Mackerel attractors!

[Tristar]

I was out fishing with my son in Stavanger Harbour on Sunday morning, I was fishing with a Paternoster rigged bait on the bottom, realising there was no action I switched to a Mustad Mackrel trace, one with what looks like stiff white wings of plastic whipped to the hooks, being lazy I didn't bother removing the hook from my dropper and just snapped the Mackrel trace on in place of the lead I was using. Over the next hour I caught about 20 Mackerel, however 90% of them were taken on the unbaited, unadorned hook left on the Paternoster dropper! this was about 2 feet above the topmost hook on the Mackerel trace. The hook size was No. 2.

Just wondering if it would be worth rigging a mackerel trace simply with stainless hooks and no attractors at all, Has anybody had a similar experience and tried with just shiny hooks?

[geejayy]

i used to fish a charter boat out of brixham, once on the early feather some bait session off berryhead on the way out one of the party moaned at the deck hand that the rod he'd been given had bare hooks n no feathers .
the deck hand swopped his feathered rod for this guys rod and bet him he'd catch more .
he did.
he prob caught more just by luck or experience imho.
i dunno why your feathered hooks did less well , poss the difference in depth they were being worked or the mackies were feeding on very small fry and the larger feathers put em off a bit, just my guess.

[Tristar]

I also had a 35 gram Atomsilda Pirk on the end of the rig and that took a few fish, but the Mackerel trace, nothing, I guess it pays to try a few different options and just pay attention to what is fishing best at the time! My six year old son was fishing with the same Mackerel trace yesterday and was doing fine with it, and actually retrieved more fish than I!

[MrCat]

On a sunny day round here from the shore I've had mackerel biting nice shiney hooks on rigs that have lost all their sparkley bits and everything else...those crazy keen little critters, can't keep them away.

[night-stalker]

ive caught mackerel on bare hooks before, its just plain weird lmfao