JACK, ALMACO
Almaco Jack is a game fish of the family Carangidae; they are in the same family as Yellowtail and Amberjack. They feed, both day and night, on other smaller fish such as baitfish and small squid. The flesh is thick and dense like tuna and can easily pass for white albacore if prepared as sushi.
The Almaco Jack has a less elongated, more flattened body than most jack species. Their dorsal fin and anal fins are elongated, and their outer edges have a definite sickle shape. The first rays of the Almaco Jack dorsal fin's longest parts are nearly twice as long as the dorsal spines, also different from other jacks.
They reach a typical length of 90 centimetres (35 in), sometimes reaching 160 centimetres (63 in) and 59.9 kilograms (132 lb). Almaco Jacks are generally dusky-colored with faint amber or olive stripes down their sides. Their upper bodies and lower fins are usually dark brown or dark blue-green. The belly is much lighter and appears brassy or lavender. The nuchal bar and most of the fins is dark on adults. Exceptions are the pelvic fins which are white on the ventral sides.
The Almaco Jack is not a common catch among most saltwater anglers. The reason for this is that almaco jacks tend to spend most of their time in deep, open water on the outer slopes of reefs. You won’t find these fish on the reefs or nearshore where most anglers typically fish. Offshore anglers that fish near buoys, reefs and wrecks may run into an occasional Almaco Jack. Trolling with deep-running plugs or bottom fishing with cut baits is an effective way to catch Almaco Jacks. You can also catch them using any of these methods: bottom bouncing, chumming, drift fishing, jigging, kite fishing and still fishing.
Using fish cut into pieces attracts fish in a different way than whole, live bait or lures. Fish that are attracted to scent are more likely to hit on cut bait. You can use just about any baitfish to make cut bait as well as other fish species. Jigs have weighted metal heads and a tail made of animal hair, soft plastic, feathers or rubber. Anglers sometimes add a minnow or piece of pork rind to the jig's hook. Depending on where and how you're fishing, you can buy weedless, structure or trolling spoons.
International
The Almaco Jack is a pelagic species that can be found in small groups on slopes and off of reefs at depths from 5 to 160 metres (2.7 to 87.5 fathoms). They visit wrecks more often than most other jacks. In the Indian to the west Pacific oceans, Almaco Jack live from Kenya to South Africa and have been spotted off Mariana Islands, Wake island, Ryukyu Islands, Kermadec Islands and New Caledonia. In the eastern Pacific, Almaco Jack live from California to Peru and the Galapagos islands. In the western Atlantic, they live mostly from Cape Cod to northern Argentina although they are rare off North and South Carolina. Almaco Jack are not as common in the Eastern Atlantic as elsewhere. Almaco live near Great Britain and off Lampedusa in the Mediterranean sea. They typically swim at depths ranging from 5–35 metres (16–115 ft).