Holy Mackerel

Dani,
Amazingly not a single lure or hook! I use 50# mono for leaders. Even then cut offs happen. But none Sunday.
Most of them were caught on small dead alewives. A few on jigs. Caught a bunch of small jack crevasse too.
Had fish tacos for dinner!
 
I'm impressed.....though the one time that I got into a school of mackerel, we were using 15 and 20# mono for leaders, so considerably lighter weight stuff.

ever smoked any mackerel?
 
Dani said:
I'm impressed.....though the one time that I got into a school of mackerel, we were using 15 and 20# mono for leaders, so considerably lighter weight stuff.

ever smoked any mackerel?
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I’ve had smoked king Mac dip, it was amazing. But I’ve never smoked it myself. We grill, bake or fry it. Or do saba sushi with smaller ones. Saba kabayaki is good too.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
Nice pile of Spanish mackerel. We enjoy catching them on flies, along with False Albacore and Green Bonito.
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How far north are you finding king mackerel? The last few years my brother-in-law, nephew and I have done a trip out of Cape Cod, finding lots of very hard-pressed albies and some of the worst fishing-in-a-crowd etiquette I have ever seen in the Elizabeth Islands one year, and good fishing for stripers, shad, and bonito we had mostly to ourselves off Monomoy the next. My only king mackerel experiences were in Florida--once fishing off a beach and having them about two casts farther than I could reach just blitzing bait, and another time having a very large one break off my nephew after he hooked it trolling a dead bait.
 
Jeff Reardon said:
How far north are you finding king mackerel? The last few years my brother-in-law, nephew and I have done a trip out of Cape Cod, finding lots of very hard-pressed albies and some of the worst fishing-in-a-crowd etiquette I have ever seen in the Elizabeth Islands one year, and good fishing for stripers, shad, and bonito we had mostly to ourselves off Monomoy the next. My only king mackerel experiences were in Florida--once fishing off a beach and having them about two casts farther than I could reach just blitzing bait, and another time having a very large one break off my nephew after he hooked it trolling a dead bait.
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Jeff,

The Spanish macks come into Long Island Sound most years. We catch them in the hot water at the Millstone nuke plant. They can be had offshore, but it's tough to get on them. I have never caught a King Mackerel, I don't think they come this far north on a regular basis. I love the videos of them doing big air after a kite bait.

The crowd thing has largely turned me off to the small tuna when anyone else is around. When we started fishing for them 50 years ago, we were alone and people laughed at morons like us for fly fishing in the salt. It really took off in the late 80's early 90's. As you point out, it's combat fishing now. Everybody is a guide nowadays, they do whatever they want to get sports who can't cast into the school because they're feeding their family. :rolleyes: To the point where I've been bumped by other boats, gently and by careless accident, a couple of times while drifting with the engine off. If you simply want to catch the Little Tunney and Bonito and don't care to be a purist, troll like you would for landlocks at ice out. A smelt pattern, (they love sand eels/sand launce) sinking line, trolled in the wake at 4 knots. This allows you to circle the school and stay away from the googans. Or anchor on a reef they're working, cast and let the streamer swing in the current like fishing in a river.
 
I know many don't like spanish mackerel, but same day out of the water I love them. I won't eat them more than 24 hours later though - I was spoiled by fresh same day mackerel as a youth. I dont like Kings as much, though a good steak from a fresh catch is pretty tasty. And I agree, smoked mackerel dip cam be fantastic.
 
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