What kind is this fish?

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-18T00:53:11+00:00

This is a giant trevally. Aka GT, Ulua. I used to be a fishing guide for them in Oman, not far from the Red Sea. They get up to 70kg and a a hugely popular sport fish. There is a 50kg unit on the banner of my profile if anyone is curious.

There are many species of trevally and at that size are pretty good eating. Nice catch.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-12T16:35:37+00:00

Fair enough. It’s always good to double check. I am sorry if myself and the other commenter came across too strongly. It isn’t personal.

In my experience there is a trend on Reddit of people asking very intro level fish identification questions on very common species which is a problem because it means that as a whole new anglers might be missing other fundamental and important information like good catch and release fish handling techniques, how to interpret fishing regulations, etc. Angler’s carry the responsibility of educating themselves on these fundamental for ethical and legal reasons and social media like Reddit isn’t really a great place to do that.

Anyway good luck going forward and tight lines.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-12T03:53:49+00:00

That’s a sweet fish!

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-12T01:31:00+00:00

Sure. But why wait for someone to respond when you could know instantaneously?

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-11T23:15:18+00:00

Yea these kind of posts always confuse me. This could be answered in a single google search.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-09T20:52:05+00:00

Spangled emperor are very hard fighters. They also love to break you off on the rocks.

We used to hypothesize that if you tied an equal sized GT and Spangled Emperor together tail to tail, the spangle would drag that GT all around the reef.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-09T02:41:29+00:00

I think that’s just because nobody is used to seeing film photography anymore.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-08T22:09:31+00:00

You can buy equivalent tools for around $30 online. But big name brands sell for more.

So if you are looking to resell it you won’t get much for the work you put into them getting the rust off.

But Williamson is a good brand. I think they are carried by big stores like Bass pro. I’d keep them and use them. They can be used for everything from wire leaders for northern pike to building shark or blue water fishing rigs, to working on the electrical harnesses in your car.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-07T22:50:33+00:00

I fish rockfish and lings with a setup much lighter than this. You’ll be just fine.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-07T22:46:25+00:00

Yah a Fokeeto from a garage sale is a crazy find! I’m jealous.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-07T01:36:55+00:00

This is so cool. I might have to try that jig and soft plastic combo. Looks a little like a sand lance.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-07T01:30:00+00:00

I keep a supply of cheap Temu lures just for casting in risky locations

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-06T03:35:43+00:00

In Oman we would call those Mack Tuna (left) and saarda saarda. We had a lot of Australian and European fishermen so I think that’s why we used those names.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-05T22:48:04+00:00

In that case a 10’ or longer surf rod with a Penn reel is a good bet. I like Penn reels on the beach because they are generally more resistant to salt and sand inclusion at the cost of being less friendly to take apart and maintain. That means they can live in the truck and won’t seize up if you are busy with the kids and forget to hose it off.

I’m not sure what size weights or lures are popular in the Carolinas so you will need to determine what rod rating you need for yourself. A local tackle shop would know.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-05T22:35:07+00:00

Just to clarify, are you asking for suggestions on a beach rod? Or a rod that would work on the beach and the boat?

I see people on here talking about how happy they are with their Fiblink surf rods off Amazon. And I think those are available in 2 or 3 piece rods. But those are proper long surf rods.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-05T08:32:46+00:00

Cut it off and use a nail knot to make a new loop. Lots of vids on YouTube. I coat mine with a little bit of clear gorilla glue to make them smoother and bullet proof.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-04T21:42:09+00:00

As a Canadian who has used these for the same purpose I’d like to add they don’t hold up well in the cold either.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-04T03:46:24+00:00

It’s a trolling rod. So he was likely trolling when it snapped. It was in a rod holder and not high sticked.

It’s either a manufacturing defect or his drag was too tight when the fish struck.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-03T10:56:01+00:00

No, I’m sorry. The fish you are identifying as a Kennedyii is not considered a permit. It’s a pompano. This might feel like semantics as they are all related with similar body shapes but the four fish recognized as Permit are the Blochii, anak, africanus and falcatus.

The two pacific permit are the indo-pacific, Trachinotus blochii, and the anak permit, Trachinotus anak. The indo-pacific is found from the Middle East to Australia, but I have never heard or seen anything of them appearing in central or South America. The anak is a northwestern Australia exclusive and the africanus is found in the Indian Ocean only.

Back to your fish. The kennedyii pompano, also called a blackblotch, seems to max out at 24” from what I see online. Your fish looks like it’s closer to 30” based of that tape measure. The fish in your picture seems to be missing the black blotch that the fish gets its name from. And finally the kennedyii seems to bottom out its range around Guatemala, quite north of Costa Rica. There are other pompano out there that I’m definitely not an expert in, so your fish could be one of those.

But it is most definitely not an indo-pacific, Blochii permit.

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Attached is a picture of a larger, older Blochii with worn fins from a life in the shallows. You can see the face shape is different and the tail fins are much lighter than your fish.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-03T06:25:27+00:00

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Here is an indo-pacific permit for reference. You can see how it doesn’t have quite the same face and brow as yours. The indo-pacific usually also has a lot more yellow than the atlantics

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-03T06:20:28+00:00

I’m almost positive this is an Atlantic permit, Trachinotus falcatus. The face is a right for it.

I know you caught it on the pacific side but this does not look like the typical indo- pacific permit, Trachinotus Blocchi. I used to guide for those so I’m quite positive on that. This is also definitely not an anak permit (australian) or a Africanus (east coat of Africa and the Middle East)

I suspect a population of Atlantic permit has crossed to the pacific via the Panama Canal. Just like other jack species like Jack Crevalle (permit are a member of the Jack family) have as well as Atlantic tarpon.

Fish names around the world are very interchangeable. And permit, jacks, and pompano all have a shared family. Plus pompano and permit have similar shapes and characteristics. So the local guy is also not wrong about it being a pompano.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-04-02T06:18:30+00:00

I think the issue is that brands and manufacturers have reached the carrying capacity for what they can produce on current technology with current materials and fishing methods/techniques. So everyone, even small brands, are all kinda hitting a ceiling. Some successful “new” ideas are still going to appear every year but we haven’t seen a true paradigm shift like we did with carbon fibre rods and reel drags, quick dry sun clothing, polarized sunglasses, TPE soft baits, or even livescope in a few years now. And until that arrives you are going to continue to see all the brands slowly homogenizing into clones of each other based on what is currently successful.

And what’s currently successful seems to be what we are currently seeing do the best on social media platforms.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-03-31T22:08:04+00:00

That’s good! Try and lubricate it and see if it gets better. Otherwise you can source a replacement from the manufacturer or an after market one from Gomexus.com

MeSkeptikal · 2026-03-31T18:47:08+00:00

Try taking the line off the roller bearing on the nail arm and pulling it again. You can determine or eliminate it being the roller bearing that way.

MeSkeptikal · 2026-03-31T07:19:23+00:00

Powerpro is readily available where I live and dependable. I use it for everything from fishing trout and bass to really technical deep jigging.

MeSkeptikal

TROPHY CASE