The Greater Amberjack
March 31, 2013
By Florida Sportsman Editor
The Greater Amberjack, Seriola dumerili
Overall brownish or goldish. Heavy body. No scutes forward of tail fin. Dark oblique line through the eye that ends at the dorsal fin.
SIZE
Schools of young fish are common at 5-20 pounds.Average size over deep wrecks and reefs is 30- 60 pounds, but 100-pounders are not too rare and the potential maximum exceeds 150 pounds.World record 155 pounds, 10 ounces; Florida record 142 pounds.
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FOOD VALUE
Excellent, smoked or fresh.
GAME QUALITIES
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A strong, punishing fighter that powers deep and defies lifting. Fairly long runs can also occur early in the fight. A great deal of stamina matches their strength. Novices may fight Amberjack of average size for an hour or longer.
TACKLE AND BAITS
Amberjack are most often caught aboard charterboats and partyboats on heavy rods and reels with lines testing 50 pounds or more—and are no patsies, even then. Experienced light-tackle anglers can successfully battle them with spinning and baitcasting rigs, and even fly rods. Around wrecks, they frequently follow hooked fish to boatside, and also may rise to the top voluntarily. Then they can be cast to with surface plugs, spoons, jigs, or big flyrod streamers and poppers. Live chum will also draw Amberjack from the depths. Best bait with heavy tackle is any sort of live fish, the friskier the better.
FISHING SYSTEMS
Drifting;Trolling; Casting.
OTHER NAMES
Amberjack AJ Coronado Cavilia
RANGE
All Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean.
HABITAT
Adults are common at various depths, ranging from reefs several hundred feet deep to fairly shallow wrecks and reefs. Big ones also come close to shore at times, particularly in the Keys and the Islands. Artificial reefs and wrecks all along the Gulf Coast often harbor huge schools of smaller Amberjack, and many Gulf wrecks are home to big ones as well.
Fly Amberjack Forum member shows off a big amberjack taken on fly.
Reef Wrecker Forum member larrywitt with a nice south west amberjack.
Full Rack It was a good day on the Buzz On with a rack full of amberjacks and vermillion snappers
Huge 68" AJ Forum member Veikx caught this AJ in 100' off Fort Myers on a full filet of barracuda
Amberjack FS forum member the BEAST holding up his biggest catch of the day an amberjack.
St. Marks Florida Sportsman Forum Member KayakMacGyver shown with his family holding up some Amberjacks and Gag Groupers. They also caught numerous snapper and seabass.
St. Marks Amberjack Florida Sportsman Forum Member KayakMacGyver shown with his father holding up a nice Amberjack.
Keys Amber Jack Florida Sportsman Forum Member Piner-wahoo with a Amberjack he caught off Big Pine Key.
Keys Amberjack Pictured here is a nice 30 pound Amberjack which was caught offshore using live bait in the Keys.
75 pound Amber Jack Florida Sportsman Forum Member Panhandler80 with this fat donkey.
Indian Pass Amberjack Bobby Windham with another donkey caught in Indian Pass.
70 Pound Reef Donkey Bobby Windham pulls in this 70 pound Amberjack off Indian Pass.
Keys Amberjack FS forum member NauticalWheeler holding up his freshly caught amberjack.
Erica's Amber Erica Thomas caught this 45 pound amberjack in 80 feet of water on a squid, Congrats on your first offshore fish!
Monster AJ A monster Amberjack caught offshore using live bait on a reef.
Rosemary's Amberjack Rosemarie Rodriguez from Miami with a 20# amberjack caught wile fishing for yellow tail in Islamorada. It was caught from an anchored boat with 10# test line and took 50 minutes.....a rather nice catch with that light tackle!! You never know what will show up in your chum line.
AJ Giant Candice caught this monster amberjack at the Islamorada Humps using cut bonito.
Amberjack A nice amberjack caught offshore on a reef using live bait.
Amberjack in the Panhandle Father/daughter Warren and Jacki Jerrems with Jacki's amberjack, caught in the Panhandle region.
Amberjack on Butterfly Jig Robert Long caught this amberjack while kayak fishing 2 miles off Destin, FL. while using a butterfly jig.
Whale AKA Amberjack Ernie Reyes and Captain Easy decided to take some time off of work to do some outdoor fishing, what they got was a workout! They landed this 60 pound amberjack 6 miles off the coast of Islamorada.
Bill's Amberjack Found off a wreck off Fort Lauderdale, an amberjack of this size will show you its shoulder power.
Ronda's Pensacola Amberjack
Amberjack off Clearwater Daryn White, fishing out of Clearwater Marina, caught this amberjack.
Clearwater Amberjack Ethan White caught this amberjack out of Clearwater.
Northwest Amberjacks FS Member jhults11 posted this photo of two big amberjack, caught off St. Marks.
Pass-a-Grille AJ FS Member Cabo Joe caught this AJ off Pass-a-Grille in 45 feet.
Fort Desoto Amberjack FS Member Robert posted this photo of his wife Christine from Fort Desoto offshore.
Fort Myers Amberjack FS member Captain Ross posted this amberjack caught in 120', off Fort Myers.
Sarasota Amberjack FS Member surfer caught this big amberjack off Sarasota.
Miami Amberjack Florida Sportsman member Cudaman posted this amberjack, caught on the Reward Won off Miami.
Miami Amberjack Florida Sportsman member Cudaman posted this jack, caught on the Reward Won off Miami.
Naples Amberjack FS Member sololobo30 posted this amberjack photo from off of Naples.
Palmetto Amberjack Anglers don't call them reef donkeys for nothing. This stubborn jack is tasty when they're under 20 pounds.
Pensacola Amberjack Nice amberjack caught by Ronda Abshire on light tackle off Pensacola.
Panama City Bounty FS Member Panhandler80 posted this large mixed bag of grouper, kingfish and jacks from Panama City.
Middle Grounds Amberjack This amberjack was caught on a head boat at the Gulf Middle Grounds.
Amberjack Attack Northeast anglers have fun offshore with amberjack.
Islamorada Amberjack Some of the biggest amberjack in Florida come from the offshore humps in the Keys.
Amberjack Battle After the fight, this angler holds tight to her amberjack.
Islamorada Hump Amberjack Nick Brainard sent in this picture of an 85lb amberjack off the Islamorada hump.
