Florida Pompano

Header Photo Credit: ©1992, Diane Rome Peebles

The Florida pompano, part of the jack family, is a species of marine fish with a compressed body, short snout and deeply forked tail. Pompano fish often have a color variation of blue, green and yellow on their dorsal areas and silver and yellow on their body and fins.

This species is popular for both sport and commercial fishing, and most that are caught weigh less than three pounds are less than 17 inches long, although some can weigh as much as 8-9 pounds and reach lengths up to 26 inches.

The Florida pompano usually live for three to four years. They are typically found in warmer waters (70-89 degrees) migrating northward in the summer and south in the fall. Although it is named the Florida pompano, they can be found from Massachusetts to Brazil, but are more common in areas near Florida.

This species prefers surf flats as opposed to clear water regions and live in schools.

The Florida pompano is a fast swimmer and typically feeds off small clams, sand fleas or other small organisms.  

Pompano Beach in Florida was named after the Florida pompano fish.