On the Mackerel

With reports of the sea bubbling with mackerel and nothing to do for the evening I decided to head down to Langstone Harbour with a couple of rods: my HTO Lure Game 5-25g and my HTO Rockfish UL rated to just 7g armed with a 14g Dexter wedge and 7g HTO shore jig respectively.

There were already a few guys down there flinging feathers with nothing looking like it was coming out but it was still a couple of hours before high tide. After a couple of dozen casts with the Dexter I had a little sit down and had a look at where the gulls were but they were still a way out to sea still.

After 5 minutes or so the guy next to me pulled out a double hook up on his feathers so I started casting again. Half a dozen or so casts later my first mackerel took. Result! After a little while the water was indeed bubbling in patches all the while more people were turning up with their strings of feathers and the place was getting a little crowded. I'd had a few mackerel by now and the last straw for me was people casting right in front of me as the shoals were moving up and down the shore chasing the bait fish.

I moved to an empty patch of the shore where the edge of the water was black with the mackerel's prey. I switched over to the Rockfish for a little more fun to end the evening and bagged another two. More managed to shake the hook, two of them only small mackerel so they went off to grow larger for someone else to catch. I love the feel of a scrapping fish on the LRF gear pulling this way and that and taking line off the reel. Hopefully they stick around for a little while for more fun.

If you want some truly good sport, ditch the feathers and beach casters and opt for something much lighter. It's so much more fun and rewarding!