Down rigger for mackeral
Submitted by grahaml on Sat, 2019-01-26 06:46
Planning a trip to steep point in march and as part of the compulsory beers in the shed planning session one of the lads suggested the use of a down rigger and our normal laser pros to get extra depth has any one every tried this with any success
pendy
Posts: 50
Date Joined: 16/09/08
paravane
yes,when i was on the tugs in port hedland the workshop would make up paravanes out of a bolt with 2 wings to take our trawl lines down deeper.over the years we found that we did catch fish but not as much as the surface ones did,we found the bigger mackeral were always caught on the surface lines.on the state ships we found the same only we needed a lot longer wire trace to keep it in the water.
Alan James
Posts: 2211
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Learn from the pros
The vid below provides an insight as to how the pros catch macks. I have read before of them using plastic coated clothesline wire to give the trolled lures / baits depth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncLJdhCOxzI
grahaml
Posts: 54
Date Joined: 21/09/11
Thanks for the link that's
Thanks for the link that's good info
Alan James
Posts: 2211
Date Joined: 30/06/09
..
Gardies I think, with a skirt over the head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Euy-siGac
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
Down rigging for mack can be
Down rigging for mack can be a good option as the sun get up. Usually we find the macks are feeding on the surface early morning and late evening .. Between 9-4 they seem to go deep unless they are smashing bait . I'd suggest getting a few different lures instead of a down rigger tho as its easier . Depending on your trolling set up I'd suggest using mostly shallow runners during the morning with one deep runner and as the sun comes up swap around to mostly deeps with 1 shallow.. Skirted lures will also raise a lot more morning fish but are expensive on macks
avatinni
Posts: 141
Date Joined: 06/06/10
Just got back from exy last
Just got back from exy last week and we got heaps of mackerel all through the day on 6 mtr x raps , the Dorado color.
grahaml
Posts: 54
Date Joined: 21/09/11
X rap speed
Thanks avatinni
what sot of speed will amXrap trawl at I've only ever used halcos and found 6 or7 knots to be there max before they surface
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
If you want a halco to troll
If you want a halco to troll at higher speeds then swap out the trebles for bkk, owner, shout etc.. The mustard trebles are shit and off centre to the towing eye causing the lure to swim on its side and blow out.. I used to tie the hook to the belly of the lure with an elastic band to keep it all streamlined
quadfisher
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 28/09/10
fishn in paradise?
Not having a go , but exxy and surrounds I say alot of lures work , but If you want to really test your methods , try trolling for macks around Perth,
It will test your sanity as well as your lure choice!
But I agree with shallower early , then deeper later and with some of the deep runnering lures I think a downrigger not needed for Metro as most of our fish
have come from 15 to 20 m anyway so 7- 9m plus lures are well in the zone , as the bait they feeding on sits midwater .
Big tailor chasers ? putting in a few evenings or mulloway bait soakers pulling a few overnighters,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, pppff.
Metro macks for us as a good guess estimate would be about 20 hours of trolling per fish , and I think we do ok.
Thats not all trolling on good moons or high tides as its not always possible , and we only fish out of smaller boats in general ( 5m) so we cant always just shoot
out to west end etc.
My favorites are a sanmar or gardie on a trolling keel rig way the hell back in the spread , and chrome pink or redhead halco ( shallows) and xrap or deep
running yozuri . We always run a flasher teaser and take and consume a enormous amout of snacks , drinks and sing songs etc etc to reframe from going
completely mad after another fruitless 4 hour trolling session.
Why do we do it ................... dunno , but I have found with angling and other such persuits , its best not to self analyse too much.
quadfisher