BigBendFishing.Net

Got out on the water around 9:30 and was met with a glass flat surface. No wind all day and alot of heat Fished everywhere from 4 ft to 8 ft. Had the best luck around 7 ft while bouncing a dark gulp along the bottom. Finding consistent grass was the key, once the bottom starting having a bunch of sandy spots the bite would stop. I did catch a nice pompano on one of the big sandy spots, which was a nice surprise. Lots of short trout, rock bass, and lady fish today. Ended up with 7 keepers. Could have limited out, but I tried to be fancy and flip the the trout in the boat all day, and ended up flipping a few keepers back in the water.
Had the pompano for dinner tonight. My wife says its her new favorite fish to eat! Might have to target them more now.

Nice mess of fish! That plate looks professional.

Good lookin' bunch of fish. Being VERY new to saltwater fishing, I've got one question. How do you tell a Pompano from a Jack?

Thanks,
Russ

Nice days catch. Saw a guy at the ramp once that said he had two nice pompano. So I said cool let me see em. Had to tell him they were jacks. What is that side dish? It looks delicious.


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Jacks have a more rounded head while pompano have a bit more pointed head. Jacks also have a bony area one their side right before their tail, while pompano are smooth. We had a school of jacks swim under the boat while they were tailing a school of mullet. Every one of the jacks looked like they were over 15-20 pounds (they probably weren't, but everything looks bigger in the water), but we couldn't get them to bite anything we had.

Jack crevalle Florida pompano Both are members of the jack family. Both fight hard, one is tasty and the other is not.

These drawings and other fish IDs by Diane Rome Pepples can be found on myfwc.com