Bar Jack

Bar Jack (Caranx ruber) Fish Description

The Bar Jack is an inshore marine fish, a common species classified under the jack family Carangidae. The Bar Jack is also known under the following names, such as the carbonero, red jack, blue-striped cavalla, or the passing jack.

To distinguish the Bar Jack from similar jacks by their dark horizontal stripe which goes along the back until down its caudal fin. This stripe is often highlighted by an electric blue stripe directly below it.

Diet and Size

The Bar Jack is a carnivore. It primarily eats fish and other seafood. Adult bar fish primarily prey on small fish, shrimp, crabs, squids, worms, and others. Their juvenile counterparts typically feed on smaller food, like plankton, fish larvae, etc.

The Bar Jack is quite a large fish, growing to a recorded maximum of 27 inches and a weight of almost 15 lbs. But, on average the Bar Jack measures around 15 in. or less.

Interesting Facts

• When the Bar Jack feeds on the bottom of the sea, it can change the color of its body into bronze or black.
• It heavily relies on the eyesight to find food, so typically the Bar Jack hunts in the day, which makes it a diurnal animal.
• Bar Jacks hunt for food in large schools of fish.
• The Bar Jack and puddingwife wrasse have an unusual companionship with one another that's beneficial both ways, but primarily known to be in assisting the Bar Jack in the detection of prey
• Bar Jack is a fast swimmer, far from being sedentary, and frequently changes his location.

Fishing Techniques

The Bar Jack is a popular game fish, and it can be caught on light tackle with various lures and baits. The Bar Jack searches for food in mid-water and near the sea floors, such as areas where the water abruptly changes depth: ledges, heads, or sand bars. This carnivorous fish’s diet primarily consists of other fish, with the likes of gobies, butterflyfish, filefish, and blennies. But it also occasionally eats crustaceans and squids. So these would be good things to keep in mind for anglers on the hunt for this one! 

When on the hunt, adult Bar Jacks often travel in schools, and during the day, the Bar Jack are fighters, especially considering their size. You’d need to jig the rig quickly, using the wrist and which would require an amount of stamina. 

Habitat and Distribution

The Bar Jack commonly lives in clear shallow waters, mostly around coral reefs as deep as 60 ft. They can either live solitary or in large schools. They’re known to wander and not the type to stay in any particular reef for too long, willing to travel great expanses of sand before settling in another reef. These fish are often recognized to venture into lagoons from seaward reefs, favoring the sandy substrates while in shallow waters. They often form shoals parallel to barracudas, stingrays, and sharks.

The Bar Jack are spread throughout the west of the Atlantic Ocean. Ranging from New Jersey and Bermuda in the north to Venezuela and possibly south of Brazil. The largest population known of Bar Jacks are located in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies.