bead, tie on the float and attach 36 inches of 30-pound-test leader with the wide gap hook. I lip-hook my baits for bottom fishing and tail-hook the floating baits. Tail-hooked baits swim more erratically, which entices the larger jacks. A reel with a large line capacity is recommended when targeting fish in the 15- to 20-pound class.

Anglers who like to fish artificial lures will be pleased to learn that jack crevalle are among the easiest species to hook up with inshore. They’re almost suicidal when it comes to their feeding habits. Since the smaller fish travel in such large schools they’re forced to race one another to the next available forage. The competition allows no time to study the menu. Once the plentiful scrappers are located, keeping a rod bent is rather elementary.

When selecting a plug, it’s just a matter of picking out the lure you prefer to catch a fish on. Most anglers prefer noisy topwaters; the MirrOlure Top Dog, Rhoden’s Johnny Rattler, Smithwick’s Devil’s Horse, the Storm Chug Bug and Luhr Jensen’s Peacock Bass lure are all local favorites for jack crevalle. It’s just a fun way to catch them because they are such vicious attackers on the surface. Throwing topwaters to hungry jacks is also a good way to brush up on your topwater skills, since the fish are so abundant it’s easy to get in a lot of practice.

You can catch jacks with surface lures in deep water as well. Jacks will come to the surface and feed in water as deep as 30 feet. However, sometimes a jig is a better choice, particularly when the fish are holding deep. When the fish aren’t telegraphing their presence by cutting up the surface, they can be found around bridge pilings and close to bulkheads in deep water. Most any type of soft plastic tail paired with a jighead and bounced on the bottom will produce fish. The fish seem to prefer 15- to 20-foot depths when they’re holding in deeper water.

Jacks are not the most popular species targeted here in Jacksonville, but they just may be the most dependable. The population is overwhelmingly healthy in this area. Most anglers release jack crevalle since the fish are considered poor table fare; commercial fisherman classify crevalle simply as crab bait. Jacks are the ultimate inshore rod-benders. Catch them, enjoy them and put them back.

FS