Espandito SPANISH Mackerel

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

here's a pic of my brother and a spanish mac he caught about 5 weeks ago. the fish bit before the sun came up on a fresh trolled bait. we had a double hook up at the time and caught both fish. this one weighed just under 80 pounds, the other 60 odd. thought someone might like a look! big mac love BIG BAITS, they are aggressors, and a 5kg trolled bait is not too big! just a topic of interest thats all.
j m.

[DaneCross]

Mate, thats a ripper

What was the 5kg bait? Tuna?

DC

[caloundra]

Wow
that thing looks like a missile
he would of given some fight
well done

Daniel

[Fishinmishin]

A monster. Love to see it holding it vertical .
Cheers, Jay

[bazzaman]

what rig do you use to troll the tuna?? Very interested in the rig you used to troll such big baits!!

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

wasn't a tuna that day( but yes, do also troll mac tuna and northern bluefin), (quite often medium grey mackerel around 4,5kg, as was this day), ultra large doggies, or smallish spanish. People rave about wolf herring, but they aren't the absolute best for bigger spanish, every ground is different also! very basic rig, no lead, just a multiple of either 8/0 hooks on rod reel, or 12/0's on a 174 lb single strand wire line. fight well, yes, although big fish seem to have slower and more deliberate movements as compared to smaller and more erratic fish. wire line is very dangerous, yet very effective, it's more of a hands on 'in ya face' type fight. have had similar size fish, like pictured, take 7,8 minutes to land on wire from a moving boat, and that's not pussy footin around either. some spanish seem to enjoy the game, and a fish's mood can have a bearing on how the fight pans out. spanish hooked neatly inside the mouth are more of a handful than those that may become slightly 'foul hooked' from other ganged hooks. foul hooked fish become disoriented and can "lose the plot somewhat!" still great fun reguardless. her's a pic of another mate with a 75 lb spanish caught on the wire line. as you can see, he is 'over the moon'! this time the bait was another 4 or 5 kg grey mac. the bait splashed us both when we threw it over the back of my boat. it's always been said..."BIG BAIT, BIG FISH"

[NeilD]

Those fish are just unbelievable. I had no idea that you could target them. Can you tell us more about your rigs, especially the wire one? Where do you chase them.
Awsome Spaniards [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Neil

[mackmauler]

Great macks, but dont you get worried about ciga in them

[HigherGround]

Mate, great work. I can relate to that type of fishing. I used to do quite a bit of game fishing back in NZ catching big yellow fin tuna, big yellow tail kings and the like. I think it's the greatest buzz. We didnt troll many flesh baits though, but used to use big 400-500 mm skirt lures on 24-37kg and above line on stand up game rods. Biggest fish went 64.5 kg yellow fin on 15kg gear! (unofficial NZ record because the guy who caught it wasnt affiliated with any club) load of crap!!
What would you do with that sized fish as far as eating it goes? My old man had a preserving kit and used to bottle it. Bloody beautiful!
Just thought i might share that.
Yeah big fishing is an awesome buzz.
Kurt.

[jimbo59]

Great fish fella's,i really like the thong, it gives the size a reality,do u guys still have all your fingers and toes?

[Sti_Brumby]

thats a big spanish, would be almost full grown. What do the very big ones taste like?. We have only court some 20-30 kg mark.

[bazzaman]

Still on the rig, I can see that the riged is ganged??? Why and where do you put the hooks into the live bait. I thought that the would have been using single hooks not ganged so im confused now where the hooks go!

Cheers

Shane

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

NOT LIVE BAIT BAZZAMAN, just fresh dead baits. ganged hooks are inserted into the dead bait from underneath.(thats just our way), others come in from the side, but trolling baits to mimmick living fish is all about symmetry, hence the reason we insert from beneath the fish to help with the whole 'balance' effect. From our local area, Gladstone Qld, there seems to be very little cases from large spanish mackerel carrying the ciguatera toxins at high enough levels to have an affect on the human body. sure, there has been cases, even from small coral trout, but not very common and even more rarely documented in our local vicinity. we do eat the bigger spanish 30 kg plus,, no problems, taste yum, and i haven't grown an extra leg or lost any limbs from doing it. Ciguatera is an interesting topic just the same, and i am sure that some areas are more prone to higher levels of this toxin than others. i am aware that many off shore coral sea reefs have had many incidents over the years, especially from larger than average predatory fish, such as coral trout. i think it all starts with a type of algae that grows on the reef which is consumed by small fish , and in turn they are predated by larger fish. Ciguatera toxin builds in a predatory fish's system due to the consuming of multiples of smaller fish. the toxin concentrates in the flesh, and we then consume the flesh and if toxin levels are high enough, we can get sick! not nice symptoms i believe! So possibly,,,!!!!, certain areas may be Ciguatera free, but then comes the issue of migratory fish, but i'd still eat another large spanish tomorrow.
as for that wire line, 35 metres long, 174 lb singlestrand wire, joined to 50 metres of cord (in case of a monster), but the cord only just reaches the water, wire line and trolled bait goes deeper than mono lines, it touches bottom somedays in 30 feet. but catch just as many on the surface trolled lines. yes, ganged hooks, all inserted, attached directly to wire, no lead weights like others use, just using the rules of symmetry to get a bait to swim freely.
dangerous line, O HELL YES, my mates won't touch it, my brother won't, i guess i'm the silly bugger that may pay the price one day for using such gear, but i am experienced and i am very careful how i handle the wire, where i place it on deck of my tinny, and extremely cautious when i feed it out or pull it in. gloves are used, but i have pulled fish before with out gloves, not recommended! It would cut your leg to the bone if you got into strife! it isn't the absolute answer to catching bigger mackerel, it is just another tool i use to find fish, and a different way to present a bait. As for being fully grown, i think they are actually still growing, 100 pounders get caught every year at the swains reefs by the professional people in the know, although 70 and 80 pound mackerel from our coastline aren't to be sneezed at. This mac was caught at south end, just 15 mins from gladstone city centre. caught trolling, on rod and reel just after sunset, gaffed in the dark. about 36 kg. all our spanish come from within 4 miles of our coastline.

[NeilD]

They are incredible fish. You can keep your wire line as I am quite attached to all of my body parts
Neil

[scuttlebutt]

Awesome!

cheers,

steve