# Spanish Slay



## PierGoogan (Jul 9, 2014)

Killed the spanish yesterday at the Navarre Pier. The big ones were eating cigs and the smaller ones were eating gotchas and bubble rigs. Before the storm hit, a hammy showed up and swam around for a bit.


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## c_stowers (Jan 10, 2012)

Nice job! Are you sure all of those are Spanish? A few have a fairly sharp lateral line drop making me think they might be Juvie kings. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I would just like to know others opinions because I would have let a few of them go thinking they were small kings.


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## Chapman5011 (Mar 7, 2013)

All Spanish except the top fish


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## PierGoogan (Jul 9, 2014)

c_stowers said:


> Nice job! Are you sure all of those are Spanish? A few have a fairly sharp lateral line drop making me think they might be Juvie kings. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I would just like to know others opinions because I would have let a few of them go thinking they were small kings.


i was questionable of a few at first but none of them are kings. Had one guy come up to me and shake my hand because he saw me measure a fish then throw it back. Said my daddy taught me well


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## PierGoogan (Jul 9, 2014)

Chapman5011 said:


> All Spanish except the top fish


lol poor mans tarpon


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## c_stowers (Jan 10, 2012)

Chapman5011 said:


> All Spanish except the top fish


Can you guys tell me how to know when the Spanish has a lateral line drop like a few of those in the pic?  I'm obviously confused on how to tell the difference.


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## c_stowers (Jan 10, 2012)

Do you eat the lady fish? I've always considered them junk fish.


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## PierGoogan (Jul 9, 2014)

c_stowers said:


> Can you guys tell me how to know when the Spanish has a lateral line drop like a few of those in the pic? I'm obviously confused on how to tell the difference.


Some spanish can be questionable because it is sort of like a king lateral line. But kings lateral line is very distinctive. It drops very steep. And no i dont eat them im going surf fishing next weekend and lady fish is bait along with 13 spanish mackerel heads


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## weedline (Aug 20, 2011)

its easy to tell the difference in a spanish and king. spanish has a smaller eye and has a black flag fin no fin its a king u guys make it difficoult worrying about lateral lines


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## Mac1528 (Mar 24, 2012)

Here's a good shot of the lateral line on a king


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## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

i usually look for the spots on spanish. do kings have those spots?

jack


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## PierGoogan (Jul 9, 2014)

jack2 said:


> i usually look for the spots on spanish. do kings have those spots?
> 
> jack


juvi kings do. thats why you cant judge if its a spanish or not by its spots.


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## c_stowers (Jan 10, 2012)

weedline said:


> its easy to tell the difference in a spanish and king. spanish has a smaller eye and has a black flag fin no fin its a king u guys make it difficoult worrying about lateral lines


Can you tell me what you mean by a black flag fin? A pic would be great if you have one.


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## weedline (Aug 20, 2011)

black flag dorsal fin i will look for a pic its hard to see on a dead iced fish but fresh out of the water it sticks out and cant go by spots i caught 25 lb kings with spots


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## weedline (Aug 20, 2011)

see the black flag dorsal even a 10 lb spanish will have that a 2 lb king wont


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## Mac1528 (Mar 24, 2012)

OK here they are side by side. 
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c372/SnookMook/MackLabel1.jpg


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## c_stowers (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks guys. That helps alot. I'm sure I've let several Spanish swim another day thinking they were Juvie kings. Oh well, better safe than sorry.


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## Mac1528 (Mar 24, 2012)

From yesteryear when I was a kid. If the fin is black, it's a mack!


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## TarponDan (Nov 29, 2011)

The black flag is definitely the best way to tell, but a juvenile king's spots are also a little different from the spanish's. It looks like the juvenile king's spots are out of focus. On the pic earlier in this post, notice how vivid the Spanish's spots are. A king that size will have spots that are duller in color and not as clearly defined.

A few years ago, a fisherperson next to me was upset that I kept throwing back undersize kings, not realizing I was just obeying the law. I've also seen people filling their coolers with undersize kings, thinking they were Spanish.


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