Trolling for Spanish Mackerel the HARSH Reality for BEGINNERS

G'day Fishos, the weather hasn't been the best lately, and on those days when it has been good, we've been unable to get out there. Fishing is so much harder than gardening! Thanks for your support, cheers :)

Hey mate, I fish the Cape and do pretty well. 1. Get out to the Cape on sunrise and troll hard bodies up and down Hutchins 15 to 20km. I only use Nomad deep divers and halco laser pro's. 2. Find bait, and keep going over it a few times. 3. Only use skirts when chasing marlin and dolphin fish. Mack's won't take them. 4. Also start to look at trolling dead baits, especially garfish. Keep it up, mate. I'm currently learning how to live from 4000m2 block up the coast and I'm slowly watching and learning from your vids. The least I could do is drop a few tips to help you out.

Hi mark, I just noticed the sounder a few Times, looks like the gain & noise could be adjusted lower to give you more clarity both when trolling at speed & also at rest. There looked to be quite a bit of clutter that could stop you from locating individual fish in the water column or on the bottom while reef fishing. Cheers

Hey Mark couple more little things I didn’t mention, when you get the sounder running well take advantage of trolling and watch the sounder constantly for bottom structure with fish then mark the spots and go back to them after, the other thing was take the clears of on a hot day and let the air blow through you will feel heaps better Cheers again

Whole tailor make amazing mackerel baits Mark 👌

Persistence is the key buds. A lot of great tips already so I won’t repeat them except, slow down a bit. It looked as though you were doing 10-12knts. Try 6-8.

Great vid. When trolling I find my best success traveling at between 6-8 knots, these fish can hunt at 30+knots. Rapala Xrap 15 in purple mackerel is my go to lure for spanish (they are getting harder to find but nomad do a simillar lure). If I get a strike but no hook up, I keep going I don't stop, the fish will likely have another go. You'll be able to tell if your lure is still swimming ok if the tip of your rod is still bobbing. I use my trolling time to find new reef, I mark it when I spot it and then fish it on the way home. My best marks have all been found this way. Thank you for your videos on both channels and good luck with the trolling.

I follow your garden channel and this is the first video of this channel I've watched and I have to say I like it. I'll be checking out more videos on this channel too! Great stuff Mark..

Hi. You should try Doug Burt's seminars to learn more about targeting the species you are fishing for. Cheers.

Without reading all comments, and based on mackie fishing on the other side of Australia, we used to troll in the 15 to 20m depths. Looking for structure on the bottom and bait. We generally used the Rapala or Halco shallow divers down to 2m early, then the deep divers down to 8m later in the day. From shore to fads would be in 100+ metres, so your window of mackie fishing was quite small. When you hook one, count to 10 before going into neutral for a double hookup

Hi Mark, Don’t know if this will help, but, I used to fish out of Noosa, so just up the road a bit. I would rarely troll but rather fish the bottom and also float baits out the back, sometimes pilchards, sometimes livies. Every time I’d stop a floating line or two would go out the back, I’d just leave them to sit while I fished the bottom. Even when live baiting, I’d put a line out the back. Sometimes I would cut styrofoam and attach it to the line so the bait would stay at the depth I wanted. If needed, I would move the foam to change the depth. The trick is working out what depth the Mackerel etc are cruising at. I always got a feed because I was fishing both the bottom & the top & everywhere in between. Hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck.

trolling is a different game all together. I only troll occasionally as I consider it more of a spectator sport than id like, it can let you sound new ground for a couple hours and add to your secret rocks collection. ill be down that way fishing morton in a couple weeks. might see you out there my friend. tight lines.

Hi Mark, that place I mentioned is Stanage Bay 😊

It's called fishing, not catching, for a reason. During the heat of the year, early is better. They slow down considerably as the sun gets higher. 👍

Any experience can be good if you tuck it under your belt for later. I really enjoy seeing these fishing videos (James, I laughed so hard at you dad sleeping because it reminded me so much of my husband on long drives, thank you lol). I have a couple of questions. On average, how long are you out on the water? It looks like so much fun even if you're not catching. How do you guys preserve fish that can't be eaten in a day or two? I know you all have some incredible days when you're out on the water, I was curious if they are dried, canned (or bottled as some call it), frozen, or whatever it is you do? Thank you for making another fantabulous video for all of us!

Where I live near the outback in NSW we have days over 40 regularly in summer ... we have no aircon .... we survive by wetting our clothes and wearing them wet. Maybe you should try that out on the water? Dunk your shirts in the drink every so often. You'd be surprised how well that works.

Regardless you will learn from a guide if there is a certain kind of fish they can put you on them if they are in season

Hi mate, try trolling hutchies in the 30-40m zone, I've got a handful of wahoo and spanish the last few weeks, also find the bait 1st and then troll

I'm not sure how fast your moving but when I've trolled on fresh water we've always gone way slower then what it looks like you guys were going at. I don't have any salt water experience so I hope this helps next time.

Hey mate try berly and drifting past the fads.