THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Quite an unusual visitor to our patch of the Atlantic, though numbers increase noticeably along
Portugal's Atlantic coast around into the Mediterranean, an area which supports quite a sizeable
commercial fishery for the species, and it’s around southern Europe and the Canary Islands that I have
encountered them on a number of occasions.
I haven't actually caught one myself, because when I fish those venues I tend to concentrate on the
bigger target species. But I do see chub mackerel in the boats brought on as bait in much the same way
as we would use mackerel back home.
Those that do make it up as far as Britain are typically lone individuals that have probably become
isolated from their own kind, and as you do when shoaling is an instinctive protection measure from
predation, you team up with the next best thing which is a shoal of regular mackerel if you come across
one and try to blend in.
Not that blending in will be difficult, as superficially the pair are very much alike. So much so in fact
that I wouldn't be surprised if more specimens than people realise turn up and are over-looked in the
frenetic action that ensues during a good mackerel bashing session when rushing to catch enough for
bait.
Mass catches on the other hand in home waters are rare, though several were recorded over a period of
a few days from Mounts Bay back in the summer of 1995. Possibly a shoal or a partial shoal and
favourable weather conditions. Who knows.
Amazingly, a species which is absent at the time of writing from the Irish record list, though even more
amazing, one that appears on the Scottish list, with a specimen taken way up the west coast off
Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. So always it pays to be looking out for those spots on the flanks.
THE JACKS
A huge global family with in excess of one hundred and forty species, including many of the best pound
for pound fighting fish on the planet, distributed throughout all tropical, sub-tropical, and some
temperate latitudes. Also a family which have what is known as an adipose eyelid that can vary between
prominent and negligible, depending on the species in question.
Best known amongst those found around the British Isles has to be the humble scad. But increasingly,
as sea temperatures climb, more and more of its warmer water relatives are also starting to head north
to join it. So, while at the moment it's just an odd specimen here and there, undoubtedly there will be
more, and as anglers we should welcome that.
SCAD Trachurus trachurus
Bucket List status – result
Scad have large transparent eyelids which come in from the sides rather than the top and bottom of the
eye. Visually more prominent still is a very noticeable line of bony scales or scutes over the lateral line,
which again is a characteristic of some, though not all members of the family carangidae. These are
quite soft above the pectoral fins, becoming progressively more raised and rough to the touch towards
the tail.
Scad are quite a laterally compressed fish with a large mouth and two individual spines just ahead of
the anal fin. Colouration is bluish grey on the upper back becoming white underneath, with yellowish
tints on the flanks when fresh. There is also a small dark blotch on the upper outer edge of the gill cover.
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