# Big Spanish or King?



## COALTRAIN (Jun 28, 2012)

I went out to Johnson's beach today and fished gulfside. It was a little more gnarly out there then I would like it in my 10 foot Pelican. But I went anyways. Got some Spanish, ladyfish, and sharks. But I caught this fish and told my buddy about it and he said sometimes small King have spots. So now it's got me wondering if it's a Spanish or a king. Any ideas? By the way that measuring board is 37 inches long and he was hanging off 2 to 3 inches and I would say he was maybe 15 + pounds.



















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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

Wirelessly posted (Iphone 4s)

Its a king! If u zoom in you can see the lateral line drop sharply. A spanish goes down slowly


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Some kings will have spots. Youhave to look for the sharp drop of the lateral line.


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## Bigkidneys (Jul 14, 2011)

bbarton13 said:


> Wirelessly posted (Iphone 4s)
> 
> Its a king! If u zoom in you can see the lateral line drop sharply. A spanish goes down slowly


 
Yep, learned this last week as Kings do have some yellow spots on them. The lateral line is the most effective way to tell.


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## bbarton13 (May 4, 2009)

Wirelessly posted (Iphone 4s)

Plus if thats was a spanish it might of been a record at 40 inches lol kings can have spots too


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Its a king as said. However you measure them to the fork so he is about thirty seven inches and maybe ten pounds. Still a great fun fish to catch though.


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## Caddy Yakker (May 21, 2011)

Another dead give away is the dorsal fins. Kings have short, gray( one color) dorsal fins while spanish have much taller, black dorsal fins that fade to almost white, often called the black flag.
I caught a 18 lb king yesterday that still had his spots.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Like said above, the front third or so of the Spanish will be black trailing to white. The king bite was definitely on yesterday


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## kandv2000 (May 10, 2012)

the other way is the dorsal. spanish is longer. 

http://forshorefishing.blogs.theledger.com/11278/juvenile-king-mackerel-vs-spanish-mackerel-easy-id/


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## COALTRAIN (Jun 28, 2012)

Sweet then thats my first king in my yak. Cought him on a 3/8 oz white jig with white hair. Yea I was thinking if that was a Spanish I should of kept him cause it may have been a record. Fun as hell though almost spooled me.

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## leeroy87 (May 20, 2012)

Caddy Yakker said:


> Another dead give away is the dorsal fins. Kings have short, gray( one color) dorsal fins while spanish have much taller, black dorsal fins that fade to almost white, often called the black flag.
> I caught a 18 lb king yesterday that still had his spots.



Lateral line and spots can trick you. ^ this is the most effective way of telling. Kings will have an opaque front dorsal while spanish will always be black or black fading to white.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

leeroy87 said:


> Lateral line and spots can trick you. ^ this is the most effective way of telling. Kings will have an opaque front dorsal while spanish will always be black or black fading to white.


Just curious, but how does a lateral line "trick" someone. It's either a sharp drop or it's not.


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## Caddy Yakker (May 21, 2011)

MrFish said:


> Just curious, but how does a lateral line "trick" someone. It's either a sharp drop or it's not.


If someone is new to fishing and has never seen a king and a spanish side by side they might get confused, but the dorsal fin is very easy to distinguish.


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## Aqua Uno (Dec 6, 2010)

Caddy Yakker said:


> If someone is new to fishing and has never seen a king and a spanish side by side they might get confused, but the dorsal fin is very easy to distinguish.


 
+1. When I first started fishing the lat line was iffy but the fin is a dead give away!


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

The dorsal fin is NOT always accurate. You should never use color to ID fish. The latteral line is the only way to tell. I always forget which is which until I look at the fish in person. Its hard to confuse a big spanish with a small king. A big spanish is much thicker generally then a king of the same size. Saying that, the latteral is still the only way to be 100 percent.


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## KingCrab (Apr 29, 2012)

Its a spanish or Cero. Kings have a drastic almost 90degree drop in lateral line. Florida record for spanish is around 11 pounds i think. It still looks very Kingy to me. Lateral line looks to strait though.


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## leeroy87 (May 20, 2012)

MrFish said:


> Just curious, but how does a lateral line "trick" someone. It's either a sharp drop or it's not.


Because the lateral line doesn't always drop sharply or stay even, sometimes its in the middle for spanish or king. I've caught spanish that had very close to king like drops and I've caught king with almost no drop, but I've never caught king with black dorsals or spanish with clear ones.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

leeroy87 said:


> Because the lateral line doesn't always drop sharply or stay even, sometimes its in the middle for spanish or king. I've caught spanish that had very close to king like drops and I've caught king with almost no drop, but I've never caught king with black dorsals or spanish with clear ones.


Youve got it backwards, color is HIGHLY variable on fish. However, the lateral line is not. The LL is always there and always the same shape. Color, even on the same fish, can change dramatically.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

I will say though that a spanish more likely to not show its "black flag" then a king is to have one.

The black flag is a good quick indicator but not always correct.

Best thing is to just toss the mackerel back and try and catch something that tastes good. lol Well, Spanish aint bad sashimi actually.


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## COALTRAIN (Jun 28, 2012)

Yup had the sharp drop on the L.L. thanks for the help guys hope to get a real yak and get offshore and really fish with you guys.

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## Wilbur (Jan 17, 2011)

Good info. I just used it today on a pretty big spanish. The lateral line dropped slightly, so I wasn't sure, then I saw the "black flag" dorsal fin that faded from black to white and was pretty prominent. 22" spanish.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Wilbur said:


> Good info. I just used it today on a pretty big spanish. The lateral line dropped slightly, so I wasn't sure, then I saw the "black flag" dorsal fin that faded from black to white and was pretty prominent. 22" spanish.
> 
> View attachment 63029


That lateral line barely drops. Nothing like a king's.


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## Catchinem (Dec 19, 2008)

It is a Cero Mackeral


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## King Mike (Apr 15, 2008)

Catchinem said:


> It is a Cero Mackeral


^^^^^ what he said!!


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## Wilbur (Jan 17, 2011)

Catchinem said:


> It is a Cero Mackeral


Wow, no kidding. I just looked them up on Wikipedia. You're right. Says they're rare north of Palm Beach. Cool. BTW, it tasted great. Thanks for the info.


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