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Photo: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Alectis ciliaris
How to catch African pompano in Florida
African pompano feed in 70–86°F water and bite best at 74–82°F.
60 pts · trophy at 30"Feeds 70–86°FBest 74–82°FIn season nowWreckArtificial reefLedge / hard bottom
About
A mirror with fins: a big, flat, silver jack with trailing threads, on the deep wrecks off Southeast Florida and the Keys. Fights like a permit twice its size.
How to fish it
A live bait or a jig worked over the wreck in 80 to 200 feet; they hit on the way up as often as on the bottom.
What it eats
live baitsvertical jigsbig bucktails
Live bait for it
Blue runners (hardtails)Nose-hooked and slow-trolled on a wire stinger rig for kings; bridled for sailfish and cobia.
PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
Cigar minnowsNose-hooked on a stinger rig for kings, or a 4/0 circle hook dropped to the bottom for grouper.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader30–60 lb fluorocarbon
Hook2/0–7/0
Braid30–65 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereMinimum fork length, bag limit — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule at MyFWC →Month by month, water by water
When african pompano is the story
The Ten Thousand Islands & Everglades
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The Florida Keys
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Miami & Biscayne Bay
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Palm Beach & the Treasure Coast
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