Roosterfish
name: Roosterfish
other names: Pez Gallo
The Roosterfish is the most exciting inshore and surf fish available therefore they are the main attraction to inshore fishermen. Roosterfish are members of the jack family and can grow to over 100 pounds. Roosterfish or pez gallo are unique to the tropical Pacific. These fish are found in-shore near the sandy beaches. They are the predators of the surf. Probably the most easily recognized jack. As Roosterfish have 7 distinct spines that stand high above the dorsal fin when the fish is excited or threatened. There are also two long streaks that run from the fish's dorsal fin, down the sides, ending before the tail.
These fish inhabit sandy inshore's and near shore areas. They also linger around near shore reefs.
When roosterfish are feeding in the crashing waves, it is common to see their comb-like dorsal fin slicing above the surface, raised as if a sail as it pursues its intended victim. Roosterfish can be the most selective feeder of all the oceanic sport fish. At times frustrating, the rewards can be great when one of these colourful fish pounces on your fly. Roosterfish patrol the shoreline searching for schools of bait fish. They will corral mullet and sardines into tight balls and then attack.
There is very little known about the roosterfish's life span. Anglers have caught these fish over four feet long and weighing 100 pounds.
Roosterfish can be caught both by boat and from shore using either bait or lures. A lure caught fish however are both more entertaining as well as being the most sporting of methods. The best situation is to find a school of roosterfish that has a school of bait herded against the shore. When this happens, the chance of a roosterfish eating your fly is greatest. There are two ways to fish from a boat, trolling live bait, or by casting lures towards the shoreline. Both ways are great fun. It is important to remember to troll baits a long way back for larger fish, as they can be boat-shy. Circle hooks should be used when live-baiting. Surf Fishing from a boat, will really test your fishing skills and to truly experience what is "rooster-fishing", you need to get one with both feet on the ground. From the shore top-water lures are pretty much all one would use when targeting roosterfish. When you are retrieving your lure, start out with a medium retrieve, keeping the lure on the surface, but not actually flying out of the water. As a roosterfish comes up on the lure, drop your rod tip a bit, which will keep the lure from getting airborne, and crank a little faster. It's much better to have your lure hit the beach, then make a shorter cast towards the area you just retrieved through. Fly fishing for roosterfish is unbelievable fishing, when the opportunity arises. It is definitely easier to fly fish from a boat, as you can get in tighter to the shoreline, plus having the open space on deck to cast. Trolling flies work, especially when twitched along while slow trolling. The real fun though is had by casting to them, once having had a second angler or deck hand tease a fish to the boat with a hook-less live-bait or top-water lure. Popper-type flies, at least 2/0 in size, are deadly in these situations. Smaller specimens are fairly easy to get from shore, but larger ones are much more difficult to even hook up, let alone land. This is primarily due to the larger surf, which attracts the bigger fish, but which makes casting from shore almost impossible.
