Spanish mackerel are one of the great Australian sportfish. Fast, hard-hitting, found right around the warm half of the country, and very good on the plate. If you fish the reefs, headlands and shoals up north, sooner or later you'll be chasing them.
Here's how to actually put one in the boat.
About the fish and where they live
Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) are a big, fast pelagic mackerel. Long silver body, faint wavy bars on the flanks when they're lit up, and a serious set of teeth. A solid fish goes 10 to 15 kg and they get well over 20.
They're a tropical and subtropical species, so the spread runs across the warm top of Australia:
- Queensland — the Great Barrier Reef, inshore shoals, headlands and islands from the Torres Strait down to the Sunshine Coast and beyond. Prime mackerel country.
- Northern Territory — around the shoals, reefs and islands off Darwin and the top end.
- Western Australia — the Pilbara, Kimberley, Ningaloo and right down the mid-west coast.
- Northern NSW — they push south with the warm current in summer and autumn, often down to the mid-north coast in a good warm year.
They hold around structure that concentrates bait: reefs, bommies, headlands, current lines, and especially isolated shoals and pinnacles where baitfish stack up.
When to target them
Spanish mackerel follow the warm water and the bait. The runs generally fire from spring through autumn as the water warms and the bait schools build, though in the far north you can find them most of the year.
Tide matters. The bite often switches on around the tide changes when the current eases and bait gets pushed around the structure. Run-in to the top of the tide over a shoal is a classic window.
Dawn and the first few hours of light are reliable. Find clean, warm, bait-holding water and you've found your fish.
How to catch them
There are three proven approaches, and good mackerel crews carry the gear for all of them.
Trolling
Trolling lets you cover ground and find where the fish are sitting. Troll along reef edges, around headlands and over shoals at around 5 to 7 knots.
What works:
- Rigged swimming baits — gar (garfish) and wolf herring on a wire rig are the gun mackerel baits. A nicely rigged swimming gar is hard to beat.
- Hard-bodied minnows — deep-diving and mid-runners that hold at trolling speed.
- Skirted lures — small to medium pushers and bibless minnows.
Floating a pilchard
The classic land-based and boat method. Drift or float an unweighted (or lightly weighted) whole pilchard on a set of gang hooks, with a short length of wire ahead of it. Let it waft down naturally in the current near the structure. Off the rocks and headlands this accounts for an enormous number of mackerel every year.
High-speed spinning
When mackerel are smashing bait on the surface, cast a heavy chrome slug into the school and wind it back as fast as you physically can. The flat-out retrieve triggers their chase response and the hits are savage. This is some of the most fun fishing going.
Wire trace is non-negotiable
Spanish mackerel have a mouth full of teeth like a band saw and they hit baits and lures across the body. Without wire you will get bitten off, simple as that.
Run a short trace of single-strand wire (around 30 to 60 lb) or heavy multi-strand ahead of your bait or lure. For trolled baits, a wire rig with a couple of gangs or a single/treble combination is standard. Yes, wire costs you a few bites from cagey fish in clear water, but losing fish and tackle to bite-offs costs you more.
Gear
- Rod and reel: a 6 to 10 kg spin or overhead outfit covers most mackerel work. Step up to a heavier spin setup (8000 to 10000 size) for high-speed spinning.
- Line: 15 to 30 lb braid for spinning, or 15 to 24 kg mono on a trolling outfit.
- Leader: a rod-length of 40 to 80 lb mono or fluoro, then the short wire bite trace.
- Bait: whole gar and wolf herring for trolling, pilchards on gangs for floating, plus fresh bonito or slimy mackerel strips.
- Lures: chrome/lead slugs for spinning, deep and mid-diving hard-bodies and small skirts for trolling.
Gaffing and handling
Mackerel are big, slippery and full of teeth, so handle them properly.
- Gaff them in the shoulder, behind the head, not down the body where you'll wreck the fillets.
- Get the head under control and keep your hands well clear of the mouth. Those teeth will open you up.
- Bleed and ice straight away. Cut the gills, bleed it out, and get it onto ice. Mackerel flesh is beautiful when looked after and ordinary when it isn't.
Ciguatera: know about it
Large Spanish mackerel, particularly big fish from certain tropical reef areas, can carry ciguatera toxin. It builds up the food chain and you can't cook it out or see it. The general advice is to be cautious with very large mackerel from known hotspot regions. Check current local advice for the area you're fishing and, if in doubt, keep smaller fish and let the big ones go.
Tips and common mistakes
- Don't troll too slow. Mackerel like a bait or lure with some pace on it.
- Match the bait. If they're feeding on small bait, downsize. A wall of bait getting harassed is the spot to be.
- Wind fast when spinning. Too slow and they'll follow without committing.
- Re-check your wire. After a fish, run the wire through your fingers. A kinked trace will fail on the next bite.
- Check your state's current size and bag limits before keeping any.
If you like fast pelagic fishing, the same grounds and gear often turn up other speedsters. Our guide to the best offshore trolling lures is worth a read, and if you fish the tropical reefs and headlands you'll want to know how to catch giant trevally too. Mackerel water often holds wahoo as well.
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The short version
Find warm, bait-rich water around reefs, headlands and shoals in the warmer months. Troll a swimming gar, float a pilchard, or spin a slug flat out. Always run wire. Bleed and ice your fish, be sensible about ciguatera in big ones, and you'll have one of the great Aussie sportfish in the esky.