Whats size joey makeral ?

[tommy a]

Just wandered what people consider a joey makeral - the size of your hand or bigger ? When I go after makeral with feathers they all tend to be around half a pound and upwards in size which I think is a bit too big for bass - or am I wrong ?

If you need small joey makeral how do you catch them as opposed to the bigger makeral - is it a case of using smaller hooks etc ?

Any advice welcome.

Churz

[james]

I use the little sandeel rigs to target the smaller grade mackeral, tend to find it works for me, thats not to say that you don't get the bigger macks on them, i use the actual mack feathers if i'm targeting the bigger macks for flappers or chunks.

[Drew]

Hi tommy a,

It is a difficult question to answer as Mackerel, large or small will attack anything that shines, whither the hooks are 4 or 6/0's. Even large Mackerel will attack a small 4 hook. I make my own Mackerel traces using barbless hooks or hooks with the barb flattened. These vary in size from 4 - 3/0.

Bass - Cod - and Pollack have huge mouths and will devour even the largest Mackerel, however if you stick to any that are up to 20cms or thereabouts you won't go far wrong.

Regards

Drew

[Charter Skipper]

we use em upto about 12 " live baiting for bass,and you`d be suprised what even a schoolie can devour.....

[squidlips]

i caught a bass last summer on a mack live bait,the mack was jammed in its mouth and the bass didnt even get to the hook.
fishing from my boat any size will do aslong as it is alive