Fish That Can Kill You!

Jack Crevalle

With the intimidating grimace and squashed nose of a veteran pugilist, jack crevalle have a face that is looking for a fight. Anglers who get in the ring with one of these fish usually end up with belly bruises and hurt egos. "They're a mean and ornery fish," says Ken Neill, a Virginia angler who has fought many bouts with big crevalle. Not only will jacks attack any bait that crosses it's path, it will use all of it's energy to take the fight into the final rounds. "They don't give up," Neill says. "They fight until they have nothing left." As the fish takes the fight into the final rounds, Neill says that the angler is usually feeling punch drunk, too. "They're definitely one of the hardest fighting fish in the ocean."

Location: Virginia Beach, VA.

Season: August through October.

Tackle and tactics: Schools of big crevalle jacks show up off Virginia Beach each fall. The fish will fall for a Huntington Drone spoon or Rapala plug trolled at six knots, but the best way to catch one is by dropping a live bait into the legs of Chesapeake Light Tower. "They cannot turn down a live croaker," Neill says, "but they are a beast to get out of the tower legs."