Episode 150: Dirk Hartog Spanish Mackerel With The Dixon Brothers

Dixon Bros Tips For Land Based Spanish Mackerel

• You can never move a lure too quickly, there is no such thing as too fast for a mackerel. If you crank too slowly they have time to look at the lure and think about it, so you’ll catch less fish. A fast moving lure is a good representation of a garfish, anchovy or flying fish trying to escape.
• Putting a swivel on your line creates a bubble trail that can be attacked by Spaniards either during the retrieve or when fighting a fish, resulting in lost lures and fish.
• The biggest thing is to find clean water, there’s, there’s no point fishing dirty water. When the water is clean they’ll feed more freely and will target pilchards, anchovies and garfish near the surface. If the water is dirty they’ll go deeper and feed less freely.
• Look for drop offs to the edges of sand, especially places where there is plenty of current. Spanish mackerel love to cruise the edges. Spanish mackerel aren’t shy about coming in to a few metres of water, 3-5m depths are not too shallow for targeting this species.
• Big tides during the lead up to the new moon are prime time for land based Spanish Mackerel fishing. Clear sunny days work best as mackerel are visual feeders and bright sunshine maximises the flash from chrome lures.
• On tough days it can pay to downsize the line and leader and ditch the wire trace. This will result in a higher percentage of lost fish or bite-offs, but can help to secure some bites that might not otherwise be forthcoming.

Dixon Bros Tackle Recommendations For Spaniards

• The Dixon boys like longer rods of 8-10ft length, in contrast to the shorter rods usually picked up by land based mackerel fishers on the east coast – they’re using Yamaga PE5 Blue Sniper rods, which give long casts and make it safer to play and land fish around swells and rocks. Lightweight rods are best as they allow you to cast all day and are easier to carry when you’re trekking to your fishing spot.
• 5000 size reels (Chris and Aaron use Daiwa Catalina’s) loaded with 40-50lb braid are a good choice. 50-60lb Fluorocarbon leader direct to a 30cm single strand wire trace via a haywire twist to the lure with no swivel or split ring completes the setup.

Dixon Brothers Spanish Mackerel Lure Selection

• 5″ Mack Baits in chrome colours are the Dixon Brothers’ #1 choice for Spaniards off the stones. There are two ways to fish them: First one is to cast them out and then let them sink to the bottom before cranking back flat stick, allowing you to fish the entire water column. Or, if they’re near the top, cast long and start cranking float out as soon as it hits the water. These lures are a good choice during the low light periods especially. Stick with trebles on minnows or diving lures, rather than switching to singles.
• The 85 gram Sure Catch Knight in the sardine blue colour casts long and cranked at full speed is a great choice.
• A 3 oz Needle Nose GT Icecream in squid color is basically the same as a metal, but it’s got a bigger profile in the water and it wobbles from side to side. This lure is good when you want a larger profile than the metal, but without the weight.
• The Busted Fishing Metal is a very effective metal lure that’s designed to leave a “smoke trail” during use. It’s used the same way as the other metal lures.