Species spotlight: Roosterfish

Felt Sole Media introduced to the world with the movie Running Down the Man. The movie documented the insanity of chasing down roosterfish off of the Baja coast on foot. At the time, the idea of chasing down roosterfish on foot was looked at as being impossible, but Felt Sole Media changed the game and gave the world a window to a new style of fishing. Even the New York Times was impressed, posting an excerpt of the movie on their website.

Almost a decade later and roosterfish have become one of the most popular species to target on the fly. Commonly casted at off the beaches of the Baja peninsula, they can also be found all the way down to Panama in the Pacific. In the Atlantic they are found in Costa Rica to Columbia. Growing up to 5 feet, these fish are easy to identify thanks to their distinct seven spiked crown that serves as a dorsal fin.

These large predatory fish are often seen blowing up baitfish in shallow water and near rocky outcrops. Because of this, they are not as picky about the fly as other species, stripping the fly is more important than the fly itself. Roosterfish are fast, predatory fish, so don’t be afraid to retrieve the fly quickly.

The most desired way to catch these fish is by foot. If you want to do this, start doing cardio. Anglers hop in ATV’s and dune buggies and drive until they spot a fish, then it’s a dead sprint to the water to make a cast. The faster you run, the longer you have to cast before the fish swims off.

Picking a fly is fairly easy for these fish. Throw baitfish patterns with similar colors to what they are feeding on. If you don’t know what they are eating, standard colors such as white, blue, black and yellow work well. These fish are also known to eat poppers, as if they weren’t exciting enough.

However, roosterfish are hit or miss. Weeks can go by without seeing one and then out of nowhere there are fish. Don’t expect high number days. Don’t expect fish at all. Just a lot of dead sprints to desperate casts.