The Spanish Mackerel, we reckon an all round great fish to catch. They pull hard, stretch your arms, and are delicious on the plate. It’s no wonder they sit high on fisho’s lists across the country.
The key with these fish is to find the bait and the current. They are great fun to catch on jigs and even more visual to target on poppers, but any of us resort to the old tried and true method of trolling.
Scotty and Dave from Tin Can Bay Marina recently tried their luck, patrolling a few current lines roughly 20miles off Rainbow Beach. There are a few tips the boys gave when it came to trolling.
Tip 1 – Speed
You don’t want to be trolling too quickly. Fish won’t chase down a bait (or in this case, lure) that is too hard to catch. Trolling too quickly also can affect how your lure swims. A good idea is to watch your rod tip when your lure is out. If it’s bouncing around aggressively, it may mean your lure is having trouble at the speed you’re moving. A general rule is to troll between 4 and 8 knots.
Tip 2 – Lure depth
If you have the luxury of being able to troll more than one lure, it’s not a bad idea to set up your rods with lure that work at different levels in the water column. We’d recommend setting one semi surface (less than 5metres deep) and one a bit deeper (8m plus). This is particularly useful when you’re sussing out new grounds. When you arrive, throw both lures out and if one keeps getting hits, you know how deep the fish are.
There are a multitude of trolling lures on the market. Both Nomad and Samaki have a great range of hard bodies that got the job done for Scotty and Dave. BCF stock both brands and have staff on-site that will be able to help you with all the tips and tricks to trolling if you’re new to the game.
