Large Spanish are often caught by trout anglers drifting over deep grass flats. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Ray Markham)
December 04, 2024
By Frank Sargeant
While young Spanish mackerel 12 to 15 inches long prowl Florida’s coast in seemingly countless numbers, braggin’-size Spanish are often tough to come by—but well worth pursuing for the amazing fight they put up and the thick fillets they wear. Spanish grow rapidly, but to reach the five-pound size that most of us would consider trophy class, it takes at least four years on the Gulf side, and about three years along the Atlantic.
Males grow considerably slower than females and don’t reach equivalent lengths or weights. Five-year-old females in south Florida are often around two feet long and definitely in the trophy class for the species, As an aside, the world-record 13-pounder, caught at Ocracoke Inlet, N.C., in early November, was reportedly 35 inches long. Fish over 24 inches long typically weigh five pounds and more.
1. Fish Where the Big Ones Are Eight of the current IGFA line-class records for the species came from the east coast of Florida. (A second hotspot for big ones is the Cape Hatteras area on the North Carolina coast, where three current records are held.) These Atlantic Coast fish get bigger than those on the Gulf Coast, probably because they stuff themselves on the massive bait schools that migrate up and down the coast, running north in spring, south in fall. The Spanish go right with them, as do king mackerel, cobia, tarpon and many other species. There’s a similar but less obvious bait migration along the Gulf Coast, with fish traveling north along with the 68-70 degree water temperature curve in April, eventually winding up in the Panhandle for the summer, then back south in late October, to winter off south Florida and the Keys.
Most larger mackerel are females. The largest Spanish are usually found on Florida’s east coast. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) 2. Look for the Right Structure Large Spanish, like large kings, also sometimes hang out on nearshore wrecks and artificial reefs. They also cruise the break line that often makes up around inlets, where dark inshore water flows into green nearshore water on outgoing tides.
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The larger fish also sometimes cruise around offshore bars, spoil bars near dug channels and large channel markers, particularly tower-type markers with underwater structure. Shallow flats surrounded by deeper water like the Seahorse Reef area off Cedar Key often holds big mackerel for weeks at a time during the spring and fall migrations. Basically anything that holds bait might also hold big mackerel.
3. Let the Birds Guide You Gulls and terns are Spanish mackerel beacons. The fish frequently drive bait to the surface, and a white tornado of diving birds feeding on glass minnows or other small bait is frequently a tip-off that there are feeding macks below. When winds are light and seas flat, you can often spot birds on radar—and modern radars often have a “Bird” setting that makes flocks stand out onscreen.
Diving birds often reveal feeding mackerel and other species along the beaches. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) Even when birds are not diving on bait, the presence of several gulls floating on the surface might mean there’s a bait school close by, so putting over some trolling rigs and circling the area might be worthwhile, especially if there’s structure like a wreck or ledge below.
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4. Get Chummy With Them Spanish feed both by scent and by sight, and chumming in prime areas assures a much better chance of getting on the fish and catching some larger ones. A mesh bag of chopped menhaden or sardines hung off the transom, sweetened by occasionally tossing several large live sardines into the tide, is a very good way to bring some big ones to your baits.
Large Spanish are often caught by trout anglers drifting over deep grass flats. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Ray Markham) The fish often announce themselves by “skyrocketing” on a live sardine in a downsized version of the same maneuver performed by their larger king mackerel cousins. When you see this, you can bet there are some nice mackerel just waiting for you to put a bait or lure in front of them.
5. Live Baiting for Big Macs While schoolie mackerel frequently chase small baits like glass minnows and juvenile Spanish sardines, the big mommas will more readily home in on a larger bait like a 4- to 5-inch threadfin, menhaden or a large scaled sardine.
Scaled sardines, in particular, are most common around bridges and piers and on the edge of deep grass flats and nearshore bars. So, these are also good areas to look for big Spanish.
Because Spanish may bite off the tail of the bait on first approach, it’s good to fish these baits on a downsized king mackerel rig, with a single hook in the nose, a small “stinger” on a dropper wire near the tail.
This is slow-trolled or drifted around inlets, jetties, color breaks and artificial reefs, typically on 15-pound-test tackle.
