Species
Red Drum
Red Drum usually occur along coastal waters. Three year-old red drum typically weigh six to eight pounds. The largest one on record weighed just over 94 pounds. When they are large they are called Bull reds but are only mature red drums and most people do not find them good to eat. Mature Red Drum spawn in near shorelines. Juvenile red drum typically inhabit bays and coastal marshes until they reach maturity between 3 and 6 years of age. They will readily accept any bait but prefer Menhaden. Red Drum are relatives of the Black Drum and the Atlantic Croaker which makes a croaking sound when not under water. It is a big game fish like the speckled trout.
Black Drum
The black drum (Pogonias cromis) is a saltwater fish similar to its cousin, the red drum. Though most specimens are generally found in the 5-30lb range, the black drum is well known as the largest of all the drum family with some specimens reaching excesses of 90lbs. They are often black and/or gray in color with juvenile fish having distinctive dark stripes over a gray body.
Their teeth are rounded and they have powerful jaws capable of crushing oysters and other shellfish.
Spotted Sea Trout
The spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, is a common estuary fish found in the southern United States. While most of these fish are caught on shallow, grassy flats, spotted seatrout reside in virtually any inshore waters, from the surf of outside islands to far up coastal rivers, where they often come for shelter during cold weather. Contrary to its name, the spotted seatrout is not a member of the trout family (Salmonidae), but of the drum family (Sciaenidae).
These fish have large, prominent canine teeth; dark back with grey or silvery sides marked with scattered ocellated black spots of varying size. The average size of these fish are 1 to 2 lb, but in most areas fish up to 5 lb are fairly common (shrimp is ideal bait).
This fish is often found in shallow tidal creeks near flooded salt marshes, where it feeds mainly on shrimp and small fish. Spotted Seatrout are also know to congregate heavily over oyster reefs. The Spotted Seatrout makes for excellent tablefare with a firm, white meat.
Spanish Mackerel
The fish exhibits a green back; its sides are silvery marked with about three rows of round to elliptical orange spots. Lateral line gradually curving down from the upper end of the gill cover toward caudal peduncle. The first (spiny) dorsal fin is black at the front. Posterior membranes are white with a black edge. Its single row of cutting edged teeth in each jaw are large, uniform, closely spaced and flattened from side to side.
Flounder
Flounder (rarely: flukes) are flatfish that live in ocean waters ie., Northern Atlantic and waters along the east coast of the United States and Canada, and the Pacific Ocean, as well. The name "flounder" refers to several geographically and taxonomically distinct species. In Europe, the name flounder refers to Platichthys flesus, in the Western Atlantic there are the summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, and the winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus, among other species. In Japan, the Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus is common.
While flounders have both eyes situated on one side of the head, flukes are not born this way. Their life involves metamorphosis. During metamorphosis, one eye migrates to the other side of the body so that both eyes are situated on the upward-facing side of its body. After metamorphosis, flounder lie on one side on the ocean floor; either the left or right side might face upward depending on the species. Flounder sizes typically vary from five to fifteen inches, though they sometimes grow as large as three feet in length. Their breadth is about one-half of their length. Flounder are ambush predators and their feeding ground is the soft mud of the sea bottom, near bridge piles, docks, and other bottom incumbrances; they are sometimes found on bass grounds as well. Their diet consists mainly of fish spawn, crustaceans, polychaetes and small fish.
Spadefish
Ephippidae is the fish family containing the spadefishes. There are about eight genera with a total of 20 species, mostly marine. The most well-known species are probably those in the reef-dwelling genus Platax, the batfishes, which are kept as aquarium fish. They are spade-shaped, laterally compressed, and very symmetrical triangular dorsal and anal fins. They are shiny silver with areas of yellow and vertical brown or black banding. The eyes are often located in one of the vertical bands as a method of camouflage. Scuba divers sometimes mistake them for angelfish, which are similar in shape but not closely related. Other genera in the family are characterized by long, trailing, pointed dorsal and anal fins.
Some spadefishes are popular sport fishing catches. The Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber), for example, is an attractive black and white zebra-striped fish common just offshore in the southeastern United States and Caribbean. They are favorites because they put up a fight as they are reeled in. Spadefish are generally considered to be an overfished group. Most of the individuals caught are small and young and are nowhere near the maximum size recorded for their species.
