Capt. Ronnie Boyd, looking for fish jumping, birds, and boats. Keep your eyes open for signs of feeding Spanish Mackerel.
A nice cooler filling up with Spanish Mackerel.
Look at the size of this Spanish Mackerel. Note the dark fin and the spots.
When the water warms up in the Spring and Summer. It's time to go trolling for Spanish Mackerel. This is a great eating fish and the creel limit is high (15 per person). They will readily bite early in the morning and late in the evening, but can readily be caught any time of the day.
Our main tactic is to fish with four lines and troll slowly at about 800 to 1,000 rpm. We will have two poles out, and two hand lines with planers to get the lure down to 5-10'.
The gear:
Two-hand lines directly behind the boat. We get the 00 Clark Spoons down around 5-10 feet using a Sea Strike planer (SSP1). You can find out more by looking them up on the proper line to use, length of line needed and how to set them. When the fish strikes, the planer comes up and we reel the fish in by hand. It is simple and effective. Leave plenty of mono-filament or Fluorocarbon as a leader. Make sure you're using a swivel. Vanish Fluorocarbon makes the best leaders in my opinion. Use about 25-30 feet of it. Spanish have sharp eyes and they can see the line.
The two fishing rods will have ball bearing trolling sinkers on them to get the lure down. Again use 25-30 ft of Vanish as a leader with swivels. Get the lines out there.
Technique:
When you get your lines out, make sure that they're far enough away from the boat. Try using a gold spoon, silver spoon, green with flecks, or pink with flecks. Take note of which ones you're catching fish on and the switch to that particular spoon color to catch more fish. The fish might be very color sensitive. This is the key to getting more fish in the cooler.
You want a GREAT Tip: Spanish are not that heavy and are very toothy. I throw them straight into the cooler with the line and lure. Pull the line until the fish's head is sticking out, press the cooler lid on his head to get it to open its mouth. Take the lure out, then release the cooler lid and the fish will be off the hook.
Throw the hook back into the water and catch more fish. This is a great tip, and you will never have to get slime on your hands ever again. We've gone out with four people and caught 30-60 fish in a day. It's relaxing just bouncing around the boat, watching the lines.
You don't have to be that far from shore to catch Spanish, and we're fishing in about 17' of water, and sometimes just a couple of hundred yards from the beach. There is a high potential for "Combat Fishing" (hooking up with more than one fish at a time) because Spanish feed and travel in schools.
We look for fish jumping, seagulls, and other boats when we go out. The Spanish will chase the bait fish to the surface and allow the birds to dive and feed as well. When we do get fish, we slow down...make a large turn and troll through the area again.
Sometime we will stop the boat and throw Gotcha plugs into the bait balls and catch them on light-medium tackle, spinning rod & reels. This is my favorite way to catch Spanish because I love fighting the fish on a rod and reel.
Additional Note: If the fishing is slow or nothing is biting....you should pop open your favorite beverage or a beer. It's almost a guarantee that if you pause long enough to refresh yourself with a cool drink....a fish will strike and you will need to get to work. Well, this is the kind of work I don't mind.
Cooking: The best way I like to eat Spanish Mac's are fillet and fried in House Autry Seafood Breader (medium spicy). Nothing taste or smells like summer, like the smell of fish bubbling and frying in hot oil. Happy holidays and good luck with your fishing adventures.
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