Rainbow Runner
What:
Rainbow Runners are beautiful fish that are members of the Jack family. They can grow up to around 40 pounds, and can reach sexual maturity at about 4 years. They resemble the California yellowtail both in appearance and behavior. There bodies have very colorful stripes along the side from which they earned their name. Their meat also similar to yellowtail. It is delicious, and is often served as sashimi.
Where:
Found in Tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world. This fish is primarily pelagic, but they can also be found at the edges of deep coral or rock reefs where there is current and bait fish. They, like the California yellowtail, are attracted to things floating in the open ocean such FADS, and debris. Rainbow runners mainly inhabit the top 300' of the water column, so metering them and chumming them up to the surface is possible.
When:
Year round but the best months tend to be when the water is over 79 degrees causing fish to spawn. Little is know about these fish migration patterns.
Tips:
These fish are usually followed closely by sharks. So be prepare if you shoot a rainbow runner, the sharks will be going for it quickly. I usually find these fish at the drop offs of reefs or drift from the bluewater up to the shelf of a reef. Typically, I see the rainbow runners first before other species of fish followed by the sharks as mentioned above. Recommended gear would be a slip tip or a side slip with a longer two banded gun, 55" plus, and either a reel or floatline will do. I have seen some massive rainbow runners where a floatline would be ideal, but my biggest one to date is only 10 pounds.