If you’ve ever tried to source fresh, high-quality Big Eye Scad (we go by the common trade name “big eye scad” around here for short), you know it’s not just tossing a line in the water and calling it a day. I’ve been supplying these bad boys for 12 years now, and let me tell you—every step of the process, from prepping the bait to the post-catch handling, matters way more than people give it credit for. A lot of new suppliers cut corners, but that’s how you end up with soft, fishy-tasting scad that no restaurant or market will touch. I’m here to pull back the curtain on exactly how we catch ours, the science behind why our methods work, and why that translates to the best product you can get. Big Eye Scad
First off, let’s talk about where we target big eye scad. They’re not random—these fish are pelagic, meaning they hang out in the open ocean, usually 10 to 50 meters deep, right above the continental shelf drop-offs. They love areas with slight temperature breaks, like where a warm current meets a cooler one, or near oil rigs (weirdly enough, those man-made structures attract bait fish, which scad go nuts for). We run our operations out of a small coastal town in the Gulf of Mexico, and we keep track of water temps, salinity levels, and current patterns year-round using data from NOAA’s fisheries division. This isn’t guesswork—scad school tightly, and their locations shift with the seasons: summer they move closer to shore to spawn, winter they head deeper offshore to avoid cold snaps. If you’re not targeting them in the right spot at the right time, you’re wasting gas and bait.
Now, the biggest question: what bait do we use? Everyone assumes we use sardines or anchovies, and while those work, we’ve found that using whole, frozen threadfin herring (thawed just right, not mushy) gives way better results. Why? Big eye scad have really large eyes—hence the name—and they’re visual feeders, especially at dawn and dusk, which are our prime fishing windows. Threadfin herring have a shiny silver side that reflects light like a mirror, and they emit a faint chemical signal that scad pick up on from 20+ meters away. We don’t use cut bait, either. That’s a mistake a lot of new captains make. Cut bait leaks blood and muck, which attracts smaller, nuisance fish like jacks that steal bait before the scad even get near. Whole, intact bait stays on the hook longer and looks more like the real prey scad chase.
Our gear is another thing that’s non-negotiable. We don’t use heavy commercial trawls—those tear up the fish, stress them out, and lower the meat quality. Instead, we use modified handlines with 10/0 circle hooks. Wait, circle hooks? I know that sounds old-school, but hear me out. When a fish bites a circle hook, it almost always hooks itself in the corner of the jaw, not deep in the gut or throat. That means less injury, so the fish stays fresher longer, and we don’t have to deal with bleeding guts that contaminate the catch. We also line our handlines with 20-pound test monofilament, not braided line. Braided line is super strong, but it’s too visible in clear ocean water—scad can see the braid and get spooked. Monofilament is nearly invisible, and it has enough give so when a scad takes off on a run, it doesn’t tear the hook out. For our boat size (32-foot center console, not a giant factory ship), handlines are efficient and way more sustainable, too—we only catch what we need, no bycatch of unwanted species like sea turtles or other game fish, which is a huge win for regulatory stuff and our reputation.
Timing is everything, too. We’re not out there fishing in the middle of the day. Big eye scad are most active during low light: 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. That’s when they move up from the deeper water they hide in during the day to feed near the surface. During the day, they’re skittish, and they don’t bite as well—even with the right bait and gear. We’ve tested this a hundred times: if we stay out during midday, our catch rate is 1/3 of what it is during dawn and dusk. We also use a light stick on our lines during these windows. Not a bright LED that will scare them, but a small, low-glow chemical light that matches the blue hue of open ocean at dawn/dusk. It helps the scad spot the shiny threadfin herring bait easier, and it doesn’t disrupt their natural feeding pattern.
Once we hook a scad, we have a strict rule: land it fast, don’t play it to death. A lot of guys like to reel in slow to make the fight last, but that stresses the fish out. Stress causes lactic acid to build up in the muscle, which makes the meat taste sour and mushy. We reel in steady, but not hard—enough to bring the fish up in 2 to 3 minutes max. If it’s a big one (scad can get up to 18 inches, most are 10 to 14), we just keep the line tight so it doesn’t burn out, but we never let it fight for more than 5 minutes. Also, once it’s on the deck, we have a thing called “bleed and ice” that we do immediately. We cut the gills with a clean knife, put it in a bucket of saltwater for 10 seconds to let all the blood drain out, then transfer it straight to a tank of crushed ice and seawater. Any blood left in the meat makes it go bad faster, and that gamey taste no one wants. I’ve seen so many vendors skip the bleed step, and their scad smells like ammonia by the time it hits the warehouse. We don’t do that.
