Species

Crevalle jack

Also called jack crevalle. The brawler of the Caribbean: a jack with a steep forehead and a black spot on the gill cover that drives baitfish to the surface in schools and fights longer on light tackle than almost any fish its size.

Caranx hippos

Photo: Yinan Chen, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain, adjusted to 3:2

Spawning: Year round with regional peaks, for example April and May in Cuba and March to September south of Florida; up to one million pelagic eggs (Wikipedia). Males mature at 55 cm (4 to 5 years), females at 66 cm (5 to 6 years).
Typical method: Casting poppers and spoons at feeding schools
Top bait: Popper

Plan a day fishing for Crevalle jack

How to recognise it

Black spot on the upper edge of the gill cover and a dark spot on the pectoral fin
Steep high forehead, body deep and moderately compressed
Back brassy green to blue-black, belly silvery white to golden; 23 to 35 scutes on the rear lateral line; juveniles with about five dark bars

Easily confused with: The horse-eye jack (Caranx latus) has a larger eye and no spot on the pectoral fin; it is linked to more ciguatera cases (Wikipedia). Reports from the Indian Ocean are confusion with Caranx ignobilis (German Wikipedia).

How to catch it

Methods: Casting poppers and spoons at feeding schools, Live or cut bait (Wikipedia), Trolling plugs at passes and reef edges, Fly fishing with big streamers and poppers

Baits: Popper, Spoon, Live baitfish (pilchard, mullet), Cut bait, Large streamer

Wherever bait "boils" at the surface and birds dive; at passes on the falling tide (rule of thumb). Light tackle but a heavy leader, because the fish fight hard (Wikipedia).

Habitat and food

Western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Uruguay including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, absent from the eastern Lesser Antilles; eastern Atlantic from Portugal to Angola (German and English Wikipedia). Over the shelf from 1 to 350 m, usually 1 to 200 m, also on shallow flats; juveniles in brackish water, mangroves and seagrass, adults ascend rivers, recorded salinities from 0 to 49 ppt (FishBase, Wikipedia). Fast-moving schools, big fish often solitary.

Mainly smaller fish (74 to 94 percent of the diet in a southern US study), plus prawns, crabs, mollusks and mantis shrimp (Wikipedia, FishBase).

Size and age

FishBase: max. 124 cm, commonly around 75 cm, maximum published weight 32 kg; rare above 60 to 65 cm, oldest studied fish 17 years (Wikipedia). Record fish according to Odu Magazine and Sport Fishing: 66 lb 2 oz (30 kg) off Angola, 2010; IGFA database not accessed.

Protection and rules

Conservation status: IUCN: Least Concern (2018 or 2019; FishBase, Wikipedia). No special rules in our sources; in Mexico the general limit of ten fish per angler per day with at most five of one species applies (NOM-017-PESC-1994). No specific rule found for Belize or the Bahamas.

Rules by country

Size limits, bag limits, seasons and licences are set by each country, in the USA by each state. Pescaday does not list these rules: check them with your operator and the national authority before you fish. Notes with sources are given above under conservation status. Licence pages: Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, USA. Fishing travel guide

In the kitchen

Generally considered poor table fare: dark coarse flesh; young fish bled on capture taste best (Wikipedia). Several ciguatera cases are documented (Wikipedia). Mostly catch and release.

Sources (3)

Last checked 2026-10-19. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].

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