Fishing for Spanish Mackerel is an exhilarating fishing adventure that you have to experience to truly understand the thrill of having these silver bullets pursuing your bait.
How To Catch Spanish Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel are caught using heavy artificial lures resembling baitfish darting through the water column. Spanish Mackerel are highly predatory creatures constantly pursuing food, frequently hitting fast-moving lures in 10 to 40 feet of water.
Spanish Mackerel are vicious pelagic fish that are constantly on the hunt for pods of baitfish. If you can find the baitfish, you will undoubtedly find a large school of Spanish Mackerel busting baits out of the water, creating an absolute feeding frenzy. Spanish Mackerel are highly predatory fish reaching darting speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Since Mackerel are such fast-moving fish, keeping your baits moving at least 6 knots is essential to spark their interest. Any slower, and you will probably have little to no luck getting them to turn on your lures. Though it is a less frequent fishing strategy, Mackerel can be caught using freeline live bait. Freelining can be a very productive fishing method, especially if you leave one fishing rod in the rod holder while simultaneously casting another rod with a heavy spoon or jig.
Expert Tips On Catching Spanish Mackerel
- Optimal Trolling Speed: The Optimal trolling or retrieval speed is 6 to 8 knots.
- Proper Fishing Reel Gear Ratio: If you are casting for Spanish mackerel, it is essential to have a reel with a high gear ratio. The gear ratio is a ratio given to a reel that counts the number of spool rotations for a single turn of the handle. Having a high gear ratio will allow the angler to fish for longer periods without fatigue. This will be especially helpful when fishing for any species that prefers quicker retrieval speeds. We recommend at least a 7:1 gear ratio for mackerel.
- Find the diving birds! Spanish Mackerel and birds share a symbiotic relationship. Mackerel forces schools of bait to the top of the water as they attempt to escape their vicious jaws while birds dive down on the school, keeping them in a pickle.
- Find shallow water structure: Bait often congregates over shallow water structures along the coast. If you can locate healthy reefs or sunken boats, this will be a great place to start your Mackerel hunt.
- Chum & Wait: The chum and wait technique is a great fishing technique to employ when fishing with younger anglers on the boat. This technique involves throwing out the anchor at 10’ to 30’ of water and chumming up these suckers. Most of the Mackerel will end up being caught in the chum line, making it simple for the beginner angler. Once your chum bag is in the water, expect to wait 10 to 15 minutes for the Mackerel to show up.
- Use your depth finder: Spanish Mackerel are not always traveling on top of the water. When this is the case, use your depth finder to locate them. Once located, try using lures specifically designed for vertical jigging. The Luhr Crippled Herring Spoon has been our go-to vertical jig.
- Find the school: Spanish mackerel hunt in large schools, sometimes miles long. If you hook up to a mackerel, continue to cast in the general direction of your strike. Often you will hook up with another one. This can be repeated again and again until the school starts to disperse.
- Fishing the Pier: Piers have always been a hotspot for targeting Spanish Mackerel. It is highly recommended that you use heavy casting spoons to assist in covering more water.
Let’s take a deeper look at how to catch Spanish Mackerel by learning more about the species as a whole.
What Are Spanish Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel are a pelagic predator fish in the Scomberomorus maculatus family that is often characterized by their greenish backs and silvery mercury-like sides and stomach. Spanish Mackerel have mustard-colored oval spots starting just behind their gill plate and stopping ¾ of the way back to the tail. Spanish Mackerels’ tails are large in proportion to the rest of their bodies, giving them the ability to reach extreme speeds in a matter of seconds. Mackerel have smooth oily skin and tiny scales that are not noticeable at first glance. Spanish mackerels have large eyes and vicious teeth that are indicative of many pelagic predators.
When Can You Catch Spanish Mackerel?
Spanish Mackerel are caught predominantly in the winter months down south and summer months up north. Though mackerel are constantly eating, the most productive times to target them are dawn and dusk.
Do Spanish Mackerel Bite At Night?
Spanish Mackerel do bite at night, especially during a full moon. The full moon gives the mackerel visual assistance in located the baitfish.
Where Do You Catch Spanish Mackerel?
Spanish mackerel are caught throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Southern Atlantic. Though mackerels are caught in northern parts of the Atlantic, the bulk of the population is found south of the Carolinas. Spanish Mackerel are pelagic fish inhabiting waters between 10’ and 100’ feet of water. It seems that the optimal depth when specifically targeting mackerel is 30’. Though mackerel prefer these depths as a general location for habitation, they spend most of their time within 10’ of the ocean surface. Mackerel are also often found within a couple of hundred feet from shore, making them a great fish to target when pier or surf fishing.
What Do Spanish Mackerel Eat?
- Small baitfish including
- Herring
- Pilchards
- Threadfins
- Mullet
- Shrimp
- squid
What Is The Best Bait To Catch Spanish Mackerel?
Spanish Mackerel are best known for consuming live baitfish.