Because there’s usually lots of bait around pier pilings, mackerel often prowl close by. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) 6. Find Mackerel Fast by Trolling One of the best ways to find Spanish is by fast trolling with spoons, jigs or a mackerel tree, sort of an upsized sabiki rig, often with a Clark Spoon on the bitter end and three or four “straw” or tube lures on droppers above it. This is usually towed behind a bead chain sinker or a No. 1 planer to get it down five to 10 feet. Like kings, Spanish hit artificial lures best when they are towed fast, around 6 knots (7 mph). Go slower and you get a lot of follows without many hookups.
Mackerel take a variety of jigs and spoons, but live baits are usually best for the lunkers. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) 7. Casting for Big Macks To enjoy maximum sport from large Spanish, casting with a typical inshore rig lets them truly show their speed and power. Fish a 7-foot medium action spinning rod, 3000 size reel with high-speed gears and 15-pound-test braid, and a big Spanish will occasionally show you the last few wraps on the spool. Just like their bigger king mackerel cousins, five-pound macks are “smokers” if you catch them on light tackle.
Big macks can often be found a few hundred yards off the beach during spring and fall migrations. (Photo courtesy of Capt. Rick Grassett) 8. Big Macks on the Beach Like other species, large mackerel sometimes run down the beaches trying to trap bait against the nearshore bar. You can sometimes see jumping fish or showering bait, often accompanied by diving birds. If the water is clear and calm, you can actually see the black balls of bait rushing along outside the bar, trying to escape. A cast with any sort of small spoon or jig into one of these masses usually means an instant hookup.
But even when the fish are not making themselves obvious, seeking a runout or break in the nearshore bar, where the trapped water pours back out, can result in hooking up, sometimes with a whopper mackerel. (A side benefit is you’ll also catch an occasional pompano and probably a few redfish, as well.
A distinguishing mark on Spanish, as opposed to juvenile king mackerel, is the black front on the dorsal fin. (Photo by Frank Sargeant) 9. Choose the Right Casting Lures Mackerel are usually not picky, but the larger fish can be a bit harder to fool at times. Choose a lure that will give you lots of range like a Kastmaster or other forged spoon, or a Got-Cha stainless steel lure. A sparsely-dressed nylon hair ¼ ounce jig also works well. They’ll readily hit vibrating lures like the chrome Rat-L-Trap , too—whatever the offering, it usually has to be moving as fast as you can crank to draw the bite.
A Mackerel Tree is a great offering when trolling for Spanish, sometimes producing multiple catches in a single haul. (Photo courtesy of Bass Pro Shops) 10. Tackle Up Really big Spanish are the size of school king mackerel, and can rip line off a spool just as fast. It’s best to use somewhat heavier tackle than your standard inshore stuff if you really want to land a trophy class Spanish or if trolling, maybe a 4000 size reel with 15-pound-test braid and plenty of it, and a medium action fast tip 7- to 7-foot-6 spinning rod, to keep them under control.
Heavy wire leader seems to put off big mackerel. Opt for a light single strand dark wire, size 3 or so, or forget the wire and go with 30 to 50 pound test Mason or Rio hard monofilament or maybe a fluorocarbon leader —fluoro is naturally denser than mono and stands up to bites better.
Thirty pound test gets more hits than 50-pound test, and both get more than even fine wire. But, you lose quite a few lures and rigs.
Avoid any chrome/stainless finishes on snaps and swivels—as this zips through the water it apparently looks like a baitfish to the macks—they often nip off the rig just above the knot.
Big Spanish can also be caught on flies by anglers who know the tricks and use the right gear. (Photo courtesy of Rick Grassett) Spanish Mackerel Fillets Au Gratin Spanish are more “fishy” tasting than inshore species, but treat ‘em right and they’re very good to eat.
First, bleed any fish you intend to keep by cutting the gill latch and holding them over the side, then immerse the whole fish in ice—don’t just drop it on top of the ice, cover it so that it chills quickly. At the cleaning table, fillet and skin, then cut down the lateral line and clip out the tiny Y bones you can see there. Remove the rib cage as well. Each fillet makes two strips of clean, deboned meat. Cover the filets with Italian stewed tomatoes, add plenty of Parmesan cheese and bake until done—personally, I prefer it to pompano, and you might too. XL Spanish are fatter, stronger and faster than the 1 and 2 year old fish most of us catch—they’re well worth a bit of extra effort to catch. (Photo by Frank Sargeant)
