THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Taking account of the sparsity of catches in home waters, it's more probably an occasional tail end
straggler un-intentionally finding itself this far north following an extensive bout of favourable
conditions, but none the less, worth keeping an eye out for anyway.
Typically jack-like, even scad-like in appearance, though with a slightly deeper body profile, and
generally more powerful build, particularly around the shoulders and head. The mouth is large, the tail
very strongly forked, and the second dorsal and anal fins are of roughly balanced size and layout.
As with the scad, but not the two amberjack species mentioned previously, the lateral line comprises a
series of obvious bony scales or scutes numbering 46 to 56. These become more pronounced from where
it curves over the pectoral fin towards tail.
In the scad, the first dorsal fin is taller than second. With the blue runner the reverse is true. A blueish
green to olive green fish on the back and upper sides becoming silvery grey below, with a dusky spot,
though this may be indistinct, on the upper gill cover.
PILOT FISH Naucrates ductor
Bucket List status – no result yet
Most people, including none anglers,
will be familiar with pilot fish, having
seen them shadowing sharks on TV
documentaries. Sharks tolerate them as
equal partners in a symbiotic
relationship in which the pilot fish rids
the shark of various ecto-parasites in
exchange for scraps of food, protection
from predators, and an understanding
between the pair that it doesn't ultimately feature on the sharks menu at some stage, all of which seems
to work quite well.
So well in fact that pilot fish hate to be without their 'partner', and as such have been said to shadow
boats, which is suggested as one reason why they turn up around the British Isles where very
occasionally they are caught on rod and line, one of the latest examples having turned up in Carmarthen
Bay.
Thankfully, at last, a jack that is easy to identify. One in fact that is slightly different in shape to the
more familiar scad in that it is a little heavier built with a rounded face. Also there are three to five short
individual spines replacing the more familiar first dorsal fin.
Two similar free spines are situated in front of anal fin on the underside, and there is a distinct scaleless
keel following the run of the lateral line from just before the back edge of the dorsal and anal fins
reaching to the start of the tail fin, none of which really matters a jot as colouration and markings should
settle the issue anyway. Pilot fish are blue grey with between five and seven broad darker vertical bands.
THE SEA BREAMS
As with the jacks, the wrasses, and the tuna's, the sea breams are essentially a warm water family at the
northern edge of its range at our latitude, but one which looks destined to continue to spread in terms
of diversity and geographical limits as sea temperatures continue to rise.
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