80lb Leader and nothing but bite offs?

[Sharkie]

G'day guys

A mate and i spent the wkd up at Fitzroy reef off 1770. We decided to fish the eastern side of fitzroy so out went the pick and down went the burley. We were using pillies, squid and i had a 6 inch paddle tail squidgie down as well. One of the floating pillies got an inquiry and the line started peeling off and 2 seconds later, bang..nothing. Rigged up again and set another floater up and about 20 mins later same thing.

Then on my plastic i got a healthy enquiry and my drag started peeling fast then bang lost him. This happened about 5 or 10 times all up and we had tried everything from 80lb Berkley big game leader to wire (nothing touched the wire) with the same result .

Was wondering if anyone has any idea on what it could have been? Mackerel? GT's? or even maybe sharks? Though you wouldn't think a shark would take a SP?

Cheers guys
Paul

[dfox]

It will be mackerel, they sometimes shy at the wire ...

[the gecko]

How long does a mackeral run usually go for? Would 200m be common?
I had some similar runs in Hervey Bay near some beacons.

I had 2 runs like this, both 10 min apart. They ran very fast and very straight and took all my 200m of line. The first one broke the 50lb leader, and then I put out wire, but the 30lb braid broke as I tightened the drag when I saw the backing was running low.

Would they be macks too? Spanish, or cobia maybe? Im not used to pelagics, so Ive got no idea how they run.

Andrew

[Sharkie]

It will be mackerel, they sometimes shy at the wire ...

Yeah we thought it might have been. So my next question is what is a good leader to use for them brand and pound wise? They seemed to chew through my 30lb Fluorocarbon leader on my plastics rod as quickly as they chewed through the 80lb Berkley Big Game leader lol

Cheers
Paul

[Sharkie]

How long does a mackeral run usually go for? Would 200m be common?
I had some similar runs in Hervey Bay near some beacons.

I had 2 runs like this, both 10 min apart. They ran very fast and very straight and took all my 200m of line. The first one broke the 50lb leader, and then I put out wire, but the 30lb braid broke as I tightened the drag when I saw the backing was running low.

Would they be macks too? Spanish, or cobia maybe? Im not used to pelagics, so Ive got no idea how they run.

Andrew

I'm not sure exactly how long they would have run as we were continually bitten off in the first 5 seconds of the fight lol.

[FNQCairns]

Coincidence may have ganged up on you? using 80lb, and i would assume a rod and reel capable you should pull up whatever it was fairly fast unless huge!

Sometimes the hook goes just deep enough to let the line exit the teeth, no hope then. I have had this happen a few times in a row and now if just to save the drama use ganged hooks aka Taylor style. No reason why it couldn't have easily have been sharks but upon investigation there might be some rasping of the line even from fast cut off's.

Hate not knowing what just happened and especially by what.

cheers fnq

[dogsbody]

If you get the chance again drop some slugs down to the bottom and crank em back up. You'll still lose some but you'll also get a few.

Keep the paddle tail handy in case some Cobes come up the berley trail. Toss a couple of pillies over and when you get their attention plop in the paddle tail near them and let it sink,,,,, Then HANG ON! awesome to see.


Dave

[dfox]

Yeah we thought it might have been. So my next question is what is a good leader to use for them brand and pound wise? They seemed to chew through my 30lb Fluorocarbon leader on my plastics rod as quickly as they chewed through the 80lb Berkley Big Game leader lol

Cheers
Paul

Theres no leader material that can handle a mackerel's teeth.
If they engulf the bait past the hook the teeth will end the battle pretty quick.
Run some light single strand wire sometimes works. Gangs do work as well but bigger fish may still swallow the lot and if that last hook isnt clear of the teeth your gone as well.
Theres been some good catch's of spanish macks up that way over the last month, so theres every chance thats what was hitting your floating baits ...

[Apollo]

Could well be macs as other have suggested, but we had exactly the same problem when we were up there. Ended up being sharks and it wasn't until someone got one up a bit did we know the culprits.

[dreemon]

Maybe giant green sea toads? they have powerfull jaws

[Outsider685]

whatever they were...it bent us over time and time again which left us scratching our heads about what to do haha! Cheers for the responses guys. We'll take that on board with us next time we head up there again.

[suzygs1000]

Sounds like spaniards to me ... had the same problem when I first came north 5 years ago - I ended up swinging over to 80lb nylon coated stranded stainless leaders, and have caught plenty of spaniards on that rig. I also use 80lb braid, about 250 metres.

The bigger ones usually run flat out for about 100 metres or so, then a couple more shorter runs till they are buggered, then fight like hell when you get them near the boat.

Even if they don't bite thru the nylon leaders, they have the habit of twisting and wrapping the line around themselves, which will cut it anyway.


Some days they don't bite, but maybe that's cause they're not around, and nothing to do with the wire leader.

Dave.