Page 66 - BNB Fishing mag | May 2020

SWimply spanish mackerel
Leeah Bahr with a good size spanish mackerel caught fishing the bottom with a soft plastic.
HEN fishing offshore it’s often from a sizable spanish mackerel will feed difficult to decide whether to a small army, which means there’s rarely a target bottom fish or pelagics, need to hit your bag limit.
Bundaberg Offshore
by JOEL JOHNSON
but as the girl on the taco advertisement Over the years I’ve experienced several
said, “why not both?”
Pelagic fish are fish that essentially do
not have a home, they’re constantly moving from reef to reef and area to area. Mack- erel are a pelagic fish that can be found from shallow coastal areas to the deep blue, making them a likely capture during a trip offshore. Spanish mackerel tick all
the boxes for any keen sportfisho.
This species offer spectacular sport fish- ing and take everything from a soft plastic lure through to a surface popper. On top of that, they are fast growing and plentiful in Queensland waters, so everyone can catch a feed knowing there are many more available. It’s worth mentioning that a pair of fillets
insane spanish mackerel sessions – having them strike poppers from beneath and get extreme air-time, often a few meters from the boat.
Every offshore fisho must witness a hu- man-sized fish strike a lure at a rate of knots and become airborne due to the speed of the strike – it’s an incredible thing to watch.
Though surface lure fishing for spanish mackerel is epic, it isn’t always as effective because they require particular conditions to feed off the surface.
The author’s substantial mackie that fell victim to a well-presented floating bait.
Page 66 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, May 2020
Though when the floating bait gets smashed and the rod screams off, multi- * continued P67
One of the more popular methods of spanish mackerel fishing is to troll diving lures or well-rigged swimming baits, but I have success drift fishing with a good old ‘floater’ or two out the back.
Trolling certainly has its perks because you essentially find the fish as opposed to the fish finding you. However, if the mackies aren’t in the area or playing the game, you’ve used time and fuel for no real reward.
This is where drift fishing comes into its own. Drifting allows you to multitask – you can fish the structure below while a couple of rods in the holder fish the mid to top water column for cruising spaniards.
www.bnb shing.com.au