Mackerel

This morning bright and early I set off to catch my first sea bass with my Bait Casting reel and rod. I tried with several lures and when I lost a soft lure (Savage Gear sandeel with a Berkley 10 gr Jig head) because of backlash, I also lost hope and was freezing anyway. The sandeel snagged while I was desperately trying to sort out the birds nest.

I then decided to film three of my favourite lures underwater and thought I had, but when I got home and watched the footage I realised I hadn’t pressed record on the camera. Not a good morning.

However all was not lost. I ran into a couple of friends who were practising float fishing for a championship coming up in a couple of weeks and though the mullet weren’t up to being caught mackerel were hitting. I waited until they finished and then took advantage that the water had been baited to cast one of my Duo Tide Minnow 75 CD. I opted for the sardine colour and started to get some hits. In the area there are about 50 ferrell cats and thought I would feed them some of the catches. I also ran into my cat’s vet who was there to try and give the cats some medicine. So in the end I gave the cats 5 mackerel and released another 5. Both the vet and myself took a chance as it’s prohibited to feed the cats and this area is always under survailance.

In the video you can see the technique which is to allow the lure to sink about 50 – 60 cm and then retrieve fast with lots of tugs.

Don’t be fooled by the sunshine. I assure you it was very, very cold.

Warning: In the video I kill one of the mackerel. The best method is to put you forefinger in the mouth and your thumb just behind the head then pull the head back and snap the neck. You may think it’s cruel but it puts the fish out of its misery very quickly. If you catch mackerel for the plate it’s also the best method so that the mackerel doesn’t bruise from thrashing about before it finally dies.

I’ll be going back to film the lures under the surface and this time I’ll make sure to remember to press the record button!

Until then, Happy Fishing