Science Name: | Nematistius pectoralis |
World Record: | 114 lbs. Ca. |
Environment: | coastal |
Techniques: | trolling, light tackle, drifting |
Roosterfish are members of the jack family and can grow to over 100 pounds.
There are higher concentrations of roosterfish in the waters around Cabo San Lucas than anywhere else on earth. Not only is this one of the greatest inshore gamefishes, It is also one of the most beautiful. When roosterfish are feeding in the crashing waves, it is common to see their comb-like dorsal fin slicing above the surface, raised as if a sail as it pursues its intended victim. Roosterfish can be the most selective feeder of all the oceanic sportfish. At times frustrating, the rewards can be great when one of these colorful fish pounces on your fly.
The ideal fishing situation is to find a school of roosterfish that has a school of bait herded against the shore. When this happens, the chance of a roosterfish eating your fly is greatest. I have been in the middle of hundreds of busting roosters and had them shun my fly. I changed flies with each cast until I found the one they wanted, then I had eight fish eat in almost as many casts.
Fishing Techniques: It can be caught both by boat and from shore utilizing both bait and lures. A lure caught fish however are both more entertaining as well as being the most sporting of methods.
By boat: There are two ways to fish from roosters from a boat, those being by trolling live bait, such as horse-eyed jacks, blue runners, bonito, ladyfish, mullet, among other baits, or by casting lures towards the shoreline. Both ways are fun and can actually be done imultaneously. It is important to remember to troll baits a fair ways back for larger fish, as they can be somewhat boat-shy. Circle hooks should be used when live-baiting. Usually while slow-trolling a live-bait, at least one angler will want to cast top-water lures such as "Klassic Poppers" and "Rangers". Cast them right up onto the beach if possible and retrieve at a medium to fast pace towards the boat. Smaller roosterfish will also hit diving minnow -type lures, "Krocodile Spoons" and even plastic swim baits on occasion but these strikes would usually be made by smaller fish and are infrequent.
Surf Fishing: From a boat, the roosterfish is certainly a worthy opponent, but to really test your fishing skills and to truly experience what is "rooster-fishing", you need to get one with both feet on the ground. From the shore top-water lures are pretty much all one would use when targeting roosterfish. When you are retrieving your lure, start out with a medium retrieve, keeping the lure on the surface, but not actually flying out of the water. As a roosterfish comes up on the lure, drop your rod tip a bit, which will keep the lure from getting airborne, and crank a little faster. NEVER SLOW DOWN! It's much better to have your lure hit the beach, then make a shorter cast towards the area you just retrieved through.
Fly fishing: Fly fishing for roosterfish is an absolute blast, when the opportunity arises. It is definitely easier to get on fly fishing by boat, especially in smaller pangas or center consoles, where one can get in tighter to the shoreline, as well as having the open space on deck to cast. Trolling flies such as mullet or sardine pattern streamers will work, especially when twitched along while slow trolling. The real fun though is had by casting to them, once having had a second angler or deck hand tease a fish to the boat with a hook-less live-bait or top-water lure. Popper-type flies, at least 2/0 in size, are deadly in these situations. Smaller specimens are fairly easy to get from shore, but larger ones are much more difficult to even hook up, let alone land. This is primarily due to the larger surf, which attracts the bigger fish, but which makes casting from shore almost impossible.
When the roosterfish is within range, it is your job to get the fly in front of the excited fish. If all goes well, the rooster will charge your fly and it will disappear into its cavernous mouth. Set the hook and hold on! The initial run of the roosterfish is blistering and strong and may include many porpoise-like leaps.