The African Pompano is an excellent fighting and eating game fish.
Looking for a saltwater fish that puts up a great fight and makes for excellent table fare? The African pompano, (Alectis ciliaris), may be just the fish you are looking for. One of the world's most common saltwater tropical fish, this species has an incredibly muscular body that gives them a ton of speed. Also known as the "pennant-fish, "threadfin trevally," "cobblerfish," or "Cuban jack," it is a common sight in tropical waters worldwide.
Our favorite saltwater fishing guru BlacktipH recently went fishing for pompanos and amberjacks down in the Gulf of Mexico and he lands several nice ones.
Once you see how cool an adult African pompano is, you will want to add this species to your saltwater fishing bucket list.
That looked like a seriously fun day on the water. From the large eyes to the lean, yet powerful tail, this species is one that will make any fishermen unfamiliar turn their heads to ask what species they are looking at. The nice thing about the pompano is that they are found all over the world in warm, coastal waters. From the Pacific Ocean, to the Atlantic, to the Indian Ocean, pompanos can be found in fisheries everywhere. However, Florida pompano have gained a reputation for being some of the largest in the world. Key West and the surrounding areas are a great place to fish for them. The world record African pompano was taken off Daytona Beach in 1990 and weighed a whopping 50 pounds, eight ounces.
Another reason they are popular is the variety of ways you can catch them. Trolling, jigs fished deep in the water column, live baits of small fish or crustaceans, and dead baits like the squid they were using here are all effective. Not many anglers are going to complain about an accidentally caught pompano, especially if they are looking for dinner. Just make sure you properly identify them as a juvenile African pompano has a much different appearance and you want to make sure you hit the minimum size limit. The bodies are slightly more squared in appearance. The dorsal fin and anal fins are also much longer and have an appearance similar to jellyfish tentacles. Some scientists have speculated that is a defense mechanism for the younger fish.
The African pompano is part of the larger Carnangiade, or jack family. Anglers who know the popular giant trevally, or GT, might think the pompano species looks familiar. That is because the two fish species are part of the same family. Considering the popularity of the GT, no wonder the African pompano is such a popular game fish.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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