Spanish - (LBG tactics)

[nuthead]

Hi All,

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience rigging for spanish mackeral (boat based or landbased) I was particularly interested in 4 things

1) which type of wire is more appropriate (single vs multi) I've heard conflicting things about it.

2) where do you send the bait? ie. are wide drifts onto the current line in clear conditions better and closer drifts over reef in dirty water? or something else???

3) do they have a tendency to hang midwater? or closer to the surface in low light conditions

4) is moon phase relevant?

last month I fished for them - only for 2 days on a north coast NSW ledge - sending out slime and bully mullet onto the current line rigged on about 40cm of 38lb single strand (didn't get anything though - water was flat and clear as)

I know the season is just about over for them in NSW (besides the odd straggler) but I want to know in advance for next season...

sorry about the 10000 questions!! any comments/experiences will be much appreciated

[nuthead]

anybody??? c'mon... help a southern mackeral punter out!

[karana]

I caught a 32 pound Spanish off Burleigh beach in 99 at Christmas just on dusk with my standard mulloway rig, does that help.

[nuthead]

Hey Karana,

thanks for the reply!

I suppose it dosen't help me specifically - but its a very interesting story! didn't know mackeral swam up the back of beaches... was it very washy or relatively clean unbroken water?

[karana]

It was an interesting scenario. Almost dead calm. The previous evening I had caught 4 small black kings in the same gutter. I have no idea what was going on but the first run after hookup was a minor eye opener. lol.

I suppose there is a first time for everything. The battered old 650C Alvey stood up well to the task.

[nuthead]

the first run after hookup was a minor eye opener

hahahaha!!

I have also heard of small cobes and even a rat king taken from north entrance beach one hour north of Sydney) odd behaviour...

do you happen to remember if it was full or new moon (and if full moon was there any cloud cover?)

sorry for bombarding you with questions!

[karana]

I will dig out my journals tomorrow but I assume either new or full given that I was mulloway fishing.

[Sti_Brumby]

Hi All,

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience rigging for spanish mackeral (boat based or landbased) I was particularly interested in 4 things

1) which type of wire is more appropriate (single vs multi) I've heard conflicting things about it.
Single wire
2) where do you send the bait? ie. are wide drifts onto the current line in clear conditions better and closer drifts over reef in dirty water? or something else???
Dirty water
3) do they have a tendency to hang midwater? or closer to the surface in low light conditions
There a top to midish water fish, They also tend to swim close to the rock were there dirty water is.

4) is moon phase relevant?
Nope

Pike are the best bait in my books for big spanish anyway!

[Flash]

When I was a kid I saw beach net fishermen bring in a tuna at Kirra.

Goes to show anything can happen.

[karana]

And I saw a tuna jump in the surf at Hastings Point a few weeks ago.

It was December 22 , full moon.

[Sti_Brumby]

Tuna will go anywere when chasing bait!. I've seen them in the burrnet river at strathdee rocks witch is couple k's from the mouth in brown water

[nuthead]

Hey Sti,

always good to get a reply from someone who targets (and catches) whatever you're after!! how heavy is the single strand you use... just from having a read around the old posts I've semi come to the conclusion that 60lb single strand will be a good compromise between protection from bite-offs vs getting hits... I know Baz got his on 44lb single strand and Bung got a few (just) on 30lb knottable stuff so maybe its less of an issue than I think? dunno...

There a top to midish water fish, They also tend to swim close to the rock were there dirty water is.

when you say dirty water are you mostly referring to water thats been stirred up after heavy seas or dirty water after rain? heard lots of fresh water puts them off but interested to hear your opinion..

i heard pike are the gun baits for them as well... they tend not to be that hardy though - is it better just send them out live and continue fishing them after they're dead or do you wind them back in after they've carked it - then butterfly them before re-deploying?

cheers for the reponses so far mate... its more than appreciated!

And I saw a tuna jump in the surf at Hastings Point a few weeks ago.

It was December 22 , full moon.

Hey Karana,

yeah while fishing on north facing ledges on the southern end of long beaches - you will commonly see longtails skirt the back of breakers then fly along the ledge from left to right before blasting off to sea again!

the flatter the surf, the closer to the beach you will catch them... they hunt by sight and use their speed so they don't really seem to like stirred up water that much.

[Sti_Brumby]

We tend to use 40-60 single strand wire.
I havn't really had the problem of the fish ignoring it using those pounds, If there hungry they will hit it anyway!.

when you say dirty water are you mostly referring to water thats been stirred up after heavy seas or dirty water after rain? heard lots of fresh water puts them off but interested to hear your opinion..

I have court spanish in water with lots of fresh, "cloudy brown colour" before, I was amazed they could even see our baits it was that dirty.

i heard pike are the gun baits for them as well... they tend not to be that hardy though - is it better just send them out live and continue fishing them after they're dead or do you wind them back in after they've carked it - then butterfly them before re-deploying?

Every pike is different some last the whole day swimming and other die in couple minutes of deploy. If we have a good wide drift we don't wind them back in unless we see it get hit. Tho if it's a close drift and the pike is visably dead, we just replace it with another live bait.

[Jeremy]

I hadn't read this one until now as I though you were only interested in LBG.

I also use single strand wire, I use 58 lb myself. Rig is two hooks, top hook is a mustad big gun 6/0 through the nose and second hook is either another the same or a 1/0 treble around the anal fin. Half a meter of wire above the top hook is enough. Best areas seem to be reefs, 15-40 m, look for big bait schools and the predators won't be too far away. Send one livie out under a baloon and the another with a small sinker down deeper. Burley does help. Slimie mackerel are one of the top baits.

Jeremy

[nuthead]

I have court spanish in water with lots of fresh, "cloudy brown colour" before, I was amazed they could even see our baits it was that dirty.

interesting you say that... Other LBGers say the same thing (dirty waters the go for spanish) all the stuff I've read (from boaties) seem to say that dirty water puts them off - sounds to me like the dirty water brings them in close to the rocks to hunt (so boaties out wider have trouble locating them in those conditions and LBGers get stuck into them and vice versa)

interested to hear if anyone has some thoughts on this?

thanks STI


Hey Jeremy,

I hadn't read this one until now as I though you were only interested in LBG.

didn't think of that - should have just changed the title to something more generic!

yeah I was sending out 1kg mullet on a 2 hook rig (8/0 on the bottom hook - pinned in the shoulder and a 7/0 sliding on the wire - pinned behind the second dorsal fin)

the slimes were smaller (around 20-25cm) I was sending them out on a single hook (pinned near the tail to encourage them to get out wide)

Best areas seem to be reefs, 15-40 m, look for big bait schools and the predators won't be too far away.

you mean 15-40m deep? cheers I'll keep that in mind while scouting for new spots - at the moment the (landbased) places I know that produce spanish are mostly shallow water over sand bottom - often with a reef where boaties get into them within a few hundred metres (haven't found a spot where you can send a bait directly over the reef yet though!)

thanks for the help fellas