Greater Amberjack off the Cornish coast

Recently I have been seeing lots of information about an unusual catch of the North Cornish coast, in fact 3 Greater Amber Jack caught on rod and line by a Bude angler. I tracked the fisherman down and here is the story…

Dean is a keen angler from Bude in North Cornwall. He started his passion for fishing aged about 7 when he used to fish local rivers for Minnows and the odd Trout. This developed into sea fishing almost 20 years ago, when Dean used to fish from harbour walls and rock marks around the coast. A hunger to improve and increase his catch rate finally saw him get on the water and start boat fishing.

On 23rd July 2007 Deans sea fishing took an interesting course. He was fishing at anchor for Bream on a mark close to Bude, using 10lb mono and a standard 3 hook paternoster bream rig baited with Mackerel. The tide was high, there was a light North wind creating a bit of movement on the water and the sun was showing itself in spells.

Whilst enjoying a successful Bream session, Dean landed a fish he had never seen before. It was a powerful looking fish with a bright green strip from its eye to its dorsal fin, it required playing as it fought hard for its size. Perplexed with his Catch he asked around to try and identify this 700g fish. Eventually Dean spoke with Doug Herdson from the Plymouth Marine Aquarium and arranged to take the fish there for a formal identification.

The result of this meeting identified the fish as a Greater Amberjack which likely followed the gulf stream over to the UK. The last one caught in British waters on rod and line was in 1951. 8 more have been caught since ’51 in nets, Deans being the 10th and the second ever on rod and line. Because of this I understand that Dean is submitting his fish as a possible British record!!

There seems to be a bit of speculation about the species and to claim the record Dean is having to send his fish away for a formal ID which could take up to a year, but to make sure it’s not a pure fluke Dean has pulled a blinder and caught two more to add to his list.

I would like to thank Dean for his time and I wish him the very best in his record claim.