Date: January 19, 2003
To: PFIC Message Board
From: mola joe
Subject: Catching fish with strawberries!
Ken’s post got me thinking about what type of fish I would like to see move into our area or be stocked in our area. Way too many to list, with most of the critters that live down South or from tropical waters just not going to be happy with our H2O temps. One that I would love to see again in the sizes we used to catch from Hermosa Pier is the jack mackerel, or as most call them, Spanish mackerel. I know what you're saying, we still catch them today. We do catch them today and they’re fairly common on most Southern piers, but the ones I’m talking about could hardly compare to the 6 to 12 inchers we catch now days. We had a great run back in the late ‘60s to mid ‘70s of cornfed size jack macs in the 3 to 5 pound range. Actually not a mackerel at all, but in the jack family, these guys compared to catching small yellowtail more than any kind of mackerel. Not only did they tear us up on the ultralight rods, but these guys were very smart and nothing like real macks. Just as it cracked first light was the best time to catch these overgrown jacks.
Which brings me to the strawberries. We had a local named Nick that was very good at hooking these fish when no one else could get bit. The trick was to chum the heck out of the water with diced macks and anchovies until you could see the regular macks crashing threw the chum. If you watched close, you could see the large dark shapes of the jacks speeding by picking off a bait now and them. The problem was getting a bait to the jacks without hooking the smaller macks swarming the chum.
I guess it was one of the old secrets that was passed down from person to person, but Nick knew what to do. You take the largest greenback mackerel you could catch and slice it open right at the throat. The big macks have what looks like a pale strawberry right where the throat ends and the guts begin. He called them strawberries, and who were we to argue. Anyway, you would flyline these strawberries on very light line and the big Spanish just loved them. They were still tricky to hook, but these fish pulled really hard and were well worth all the effort to catch them. Most were in the 3 to 4 pound class, but I remember a few pushing 5 pounds. We lost a lot of them, because just like yellowtail, they would head for the pilings. Also fishing 4 and 6 pound line didn’t help either, but they bit a lot better on the light line. You still hear of some big Spanish being caught, but most are mixed in with albacore, yellowtail, or other tunas out in deeper water. I would love to see these speedsters make a comeback on our local piers.
Name: h2o
Hey Mola, I went out on the 1/2 boat out of Pierpoint two days ago. While at the dock, waiting for everyone to board, there were some guys fishing on the port side. There were tons of those Spanish mackerel. They were pulling them up like crazy. They were on the average 12”-15” in size. There were also some really nice size ones mixed in. I was so amazed, I hardly see them unless a by catch at Catalina. On the other side of Pierpoint there are some piers. It is also across from the Queen Mary. You might want to give it a try.
Name: pierhead
I remember those ...we used to catch them off of Stearn’s Wharf. My father called them “horse mackerel” and we caught them on abalone trimmings. Nothing beats catching two of them at the same time ... Pierhead
Name: Hyok
I caught a small one about 10” on Saturday, off Balboa Pier. It is MUCH better eating than a regular mackerel.
Name: Ken Jones
A good bait for several species including macs themselves. By the way, big mackerel jack often show up at the Crescent City piers in the late fall months.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: mola joe
Subject: Catching fish with strawberries!
Ken’s post got me thinking about what type of fish I would like to see move into our area or be stocked in our area. Way too many to list, with most of the critters that live down South or from tropical waters just not going to be happy with our H2O temps. One that I would love to see again in the sizes we used to catch from Hermosa Pier is the jack mackerel, or as most call them, Spanish mackerel. I know what you're saying, we still catch them today. We do catch them today and they’re fairly common on most Southern piers, but the ones I’m talking about could hardly compare to the 6 to 12 inchers we catch now days. We had a great run back in the late ‘60s to mid ‘70s of cornfed size jack macs in the 3 to 5 pound range. Actually not a mackerel at all, but in the jack family, these guys compared to catching small yellowtail more than any kind of mackerel. Not only did they tear us up on the ultralight rods, but these guys were very smart and nothing like real macks. Just as it cracked first light was the best time to catch these overgrown jacks.
Which brings me to the strawberries. We had a local named Nick that was very good at hooking these fish when no one else could get bit. The trick was to chum the heck out of the water with diced macks and anchovies until you could see the regular macks crashing threw the chum. If you watched close, you could see the large dark shapes of the jacks speeding by picking off a bait now and them. The problem was getting a bait to the jacks without hooking the smaller macks swarming the chum.
I guess it was one of the old secrets that was passed down from person to person, but Nick knew what to do. You take the largest greenback mackerel you could catch and slice it open right at the throat. The big macks have what looks like a pale strawberry right where the throat ends and the guts begin. He called them strawberries, and who were we to argue. Anyway, you would flyline these strawberries on very light line and the big Spanish just loved them. They were still tricky to hook, but these fish pulled really hard and were well worth all the effort to catch them. Most were in the 3 to 4 pound class, but I remember a few pushing 5 pounds. We lost a lot of them, because just like yellowtail, they would head for the pilings. Also fishing 4 and 6 pound line didn’t help either, but they bit a lot better on the light line. You still hear of some big Spanish being caught, but most are mixed in with albacore, yellowtail, or other tunas out in deeper water. I would love to see these speedsters make a comeback on our local piers.
Name: h2o
Hey Mola, I went out on the 1/2 boat out of Pierpoint two days ago. While at the dock, waiting for everyone to board, there were some guys fishing on the port side. There were tons of those Spanish mackerel. They were pulling them up like crazy. They were on the average 12”-15” in size. There were also some really nice size ones mixed in. I was so amazed, I hardly see them unless a by catch at Catalina. On the other side of Pierpoint there are some piers. It is also across from the Queen Mary. You might want to give it a try.
Name: pierhead
I remember those ...we used to catch them off of Stearn’s Wharf. My father called them “horse mackerel” and we caught them on abalone trimmings. Nothing beats catching two of them at the same time ... Pierhead
Name: Hyok
I caught a small one about 10” on Saturday, off Balboa Pier. It is MUCH better eating than a regular mackerel.
Name: Ken Jones
A good bait for several species including macs themselves. By the way, big mackerel jack often show up at the Crescent City piers in the late fall months.