Metro spanish mack advice
Submitted by beeroclock on Tue, 2025-01-07 12:32
For the last 3 summers ive been trying to catch a metro spanish mack but no luck. I have been trolling deep divers with a teaser at sun up and sun down in March,April, May in 20 - 25m north and south out of mindarie, two rocks and even west end caught tuna, sambos, yellow-tail kingfish and bonito but no mackies - have even seen mackies jump out of water in front of boat while trolling and still no hookups!!! Gonna try trolling garfish for the first time this season. Pretty sure im doing everything right as this is what i do up north and catch plenty of spaniards - anybody got any other tips cheers
davewillo
Posts: 2429
Date Joined: 08/09/16
I haven't caught a metro
I haven't caught a metro mack either but it sounds to me like you're putting in the hours and doing all the right things from what I've read. There are plenty of people who say their biggest mackies come from trolling baits so I think gardies might be the right way to go.
There are a number of different rigging heads that you can use for gardies. Mold Craft do a Hoo Hooker Head for skipping baits that also create a bubble trail. I've used these and caught black marlin in Exmouth. Richter do a weighted Bait Runner that gets your bait down deeper. All of these are designed to stop the gardie blowing out its guts and becoming useless. If you stitch some bait rigging thread you can make them last all day easily.
Good luck!
PGFC member and lure tragic
sunshine
Posts: 2621
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Hooked two last year in THE 40s off Garden Island
unintentionally. Both on drifted mulies where I had too lighter running sinker and they were way up in the water column. Oddly this is how I fish for them out of Dampier and Exmouth .....never had much success on lures. I now always have a floater when out drift fishing hoping for another. APRIL May are the months I hooked up
sea-kem
Posts: 15019
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Out at direction bank about
Out at direction bank about 2 years ago with my son, he decides to put a floater out on his 20lb outfit and proceeds to get smoked by a Mackie. It hit within seconds of floating it down, I nearly backhanded him saying never bring a knife to a gun fight. He has an obsession with light gear.
Love the West!
Alan James
Posts: 2227
Date Joined: 30/06/09
I believe depth is the key
whether you are trolling baits or lures. When I lived up north I would target sails using gardies as skip baits. I never caught a mackie on a skip bait. Put the gardie on a downrigger, bingo mackies.
The pros would to troll lures / baits using plastic coated wire handlines (like you see on a washing line) and this provided the depth required.
davewillo
Posts: 2429
Date Joined: 08/09/16
I've had them hit skipping
I've had them hit skipping gardies up north Alan, but I agree that depth is the way to get them. On a trip to the Mackerel Isalnds a couple of years ago there was a crew who found them stacked up in 30m - 40m from memory. They cast big blooping poppers and stickbaits and eventually they were hitting every surface that was thrown at them. One I saw that was taxed 50% still weighed 18kg so they were big fish.
I should mention I have caught a lot of metro shark mackerel but it's the Spaniards we all want to catch.
PGFC member and lure tragic
uncle
Posts: 9489
Date Joined: 10/02/07
Anchor and burly works
In that 30 m depth of parkers, but deep divers are ny preferred go to.
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs