How to catch mackerel: The best seasons and times for mackerel fishing
Mackerel are plentiful along many coastlines if you go during the summer’s prime mackerel fishing times, when water temperatures are at their highest and there is an abundance of food that mackerel eat.
Unless you have access to a boat or kayak, in which case they’re accessible for the majority of the year, they lurk too far away for even the longest casters for part of the year, which can make learning how to catch mackerel challenging.
Peak summer, autumn, and any time the water temperature is at its warmest are the best times to catch a lot of mackerel because they can be found in enormous shoals in the warmer months, pursuing bait fish like sandeels close to shore.
Like many species, mackerel feed best at dawn or dusk in terms of the time of day. Around these times, their prey, including small fish, sandeels, lance, shrimp, and squid, is also most active. You’ll most likely have a busy session if you can fish when the light changes around dawn or dusk, with a tidal change just before or after this time so the water is moving in or out somewhat.
Use a light stick or glow stick on the line to entice mackerel to the rig if you want to try night fishing. This can work a treat off a pier or jetty. Use a size 8 to 1 hook and a few feet of fresh mackerel belly with the white flesh on the glowstick to fish near pier lights or other areas where baitfish congregate. You can also use a baited sabiki rig.
How to catch mackerel: The best lures, feathers and baits for mackerel fishing
Mackerel are true shoal fish, so they don’t have much time to think about a potential meal, which makes them very easy to catch using relatively basic equipment. Successful mackerel fishing techniques include using a float and small strips of bait, as well as a small, shiny lure like a spoon, spinner, or baitfish imitation. But all methods are beaten by a string of feathers or a small lure.
Around six hooks make up a string of mackerel feathers, and each one is decorated to look like a small fish or other food item moving in the water. Old-fashioned larger, rainbow-colored feathers mounted on large, crude hooks are no longer as effective at luring bites as smaller, more contemporary alternatives.
The best choice for replicating the tiny sandeels that mackerel frequently eat is a hook size of between four and 1/0 with a small amount of bright or dark dressing (yellow, silver, red, black, and dark green are really effective). The modern equivalent of the mackerel feather, also referred to as a sabiki rig, is made up of several hooks that are each adorned with a tiny piece of material that mimics bait, such as a piece of fish skin or some shiny threads like tinsel. These will catch lots of mackerel.
If you’re fishing for mackerel from a pier or beach, make sure the rig is strong enough to cast the total weight of the lead or rig, keeping in mind that you need about 10 lb of breaking strain for every ounce you’re likely to cast. Therefore, a rig constructed with 20 lb line would function well with a 2 oz weight, 30 lb for a 3 oz weight, and so on.
If you want to catch mackerel, a good expert tip is to substitute a bright metal jig or baitfish-imitating lure for the standard weight at the bottom of the rig. This enhances the rig with an additional attractant and will draw mackerel in as it flutters through the water during retrieval or dropping off a boat.
Another excellent tip for fishing for mackerel is to add tiny strips of fish or squid to the sabiki or feather rigs to improve the flavor and smell of the bait in the water. On hard days, this can really make a difference. When something tastes authentic, Mackerel seem more eager to bite and hold onto it.
Hooking the baitfish on a No. Hearn casts away from the pier with a single live-bait hook and a 3-foot leader attached to a popping cork rig. He then works the bait back in. He releases the slack by snapping his wrist, reels in the bait, waits for it to settle, and then resumes the retrieve. He puts the rod in a rod holder once the cork is a few feet from the pier and lets the live bait swim around to draw mackerel.
This year, the Spanish mackerel have arrived around the Grand Strand piers a little earlier than usual. Anglers are catching them using three different techniques. The bite should remain strong for the upcoming weeks, according to Murrells Inlet angler Matthew Hearn, and all three of these techniques should be effective throughout the Spanish run.
Hearn, who prefers to use a Kastmaster spoon, said, “It’s a great lure that has probably caught more Spanish than any other lure on our piers.” Occasionally, I’m surrounded by a dozen men who are all throwing Got-Cha plugs. They typically learn Spanish before I do, but I typically pick it up faster. I think it’s because I’ve got something a little different. I just cast, let the lure sink for a short while, and reeled it in. Sometimes I burn it in quickly, while other times I’ll reel, pause, and reel once more ”.
When jigging, he continued, “I stick with my Kastmaster spoon; Sabiki rigs with multiple unbaited gold hooks will work, too.” No matter how strong the tide is running, I’ll use a heavier one that sinks quickly. I like to have enough line out so that I can move my spoon or rig up and down by about four feet at a time, and I try to keep it as close to the pier pilings as possible. ”.
FAQ
What is the best bait for mackerel fishing?
Another excellent tip for fishing for mackerel is to add tiny strips of fish or squid to the sabiki or feather rigs to improve the flavor and smell of the bait in the water. On hard days, this can really make a difference. When something tastes authentic, Mackerel seem more eager to bite and hold onto it.
What is the best time of day to catch mackerel?
At high tide and at dusk or dawn, mackerel fishing is at its best. The best tides are frequently in the spring because they drive mackerel and baitfish closer to shore.
What fishing method is used to catch mackerel?
Spinning and jigging are the two techniques for catching mackerel that are most frequently used. Both of these methods are very effective. While spinning techniques only allow you to target one fish per cast, jigging with mackerel feathers allows you to catch multiple mackerel at once.
Do mackerel come in close to shore?
Piers and rocks that are in deeper water are the best places to catch mackerel. Mackerel don’t normally come in too close to the beach. This is not to say that they don’t, but generally speaking, fishing away from the beach will yield much better results. The best baits are the shiny ones.