Lady Fish
Elopidae is a family of ray-finned fish containing the single genus Elops.
The ladyfish are a coastal dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions. Spawning takes place at sea and the fish larvae migrate inland entering brackish waters. Their food is smaller fish and crustaceans (shrimp). Typically throughout the species the maximum size is 1 m and the maximum weight 10 kg. The body is fusiform (tapering spindle shape) and oval in cross-section; being slightly laterally compressed, the eyes are large and partially covered with fatty (adipose) eyelids.
The larvae are leptocephalic - being highly compressed, ribbon-like and transparent. After initial growth they shrink and then metamorphise into the adult form.
This family is fished but the body is bony and the fish may be ground down for fish meal.
Jack Crevalle
Crevalle jack, Caranx hippos, is a fast, saltwater fish that can be found in inland waters along the shoreline of the western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Uruguay and the eastern Atlantic from Portugal to Angola. It has a large rounded head with large eyes and a dark silvery body that can show hints of blue-green to green-gold. They grow to more than three feet in length, though more commonly they are between one and two and a half feet long. The fish usually weighs between three and five pounds, but a 51 pound Crevalle Jack was taken off the coast of Florida.
Crevalle jacks can be poisonous to eat due to the threat of ciguatera poisoning, but they are prized as a game fish. Crevalle jacks spawn offshore from early March to early September. When young, they run in large schools, but become solitary as they get older. They are preyed upon by many surface feeding carnivores, including finfish such as the striped marlin, and seabirds. Crevalle jacks feed during the day and eat a variety of fish and invertebrates. Other common names for Caranx hippos include common jack, blacktailed trevally, cabalo, green jack, horse mackerel, horse-eye jack, kingfish, and trevally. While the common name "Crevalle jack" has been used as a name for the Bar jack, Caranx ruber.
Sheepshead
The sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, is a marine fish that grows to 30 in (760 mm), but are common from 5 to 8 in. They are deep and compressed in body shape with 5 to 6 dark bars on the side of the body over a gray background. They have very sharp spines along the dorsal. Their diet consists of crustaceans such as clams, oysters, barnacles and fiddler crabs. They have a very hard mouth with several rows of stubby teeth which help it to crush their prey.
Although Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn was named after the fish, they are very much a southern species. Today their range extends from the Mid-Atlantic to Texas. During the winters, many anglers in these states will head to the end of pier to fish for sheepshead. As was said before, sheepshead are crustacean feeders. Favorite baits for these stealers include shrimp, sand fleas (molecrabs), and clams. Since sheepshead have a knack for stealing bait, so a very small hook is necessary. Locating sheepshead in a boat is not very difficult. Look for rocky bottoms or places with obstruction.
The sheepshead is great for eating. Because of its crustacean diet, its flesh is nice and sweet. It is best if filleted and panfried.
Sea Bass
Centropristis striata) is an exclusively marine fish, also known as sea bass and blackfish. It inhabits the coasts from Maine to NE Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. They are most abundant off the waters of New York. They can be found in inshore waters (bays and sounds) and offshore in waters up to a depth of 130 m. They spend most of their time close to the sea floor and are often congregated around bottom formations such as rocks, man-made reefs, wrecks, jetties, piers, and bridge pilings.
Black sea bass, as their name indicates, are usually black. But like many other types of fish, they have the ability to adjust their color to blend in with the bottom. Their colors may take on a gray, brown, black or even a deep indigo hue. The sides of their body may have dark vertical bands. But most distinctive is their skin, when seen up close resembles a fishnet pattern, because of the dark color that appears in the margin of their scales contrasted with the lighter color underneath the scales.
The average sea bass weighs about 1½ lb (680 g). The world record bass is 9 lb 8 oz (4,309 g), but any sea bass above 5 lb (2.3 kg) is considered a large fish. As a sea bass matures, there are slight variations in their proportions. The smallest sea bass are often nicknamed “pin” bass. Larger fish are nicknamed “humpback” bass because as they grow larger they tend to bulk out just behind the head.
Black sea bass feed on crab, bluecrab, juvenile lobster, shrimp, mollusks, small fish, herring, menhaden and squid.
