Guide To Mackerel Fishing

[ctwhitelaw]

Guide To Mackerel Fishing

Was bored so decided to put this together



Mackerel Is a very common fish in Britian ,The season to catch them is from early may until early to late october but there have been Mackertel caught In all months. There are three main ways to fish for mackerel these are Spinning , Feathering and Float Fishing ,The Most Popular probably being Spinning and Feathering but this is used more for bait.A reason why people go crazy for Mackerel is because they taste amazing especially when they are fresh they can't be beaten

Good Baits for Mackerel are

Mackerel Strips
Spinners
Sandeel
and plenty more...

Feathering



Feathers Usually come in packs of 3 to 6 and my favourite being the Mustad ones .Feathers are usually only used if there is proof that there is a shoal of mackerel it is quite usual when there are mackerel in abundance to bring a full set of mackerel.Ready made Mackerel Feather Traces are easy to set up just attach it to you line then attach a weight at the Bottom(people Recommend using a 2oz weight)and a minimum of 20lb line . this is usually done by younger anglers or novice anglers

Spinning



Spinning is probably the most popular method for Mackerel Fishing .The picture above shows an Abu Garcia Silver Toby Spinner which is my favourite the mackerel usually will always go for silver and most people say if there is mackerel there they will go for anything . Most people prefer to go lighter with spinning for more fun and use a light spinning Rod and light line . other spinners such as the Dexters Wedge is great for bass as well as mackerel there is a few methods of reeling in a spinner

1. The Big Long Pull

Once you have a tight line after casting you simply pull the rod back in one continuous motion while keeping it at waist height. You then move the rod forward again whilst reeling in the slack. You then repeat. You will probably make 3 or 4 complete turns on the reel when you do this

2.The Short Sharp Twitch

Once you have a tight line after casting you keep the rod tip low down and give small gentle pulls on the rod while slowly reeling in the line. By small movements I mean around half an arms length at a time. This is a good method for lures with rattles.

3.The Delayed Reaction

Once you've cast out and you've tightened the line keep the rod still and give the reel a few turns so the lure moves a couple of metres and then pause for a few seconds (4 to 8 is good). Then keep repeating this process.

Float Fishing



Mackerel generally remain at the same depth which is between 8ft to 20ft. They also generally stay quite close to cliffs and walls. If you're fishing from a pier then you will probably only need to be casting out between 5 to 30 yards.

The best places to catch mackerel are piers and rocks which are out past the shore line. Mackerel don't normally come in too close to the beach. This doesn't mean that they don't but as a general rule you'll get much better results if you're fishing away from the beach.

The best baits are the shiny ones.

Tight Lines

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Nice one very well done

[pingu]

nice one

just an extra when buying feathers always get best mainline strength you can

see far too many go out with light 30lb mainline flasher rigs and whack on a 5oz weight,and wonder why 2nd or 3rd cast its bye bye rig


dave

[martin nash]

on my rigs for macci i put a dexter lure on instead of a lead weght as there cud be bass in with the shoal of macci

[John Marshall]

Good info CT

[Portland Pirate]

Originally Posted by martin nash

on my rigs for macci i put a dexter lure on instead of a lead weght as there cud be bass in with the shoal of macci

Nice tip Martin. Never thought of that one. Have you had any success with Bass on this method, or are you still ever hopeful?

[fishypaul]

good stuff ct,

[martin nash]

i have had bass upto 4lb on this method,i got told this method from a mate of mine

[BigMouth]

That's a neat tip Martin, I'll remember that next trip.

All good info ct but a question if I may.

You said "Spinning and Feathering but this is used more for bait" why for bait? I would have thought that any decent mackerel caught that way would be heading for the pan. Did I misunderstand?