Spanish Mackerel

Spanish Mackerel

The Spanish mackerel is a member of the Scombridae family, which has about 45 species of fish including the mackerel, the tuna, the wahoo and the bonita. The mackerel, like its relatives, is a fast swimming predator. It has a sleek, spindle-shaped body with a sickle shaped or deeply forked tail. The Spanish mackerel has a somewhat different look from its cousins because it has beautiful orange spots on its flanks that will fade quickly after the fish dies. It also sports a black leading edge on its first dorsal fin. Spanish mackerels start spawning in early spring off the Carolina coast and are mature when they’re a year old. The females are bigger and longer lived than the males.

Spanish Mackerel the Basics

The Spanish mackerel can be found in both the eastern and western Atlantic, including the Florida Keys. Related species are also found in the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. The fish can weigh up to 11 pounds. It’s a significant food fish, and since its flesh is oily and fatty it’s a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

HowSpanish Mackerel Feed and What’s Unique

As a predator, the Spanish mackerel eats other fish like alewives, herring, anchovies and menhaden as well as squid, shrimp and other crustaceans. They’re in turn hunted by sharks, seals, seabirds and the much larger tuna. Like other members of the Scomber genus, they have eyelids. They’re translucent, vertical and cover the rear edges of the eyes.

How We Get Them

The Spanish mackerel, being rather small, can be fished from the shore or a boat with feathered lures, though a larger fish can be caught from a boat or trolled. An 11 foot long spinning rod with a spinning reel, 10 pound line with four lures, 1/0 hooks and a two ounce bomb sinker is good for catching Spanish mackerel. Useful bait can be mackerel lures made from feathers or plastic. Shrimp and strips of other fish can also be used as bait.