Ribbonfish a staple for king mackerel

Years before they became commercially available and a standard part of the spread for slow-trolling for king mackerel and quite by accident, I made my first acquaintance with the ribbonfish. A friend and I were heading to the Capers (R-8) Reef and had stopped to fill the livewell with menhaden.

Mixed in with the net of flipping pogeys was a shiny, prehistoric-looking critter about 2 1/2 feet long. It resembled a flattened eel with a dragon-like face filled with an impressive arsenal of ferocious-looking teeth. I said to my fishing buddy that this has to be a good bait and carefully dropped it into the livewell.

When we arrived at the reef, it was the first bait in the water. Before we had a chance to rig something else, a 20-pound barracuda homed in on the ribbonfish and put on a spectacular aerial display for us and the other fishermen at the reef.

Unfortunately, the average angler can't count on catching live ribbonfish with any consistency. But there is a solid demand for the species and now during tournament week you can usually find a supply of frozen ribbonfish at your favorite tackle store.

"It's really a predator. It's found in just about every ocean in the world, in tropical or sub-tropical water," said Jeff Kitler of the Fish On Bait Company out of Jacksonville, which was in town promoting the product this week for the Key West Boats Fishing for Miracles King Mackerel Tournament.

"The ribbonfish thing kind of exploded around 1992 or '93. People found that large kingfish really, really like them."

Kitler explained that some people are able to catch ribbonfish in Florida on rod and reel, using small hooks and small pieces of shrimp or squid. But not enough are caught to offer a reliable commercial bait source, and sometimes there are as many as 75 boats competing for a small resource.

"You might catch 300 in a weekend or you might catch five," Kitler said. "It's very unpredictable and depends on water temperature and other things. They are a migratory fish, so sometimes they're here and sometimes they're not."

Ribbonfish also are caught rather frequently by shrimp trawlers, but these usually don't make good baits because they lose their shine while tumbling around with other species.

Fish On gets its ribbonfish from Indonesia, where they are hand-caught, quickly brined, vacuum-packed and frozen, Kitler said. He said it's important to properly thaw the fish, by either carefully slitting open or punching several holes in the plastic. Frost will dehydrate the fish, he said.

Ribbonfish can grow up to five or six feet long, Kitler said. But the average fish sold on the East Coast is 18 to 21 inches, while the West Coast of Florida ribbonfish may average 21 to 27 inches. The cost of ribbonfish generally starts around $6.

Ribbonfish won't hold up to high-speed trolling, but they work very well in the slow-trolling, live-bait spread. They are rigged similarly to menhaden, with a keeper hook at the head and a series of stinger treble hooks trailing along the length of the body.

Kitler said some fishermen use a jig head for the keeper hook, others add a type of fish attractor or a lead weight in front of the bait.

"Typically, I've heard people do better fishing the ribbonfish on a downrigger or the shotgun (farthest out) line," he said. "You can troll them for long periods of time. That's how you tell quality, that the bait's belly doesn't wash out. It's always been a bait people consistently use in tournaments, but what we're trying to promote is that it's a good bait for Wednesday and Thursday fishing, also. It's a great bait that consistently produces larger kingfish."