Cigar Minnow Decapterus punctatus
AKA: Round Scad, Cigarfish, Hardtail
Prominent features: Narrow, round body; blue/grey above and silvery below; has a yellowish lateral line with tiny black spots running along just above line. There is a ridge that is on the side along the lateral line near the tail that will cut your finger if run from tail to head. There are also two small spiked fins just before its anal fin that can poke.
Popular use: Much like a Spanish Sardine. Excellent bottom bait, especially for grouper and snapper. May be used whole or as a cut bait. Charter boats like to use them to troll for striking fish, such as Kingfish, because they hold up well. Very popular in the Florida Panhandle.
Packaging forms:
1 pound bag, 5 lb box, 25 lb bulk box
Domestic (produced in the northern Gulf of Mexico)
Imported (produced in Venezuela)
