BLOG: Mackerel magic

As I sit here typing in my scrappy old ugg boots with a freezing cold westerly howling outside I can't help reflecting on what a great last summer we'd had. I’m the first to admit that I’m a cold blooded creature by nature that thrives on long hot days, warm water and the fish that come with it.

Mackerel are one of my favourite summer target species for two simple reasons: they have a blistering first run and taste fantastic on the dinner plate.

Mackerel usually start appearing in NSW waters around Christmas and can be caught through until the end of June. This year's NSW mackerel run was an absolute cracker with a few spotties still being caught on mid north coast grounds as late as last week.

The highlight for many NSW mackerel anglers this season was the amount of Spanish mackerel that were caught amongst the hordes of spotties. The biggest confirmed capture report I got through the mackerel grapevine was a 43 kilo model that took a liking to a small spottie.

Live slimies are the number one bait for catching mackerel if you can find them, as they tend to get a little scarce on the bait grounds when the toothy brigade are about. Smaller slimies are great baits for spotties and the bigger models are better suited for Spanish; live bonito or tailor also make excellent live baits for Spanish mackerel.

Live baits are usually rigged on 40 pound single strand wire with two hooks and fished under a float or slow trolled. The majority of the fish we caught this season were hooked slow trolling, but there were days when the spotties would happily eat half pillies fished in a berley trail. It changed from day to day - some days if you didn’t have a live bait in the water you couldn’t catch a mackerel.

Mackerel are fitted with an awesome set of dentures and need to be handled carefully when being landed. It pays to play it safe and dispatch them quickly boatside with a fish bat before bringing them on board. Keep an eye out for free swinging hooks hanging out of thrashing fish as they can do a whole lot of damage if they connect with human flesh.

Mackerel are top quality tucker but they need to be looked after properly after capture. Once safely on board they should be bled and put on ice. Back at the cleaning table they can be filleted or cut through the body into cutlets; either way it’s fantastic on the barbie and goes down well with a couple of cold ales after an enjoyable day on the water.