Best Lures For Catching Mackerel
Generally, lures that are shiny in profile and move effortlessly through the water column make an excellent option for Mackerel fishing. Spanish Mackerel are a thrilling fish to catch, especially when using artificial lures.
Here is a list of casting/trolling lures that work great for Spanish Mackerel.
Got-Cha Plug: The Got-Cha Plug is one of the most famous Spanish Mackerel Lures of all time. This lure weighs in at one ounce making for an incredible lure to cast far distances. The bottom of the lure sports two treble hooks, ensuring hookups on every strike.
SPRO Bucktail Jig: The SPRO Bucktail Jig has a distinctive head shape that allows the jig to glide through the water effortlessly. When the SPRO is jigged, the lure keeps a parallel presentation that the fish can not resist. The all-white or spearing blue color has always done great for us.
Yo-Zuri Crystal 3D Minnow: The Yo-Zuri 3D Minnow is a great lure to cast on feeding Spanish Mackerel. This lure has an erratic side-to-side swimming action that perfectly resembles an escaping baitfish. The Crystal 3D minnow has an internal prism within the lure to assist in light reflection to further attract fish.
Acme Kastmaster Spoon: Acme Kastmaster Spoons have been around since the early ’50s and remain a prominent lure fishing for Spanish Mackerel. The Aerodynamic design and weight give this lure its impressive casting distance.
Luhr Jensen Crippled Herring Spoon: The Crippled Herring can be retrieved at high speeds or vertically jigged for Mackerel lower in the water column. This lure has a dramatic shimmer that is sure to attract the fish.
Berkley Saltwater Gulp! Swimming Mullet: Berkley’s Saltwater Swimming Mullet is a simple yet productive lure to add to your arsenal when targeting Spanish Mackerel. This lure features a high-action swimming tail and Gulps famous scent dispersion.
Is Spanish Mackerel Good To Eat?
Spanish Mackerel are great to eat. The flesh of the Spanish mackerel is an opaque white with a mild oily flavor. Once cooked, the meat is white and flaky, often breaking off into tiny pieces. Mackerel is a great fish to smoke for a homemade fish dip.
Are Spanish Mackerel Safe To Eat?
Spanish Mackerel have been known to carry the Cigueaterra toxin. Ciguatera is a toxin that builds up the bodies of fish over time as they are consuming smaller fish that eat a small organism called a dinoflagellate. Ciguatera can have gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and neurological effects on the body. Most anglers avoid the consumption of Spanish mackerel for this reason, and those that do eat them should regulate their consumption to small amounts. If you are going to consume Spanish Mackerel, one thing worth noting is that smaller Spanish Mackerel will have lower levels of mercury and ciguatera toxin.
Are Spanish Mackerel High In Mercury?
Spanish Mackerel are high in mercury content, coming in with an average of .518 PPM. To put that in perspective, that is almost double the mercury content of grouper, which is another frequently consumed fish. It is best to exercise caution with consuming Spanish mackerel, limiting your overall intake.
Are Spanish Mackerel Related To Tuna?
Spanish mackerel and tuna are both in the Scombridae, making them a close pelagic relative.
Do Spanish Mackerel Have Scales?
Spanish Mackerel do have scales though they are extremely small and hard to observe with the human eye.
Do Spanish Mackerel Have Teeth?
Spanish Mackerel have over 60 triangular teeth in total, making them a vicious pelagic predator.
Spanish Mackerel Size & Bag Limit
Spanish mackerel minimum size limit is 12” to the fork with a 15 fish bag limit. Mackerel does not have a closed harvesting season.
Best Fishing Tackle For Spanish Mackerel
Fishing Rod
The 7’ medium weight fast action “Stellar Lite Fast Taper Spinning rod” by Star Rods is a phenomenal rod option for fishing for Spanish Mackerel. The length of the road is long enough to make a long cast, helping to cover additional waters, and the backbone is just enough for these pelagic fish.
Fishing Reel
When employing the casting and retrieval method for pelagic predator fish, we recommend a gear ratio of at least 7:1 & and a 4K or larger sized reel. Having a high gear ratio will dramatically reduce angler fatigue throughout the day, and a mid-sized reel will give the fish a fighting chance while also giving you the linebacking and drag pressure needed to land larger fish.
Fishing Line
Since fishing for Spanish Mackerel is often a heavy casting form of fishing, it is always good to use a braid designed explicitly for optimal casting distance. We highly recommend PowerPro Spectra Fiber.
Leader
The best leader we have found to use for Spanish mackerel is a minimum of 3 feet of 30lb to 40lb fluorocarbon leader. If the mackerel are cutting you off a couple of times, it may be necessary to step up to a steel leader. The steel leader will decrease the number of overall bites but will increase the amount of fish you can land on the boat.
Hooks
If you are fishing the freeline method for Spanish Mackerel, a 1/0- 2/0 circle hook will be your best option.