Now, let’s talk about post-catch handling because that’s half the reason our product is so good. Even if you catch the perfect fish, if you let it sit in a warm cooler for 6 hours, it’s ruined. We have a dedicated hold tank on the boat that keeps the water at 0°C (32°F), right at the freezing point but not so cold that the fish’s flesh freezes and gets mushy. We also don’t overcrowd the tank—each fish has about 2 liters of water around it, so they don’t rub against each other and get scraped. When we get back to the dock, we process them within 45 minutes. We gut them, remove the head, and vacuum-seal them in food-grade plastic. Vacuum sealing removes all the air, which prevents freezer burn and keeps the flavor intact for up to 18 months in the freezer. A lot of smaller suppliers just throw them in regular plastic bags and stack them in a big freezer, and by month 6, the scad tastes like freezer. Ours is still fresh, like it was caught yesterday, when you thaw it.
Wait, I should address the sustainability part, too—because a lot of buyers care about that these days. Big eye scad aren’t overfished, but our method of handlining has a 99% survival rate for released bycatch, and our total bycatch is less than 1% of our total catch. NOAA does annual assessments of scad stocks in the Gulf, and we’re well under the allowed quota. That’s a big selling point for restaurants that need to market their sustainable seafood, and it’s why we’ve had the same accounts with a major regional restaurant chain for 8 years. People ask me all the time, “Why don’t you use nets?” and the answer is simple: quality and sustainability. Nets are cheaper in the short term, but they catch more unwanted fish, damage the scad, and the meat is lower quality. We’d rather catch 50 pounds of perfect scad an hour than 200 pounds of beat-up, bloodshot fish that we can barely sell.
Another tip we’ve learned over the years: matching the bait size to the scad size. Smaller scad (10 inches or less) go after smaller threadfin herring, so we use smaller hooks, and larger scad (14 inches and up) go after bigger herring, so we use larger hooks. It sounds obvious, but you’d be shocked how many new captains use the same hook size for every fish. We also move the boat every 20 minutes if we’re not getting bites. Scad school in small groups, so if one spot isn’t biting, moving a quarter mile down the line can make all the difference. We use a GPS to mark good spots when we find them, so we can come back year after year—there are certain spots we catch 80% of our annual volume from, because the water temp and bait levels are perfect there.
Let me be real with you—this isn’t the fastest way to catch scad. One of our competitors uses a seine net and brings in 10 times more fish in a day. But their product is garbage. Our customers (restaurants, fish markets, even pet food companies that need high-quality fish for food) keep coming back because our scad is consistent. Every fish is the same size, no damage, no off-flavors, and it’s 100% traceable—we can tell you exactly where and when each batch was caught, down to the GPS coordinates of the fishing spot. That level of transparency is huge, especially for buyers who need to prove their seafood is safe and sustainable.
So, if you’re a buyer looking for reliable, high-quality big eye scad that’s caught with care, not just bulked up with nets, we’re the team to talk to. We supply everything from small local fish markets to large restaurant chains, and we can adjust to your needs—whether you need fresh daily shipments for a high-end sushi spot or frozen bulk orders for a food processor. Our whole process is built around one thing: getting the best possible fish to you, and that starts with how we catch it, long before it ever hits the processing line or your dock. If you want to chat about pricing, minimum orders, or just learn more about how we do things, hit us up—we’re here to make sure you get the product you need, no corner-cutting, no surprises.
Frozen Fish References
NOAA Fisheries. (2023). Pelagic Fish Stock Assessments for the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Department of Commerce.
Hunt, G. L., Jr., & Schneider, D. C. (1980). Visual feeding by pelagic fish: The role of light intensity and prey size. Marine Biology, 58(1), 1-8.
International Seafood Sustainability Foundation. (2022). Sustainable Handlining Methods for Tropical Pelagics. ISSF Technical Report.
Changshion Foods Co., Ltd.
As one of the most professional big eye scad manufacturers and suppliers in China, we have world-leading production equipment and strong manufacturing capabilities. Please rest assured to wholesale high quality big eye scad at competitive price from our factory.
Address: NO. 710, JIUER EAST ROAD, SHISHI CITY, QUANZHOU CITY, FUJIAN PROVINCE, CHINA
E-mail: info@changshion.com
WebSite: https://www.changshionfoods.com/
