Mackerel mayhem month

We’re in the thick of mackerel season now.

A lot of boats were chasing mackerel throughout January and were fairly successful.

It’s an encouraging start, though February is always a much better month for these inshore pelagics.

Damien and Gary came out for a run with me recently and we had a good afternoon catching a few.

Damien handicapped himself by having to wind a fish in on a left-hand wind reel – something I’m not too good at – but he got the job done without too much bother.

It was quickly converted back to a right-hand wind I can assure you.

I recounted the story to them of the time I took a bunch of young anglers out and the fish were on.

 

I was driving the boat, so the crew converted all my reels over to left-hand wind.

I forgot to change them back for the next trip out and, to make matters worse, Murphy got involved and gave me a triple hook up.

I landed all three fish in a very uncoordinated manner, cursing the foreign exchange students and my auntie for asking me to take them.

Though, I could only blame myself really.

Unapologetically, all my photos this month are of mackerel.

Sure, there are other species to chase in February, but the majority of boats will be concentrating on the close reef speed demons.

I’ve been stocking up on high-speed slugs for spinning for the spotted variety.

 

Mostly I don’t use wire in front of these lures, but I’m always in two minds.

On one side, you lose a lot of lures without wire, with the flip side being that you get a lot more bites without wire.

Sometimes I run a 2cm length of 18lb wire to a tiny black swivel in front of the slug and while this does reduce bite offs, even this tiny piece of wire reduces the amount of hits on the lure.

I think I might run this bit of wire early in the morning or if the fish are really on the chew and leave it off when the fish are a little more fussy and harder to coax into biting.

With a bit of luck, this compromise might save a few lures each trip.

So, the other species you can catch offshore this month…

Wahoo are an obvious target, with Windarra Banks and Mackerel Boulder near Julian Rocks the two main reefs to try in this neck of the woods.

 

High-speed lures in minnows and weighted skirts are the go-to technique for these fast fish, which are triggered by colour and speed.

Towing big dead bait is also effective.

Juvenile black marlin have made a decent show through January and will continue to be caught throughout February.

Kingfish and amberjack are also on the cards and it’s always worth putting your leftover live bait down for a quick look before you chuck it over the side and head home.

Mahi mahi are the other main species this month and should be hanging around the fish aggregating devices.

If we get blue water in close, they can come inshore, and a few have been caught on the Brunswick local reef already this year.

In the river, mangrove jack have been going off big time, with the Tweed and Brunswick rivers holding some sizable beasts.

 

And with all the fresh, jewfish are also readily available.

Mud crabs are becoming more prevalent and starting to fill out, improving as summer moves along.

If the weather cooperates, February is a cracking fishing month.

Lastly, I would like to say goodbye to all the readers of Bush ‘n Beach Fishing magazine.

Twenty-nine years ago, Ron Collins took a chance on a young angler and gave him a start in the publishing industry.

Since then, I have contributed to other fishing and shooting magazines, but BNB has always been my favourite publication.

Thanks everyone.