Page 39 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine
P. 39

Moreton Bay longtails on light gear
* from P38
My last trip out had all the mak- ings of a doughnut session, with the tuna hardly making a ripple on the surface and not giving me any direction to follow.
I tie on nearly a rod length of leader, which helps if the tuna gets tail wrapped. If possible, position yourself upwind of the school to get a wind-assisted cast and send that light presentation a little fur- ther.
Tackle box
• Rod: Okuma Helios 3-6kg • Reel: Okuma Azores 4000 • Line: Platypus 20lb Plati-
num braid
• Leader: Platypus 30lb
Hard Armour Supple • Scent: Pro-Cure Bait
Sauce (Tuna)
• Jig head: TT HD Head-
lockZ
• Plastic: Z-Man 3.75”
StreakZ
I turned the session around by watching the sounder. Mine is a Lowrance Elite Ti2 and when set to chart, down and side scan it gives me the best chance of finding bait and allows me to blind cast for tuna without really blind casting.
Lure wise, there are plenty of op- tions but for me this season it’s been the Z-Man 3.75” StreakZ in either Baby Bass or Pearl colour matched with a 3/8oz TT HeadlockZ jig head.
The chart showed the tuna weren’t really running in a particular direc- tion but rather holding in an area and surfacing occasionally.
I play around with combinations of jig head weights and Z-Man colours until I find one that works, but the above has been my starting point this year.
Instead of trying to find the tuna, I opted to find the bait. Once found, I positioned the boat off to one side and let my Z-Man StreakZ hit the bottom before ripping it back to the surface.
Good luck and I hope you find a patch out there.
This resulted in a hook-up and eventual fish landed. While still hanging around the bait, my second fish came from seeing nothing more than a ripple on the surface in the glassed-out conditions.
A quick flick just in front of the ripple and it was game on. It was awesome to see a fish hammer out in front of the school and smash the presentation. True sight fishing and awesome fun.
The gear
As I said, the gear used will de- pend on what the tuna are eating and whether the sharks are all over them.
A Z-Man StreakZ in Baby Bass matched to a 3/8ozTT HeadlockZ jig head got the job done.
Hot tip: do your very best to figure out what they are eating because this is often key to getting a hook- up.
Often it will be quite small like whitebait and little herring, so to get a smaller presentation into the school you will need a lighter rod.
Once hooked you’ll probably need to chase the fish down as it strips line. This can be a heap of (chal- lenging) fun when you’re fishing solo. It also helps keep the sharks off the fish for a while.
I run am Okuma Helios 3-6kg, 7’ rod matched with an Okuma 4000 Azores reel, 20lb braid and 30lb leader.
Pro-Cure Bait Sauce helped get a shy bite.
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, June 2020 – Page 39
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