CATCHING MEMBERS OF THE RAZOR GANG such as Wahoo, Sharks and King/Spanish Mackerel require the use of wire leader. While there are many ways to catch one of these toothy critters like trolling artificial baits, dead-bait or slow trolling live-bait or kite fishing and more, we shall touch on live bait drifting here.
Live scads of 3 to 6 inches are ideal live baits for big mackerels. 2 hook rigs are preferred as mackerels have a habit of biting off half the bait and missing a single hook rig more often than we’d like.
Match the live bait hooks to the bait size and fish size you expect to catch. Hook the first hook just behind the head and the second behind the dorsal fin or in front of the tail.
Insert the hooks just under the skin. Avoid hooking the lateral line as this will kill the bait quickly if not instantly.
Hook size is normally 5/0 or 6/0 to a 4 inch bait. For single strand wires use the haywire twist to rig the hooks. I prefer to use either nylon coated or braided wire of 40 to 60 lb test and snell the hooks just as we would with mono leader.
This rigging method can also be reversed.
The live bait can also be slow trolled. When slow trolling the end (trailing) hook can be substituted with a small treble (which is sometimes left dangling/trailing acting as a stinger hook).
The wire leader may also be crimped leaving a small loop allowing the hook to dangle freely. In theory this seem better as the bait will presumable be livelier but the results seem inconclusive.
Keep the wire leader just short enough to prevent a cut off by the razor sharp teeth as a long wire leader is also highly visible and stiff, restricting bait movement when drifting.
Also if you join the leader to the mainline using a snap swivel, keep to non-shiny ones. How heavy the leader needs to be depends on what might come a calling. Too light and a billfish will make short work of it. Too heavy and it may drive away finicky Spanish.
Being among the fastest fish in the ocean the spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) is a favorite target of many anglers and commercial fisherman. Remember to take only what is needed.
The Atlantic cousins
Many US states allow a two or three fish bag per day per boat for king mackerels. Kings must measure 24 inches. A mature, reproductive fish measures 28 inches (71 cm) and is usually two to three years old. king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) are believed to live up to 26 years and are capable of growing to 5 1/2 feet (167 cm) long and weighing 100 pounds (45 kg).
I hear that the waves are a high as a 2 storey building now….errr….hope it will calm down a bit during our intended trip or I will be puking all over you guys ( especially Allan cause he missed the last puking session )
Not true. It’s only 3 storey.
Alan is a scuba diving regular. I wouldn’t count on him joining your club so easily.
Nice pic. I can see the mackerel but I am not familiar with the BIGGER predator in the pic. Is that the newly discovered predatory GIANT PUFFER?
im a fanatic mackerel anglers and i want to share a little experience with anglers who want to fish mackerel effectively. Others than using live bait (commonly use ikan selar) there was onother technique using dead fish. Experienced when i was fishing mackerel in Bintulu, Sarawak. The bait was i used is baby barracuda that i buy from wet market in Bintulu. No need to using florocarbon leader, I only use mainline 25lbs and snap with swivel(berkley 60lbs) with wire 30lbs about 14 inc. The technique is using 2 hooks and hide it into baby baracuda and then slowly cast. Its very effective and every year in April – May i will fish in Bintulu.
Max, thanks for sharing your technique. Awesome. What length is the barracuda used? How do you get the bait to swim true and not spin? Take a photo of the rig the next time out, would really be great to see it. Thanks again.
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