A rare jack for San Diego

Whether the weathermen decide it’s an El Niño year may be perpetually debated, but with reports of wahoo and blue marlin caught off shore, and the confirmed sighting of a whale shark near Catalina Island, this year of fishing has seen an amazing influx of warm water fish into SoCal fishing grounds.

I have my own entry for Uncommon Catch of the Year: an almaco jack!

September 3rd, spearfishing in the kelp forest off Point Loma, I took a shot at what I thought was a small yellowtail as it rocketed past me. The fish was strong, just like a YT, and quickly tied itself up. Once I’d extricated, dispatched, and bled the fish, I took a second to examine it.

It had long, sickle-shaped dorsal and anal fins. A dark bar ran across its eye. The overall shape was like a football, not the torpedo shape of our beloved yellowtail. The unusual, olive drab color confused me at first, but also clued me in to the fact that it wasn’t a yellowtail.

I snapped some photos, Googled around, and consulted some expert fishermen on the matter of what, exactly, I had caught. At first, I thought the fish was a rat amberjack, because of the color, but amberjack have a body shape closer to yellowtail, and they lack the sickle-shaped dorsal fin. As the opinions of the Greater Internet rolled in, it was starting to look more and more like I had caught an almaco jack, a smaller cousin to the amberjack, and a fish that would be very rare in San Diego waters.

A picture (from the Pensacola Fishing Forum website) comparing an almaco and a greater AJ cleared matters up. The almaco shown in the photo is a dead ringer for my fish.

I couldn’t find anybody with a recent record of an almaco in San Diego, and I’m pleased to add this catch to a year of warm water fish in San Diego!

Almaco are considered fine eating, less prone to parasites than amberjack and on par with the best yellowtail and some tuna for sushi. One thing’s for certain, mine made a dynamite batch of poké.