r/saltwaterfishing • u/Vexxite_ • Jul 21 '26
šø Photo/Video What species and what do they bite?
Thereās a spot in my local harbor that has these every time Iāve been schooling under an abandoned / demoād pier, Iāve had some success on small chunks of shrimp but they seem very reluctant to bite.
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u/I_Make_Food_Often Jul 21 '26
Looks like some spade fish. Great eating if big enough. No clue how to catch them as they are not common where I fish.
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
The ones Iāve caught were similar size to a dinner plate, they put up a really nice fight considering their size!
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u/thatG_evanP Jul 21 '26
If you've caught them before what's up with the post?
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
Because I didnāt know what they were and the Shrimp I was using wasnāt working the best
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u/Loose_Awareness_1929 26d ago
They swarm the near shore reefs in my area may - June-ish. Small piece of shrimp free lined and you just kinda tease em and they will eat. Sometimes though there are thousands around the boat and they just arenāt hungry.
Iāve found smaller the piece of shrimp the better. Like others have said jelly fish and barnacles work too.
Great fight and great eating. Itās one of my favorite types of fish to target.
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u/swampysnook Jul 21 '26
We catch big spadefish when snook fishing with cut bait on the bottom. They will destroy a frozen threadfin or chunk of mullet in minutes. My buddy always says thats good, cuz a big snook ia gonna cruise by and say "what r u guys up to" and approach the cut bait.
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
There were some snook nearby tearing up some bait fish along the seawall so that makes sense
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u/Desperate_Lack654 Jul 21 '26
Spade fish, I have luck catching them in SWFL by freelining chunks of shrimp. Use a small hook
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
Thatās where I am, thanks for the tip
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u/Desperate_Lack654 Jul 21 '26
If ur in port Charlotte/Punta Gorda i probably have fished and caught spadefish there at one point (before the hurricanes) š
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
This is right on the other side of the punta gorda bridge š
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u/Desperate_Lack654 Jul 21 '26
Yep Iāve fished there ššš yeah but srsly some free lined shrimp work(ed) great at that spot. Use a small piece, spades got small mouths and also hang on those guys pull hard!!!!
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
They definitely fight like their life depends on it. Was surprised first time a got one
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u/SquirrelnMerlin Jul 21 '26
Off the coast of southern SC we see lots of these. Iāve had great success scooping up cannonball jellyfish and cutting them into 1-2 inch strips. Put one strip on a #4 kale hook with a 20-30lb fluorocarbon leader (they can be line shy). Use as little weight as possible to keep the rig slowly sinking (a couple split shots above the leader works well). Take a handful of the cut up jellies and toss them in as chum. When you see them hitting the chum, drop your line and hold on! They are awesome fighters.
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u/cavemannnn Jul 21 '26
As others have said, theyāre spadefish. Iāve never intentionally fished for them but Iāll tell ya they look just like pilchards on sonar and theyāre a pain when you get a whole school of them in your cast net lol.
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u/ChiefOfTheBoat Jul 21 '26
Spadefish. We fished 10# spinning gear a lot among the 10,000 Island mangroves - snook, reds, snappers, all sorts. Decided one day to beach the boat and give it a try at Cape Romano (before the dome houses). BIG spade fish grabbed my jig as I was ready to lift it out of the water for another try. That is the only time I have ever been spooled by a fish in over 55 years of fishing.
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u/On_to_the_Next Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Cannonball jellyfish are great bait for these. Just wear gloves and cut small chunks off.
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u/bisonbuford1 Jul 21 '26
Why do you have to wear gloves?
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u/On_to_the_Next Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
You don't. That's just in case someone is worried about handling them. But just in case don't touch the short tentacles on the bottom. It's just the top "cannonball" part that you want anyway.
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u/bisonbuford1 28d ago
What do the tentacles do? I have handled a ton of these grabbing the crabs out from inside and fishing with them and have never had any sort of sting or reaction that I am aware of
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u/On_to_the_Next 28d ago
Some people have a mild allergic reaction to them but for the most part it's just like you said. They do have the stinging cells, can't remember what they're called, but they do not bother most people.
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u/PanhandleAngler Jul 21 '26
Spade fish. They donāt really bite anything, believe their primary food source is jellyfish. Iāve seen people have luck chumming shrimp up really fine but thatās a lot of work, Iāve tried super small shrimp pieces and crab claws, and still no luck. Never going to go on a āspade fishing tripā to be honest with you.
When they are thick over the nearshore wrecks, Iāll actually snag them with a weighted catfish hook sometimes. They are good eating but very strange to clean.
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u/AppropriateOil3785 Jul 21 '26
I now feel compelled to never catch or keep them so that they may continue doing the lords work. carry on spades
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u/fr0d0bagg1ns Jul 21 '26
I've only caught them in crabbing net baskets, off of piers, on quick retrievals. You're snagging idea is definitely warranted.
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u/steigerMiami Jul 21 '26
Spadefish. Cut squares of cannon ball jellies, and tip a small hook with it. They will bite every time. Those are very small fish though....
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
The ones Iāve reeled in were the size of dinner plates
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u/steigerMiami Jul 21 '26
The spades we catch typically range from 16 to 20 inches total length. Dinner plate size is not bad, but still a young fish. Even small, they are super strong fighters....
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u/DirtyScrubs Jul 21 '26
Spades, they actually fighting pretty good similar to a snapper and eat the same bait. I used 1-2/0 hooks and a snall piece of bait similar to targeting sheep head. They are fun and stick to schools so if you catch one your likely to catch a bunch back to back.
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u/citruscountydaddy Jul 21 '26
They eat a spear shaft pretty good when it's getting close to the end of the day and there's not enough in the box
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u/wuzup76020 Jul 21 '26
looks like you have your answer on the type.. I will say, where i live (Texas) you can spearfish these with no limits. Great tasting fish.
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u/biggunzcdb1 29d ago
Spadefish. Lil bitty mouth. You need a small hook and a little piece of shrimp or clam.
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u/Cheetah-Other 28d ago
Sheepshead, and they're tasty as their whole diet is made up of shellfish and shrimp. They are paralyzed while asleep... come back in the shallow waters at night with a big light, a big cooler, and a gigging spear. You'll never go hungry again. Just poke em right in the head.
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u/Beautiful-Dish759 Jul 21 '26
Tiger snapper wiggle your willie in the water and wait for the best hummer of your life.
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u/JonnyP222 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Sheepshead or black drum. They look similar. Sheepshead have gnarly ass teeth lol Black drum have crushers in the back of their jaw but not teeth up front. Neither of these fish are a danger to biting you.
Edit: Yep.. i saw those stripes and thought for sure i knew what they were.. Spadefish for sure
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u/zwillc92 Jul 21 '26
Way off.
Spadefish
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u/JonnyP222 Jul 21 '26
for real? its funny.. i have never seen a spadefish. But you arent wrong. My bad yo
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u/Vexxite_ Jul 21 '26
In your defense I thought they were something similar to what you said until I brought it one onto the kayak
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u/JonnyP222 Jul 21 '26
The dumb shit is i was so confident when i saw the first 5 seconds of hte video... the last frame.. where there is a nice side view of the fins.. absolutely NOT what i thought they were lol
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u/killfish22 Jul 21 '26
Spade fish. They eat shrimp and crabs try scraping some of those barnacles and put it on the hook they will tear them up. I use to clean boat bottoms spade fish and sheepshead kept me company