Tailor and the moons

[Dylan4.5]

Went to Frazor Island last winter and got a few tailor and want more!!< I know that there prolific around there but I'm interested in chasing a few on the sunshine coast this winter. I know there's a few here but is there a preferred time to fish? I've heard around the full moon is good maybe top of the tide on dusk whats ur thought? New to the game.

[bondy99]

I tried for them last night from 3.30pm until 10.40pm and no tailor caught on the sand pumping jetty. Dont know about the beach though.

With tailor they are not predictable.

Peter

[nigelr]

Good beach formations and the presence of baitfish are more important IMHO.
Cheers.

[gezzza]

spun the rockwall of the seaway 4 or 5 days a week in the last month for a few bonnies and trevs barley a tailor to be seen but the ones i have hooked have spat the hooks every time.been to burleigh and snapper rocks for no result.although i heard palmys got a few tailor at the moment and a few pretty boys have been caught off the beach as well

[PNG1M]

Tailor and the moon.... I think there must be a fair few bits & pieces of info out there about this topic.

I reckon that the full moon and few days either side of it should be better than not much moon.

The reason is that tailor tend to bite actively at dawn & dusk which are low light periods.

The full moon is also a low light setting so that's why the tailor should be around and up for the bite.

Tailor, from what I gather are visual feeders and tend to locate their prey by sight so if there's some moonlight around they should be more likely to be searching for a feed.

I've had plenty of success in the past over the full moon periods, chasing tailor off the beach.

[gezzza]

hey png do you have much success in flat conditions or cloudy days.do you have to wade out far to reach the gutters

[bondy99]

Gday PNG1M,

Tailor seem to be more active south and north of where I was. Definetly going to invest in a cheap 4WD thats a 2 door and can sleep in the back if need be. North Stradbroke Island has good channels forming again and are very close to beach but can only access the area on low tide.

I'm also going to invest in some lures.

Peter

[PNG1M]

Flat conditions...cloudy days. Yep, as tailor can be unpredictable they can be caught in all conditions.

Just 'cos us land based lubbers see thing differently you never know what a fish's perspective is.

I fished with pillies one afternoon ages ago on the beach a bit north of North Entrance. It was windy and the surf was boiling with big dumpers and white wash galore. I was the only one fishing as far as the eye could see.

I had a 1kg pack of iqf frozen pilllies with me and I went thru the lot. The tailor were biting like a frenzy and I ran out of bait (had no lures with me).

I caught about 15 or so and filleted them on the beach. On the way back a couple of blokes were heading over the dunes, rods in hand and they'd already starting to turn back.

I told them about my own experience and even pointed to the spot I fished, and I showed them the fillets. But they didn't like the look of the conditions and they still turned back & scarpered.... Oh well, each to their own.

So the conditions are never set in stone..!

[Horse]

One thing I have noticed when fishing the full moon at night is the amount of vermin. Sharks, shovelies and Rays make up most hits. It is certainly a lot easier to fish though

[blackjew]

G day i swear by fishing following the almanac and have always had great success following it for 16 years in the NT and at times having to use 3 huge snapper leads 24oz of lead to get to the bottom, but was always worth the extra weight.That produced big goldys and black jewys .
Go to your local tackle shop and buy one for 3 bucks or so and follow it to the time in the book not forgetting the minor time as well, Fish an hour either side of the time in the book and you will see what i mean .The first few pages explainS it all, the feeding pattern of all fish starts to fall into shape.
Remember the day when you had a bad day hmmmm fish were on the sounder but did not bite.I dont go fishing anymore unless the Almanac says its grey to black its just a waste of fuel .Hope my experience helps .
Cheers Rob

[deepfried]

Good beach formations and the presence of baitfish are more important IMHO.


I agree with this. You can have everything in your favour or so you think but if there is no bait in the water why would there be tailor. At the moment down here we have a lot of dirty water around and the bait fish are out wider on the edge of it along with a heap of birds. Thats where all of the tailor will be. Conditions are good enough but with dirty water in close and no bait why would the tailor be in close. I rekon it would be the same all the way up the coast where there has been a lot of rain lately and would be the main reason we are finding them hard to come by. Best bet is to find some cleaner water with bird activity and give it a go there. Next best is wait for the water to clear up and the bait fish to move back in closer or go for a jew in the dirty water.