No Kings but hey,

[TheOtherLine]

Went out this am, seas in the gulf were 2 - 4. Tried trolling for Kingfish before they headed south but had no luck. Caught a few short grouper and a bunch of Spanish Macs.

Any day fishing is better than the best day working...

 

[Outta Here]

Nice looking spanish. How do you determine diff in spainsh and small kings?

 

[TheOtherLine]

I'm no expert but I've been told that there are two distinguising characteristics.

Spanish Mackerel will have what looks like a “black flag” behind its dorsal fin and the King don't. At least not the juvy Kings.

The other way is to look at the line that runs down it's side. In spanish macs the line slopes down gradually. In Kings, the line drops off towards the bottom of the tail very sharply.

 

[Outta Here]

I'm no expert but I've been told that there are two distinguising characteristics.

Spanish Mackerel will have what looks like a “black flag” behind its dorsal fin and the King don't. At least not the juvy Kings.

The other way is to look at the line that runs down it's side. In spanish macs the line slopes down gradually. In Kings, the line drops off towards the bottom of the tail very sharply.

You got it on the "black flag". If it a Spainsh, theres a "smudge" on the forewardmost fin that's not on kings. You cannot distinguish by lateral line, gold specs or any other feature. A lot of guys have been fined for undersized kings that they thought were trophy Spanish. Problem is, I can't look at the small smudge until fish is gaffed and in boat. :?