UTER
Photo: Matthew Hoelscher (original photograph), Kaldari (crop), Papa Lima Whiskey (white balance adjustments), CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Chaetodipterus faber
How to catch Atlantic spadefish
Atlantic spadefish feed in 66–88°F water and bite best at 72–84°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 6 waters.
12 pts · trophy at 16"Feeds 66–88°FBest 72–84°FIn season nowWreckArtificial reefMarker / buoyBridge
About
Black-and-silver striped discs schooling in the hundreds over the wrecks and around the markers and buoys in summer. Small mouths, hard fights, good on the grill.
How to fish it
Chum with a cannonball jellyfish or clam, a #4 hook with a sliver of the same, and free-line it into the school. Light tackle.
What it eats
jellyball piecesclamshrimp bitstiny jigs
Live bait for it
Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
Fiddler crabsA #1 hook through the back corner of the shell, dropped tight to the piling — the sheepshead bait.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader30–60 lb fluorocarbon
Hook2/0–7/0
Braid30–65 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereGeneral bag limit — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Gulf of Mexico