Spanish Mackerel from the Rocks

[Gerhard Delport]

In preparation for my trip to Mafia Island the 1st week in February I decided that my stick bait rod will do duty during this morning's session on the rocks here in Saudi (fishing the Persian Gulf side)

Stick bait setup is as follows:

Rod - Black Hole Cape Cod 8,6N
Reel - Shimano Stella 14K loaded with 100lb JB Hollow, 80lb fisherman leader and 60lb bite trace.
Lure - Darkstar/ Heru Wahoo 80g stick bait

I have caught Spaniards the previous two weeks from the rocks weighing 8,5&10.2kg respectively.

I knew that there must be bigger fish around but would be more than happy to get a bend in the BH rod and hear the Stella scream.

05:55 still dark with the light just starting to change I made my 1st cast.

1 pull 2nd pull Bang!!!

A Spaniard hit the stick bait and comes flying out of the water light is so bad I could just make him out.
The hooks did not set as he in typical Spaniard fashion hit the lure on the head.

Smiling knowing there are fish around I kept casting.

Probably 10 casts later one the 1st pull off the stick bait another fish comes out of the water looking like a Toma Hawk missile being launched by a submarine.

Again felt the hit an thought  "bugger that one missed as well" till the fish turned and it was game on...

Straight sticking him to set the hook the Stella started screaming and the BH started bending.

Now I dont want to have a green fish around the rocks as I have floating booms to the left and right off me and if the fish goes under neath I will loose it.

So I let the fish run a bit. Fight it closer, came in to the right almost under neath the floating boom took some pressure off fish turned around for deeper water...

Came in again this time to the left and again heading for the boom. Again pressure off but by now the fight is over and I am able to guide the fish into the rocks.

Its low tide just past 6:00 with the exposed rocks being very very slippery I got down close enough to get the long boga grip into the mouth and the fight was over with me huffing and puffing... lol

 





Fish measured 145cm nose to fork of the tail and weighed 25kg.

With one more weekend left before Mafia I think I need to cast some more stick baits next weekend just to make sure I have everything under control...

[Gerhard Delport]

Here is the GoPro clip

[Joey Tun]

Very nice Gerhard.
Do you always use wire trace? How long? Reason I asked is I will be soon be fishing in an area with quite a bit of large wahoo & mackerel (Gulf of Mexico oil rigs), although my main target is Tuna. Debating whether to go with wire trace ( generally not used to it). I am also hoping my stick baits will be large enough to keep leader away from their jaws.

[Gerhard Delport]

Very nice Gerhard.
Do you always use wire trace? How long? Reason I asked is I will be soon be fishing in an area with quite a bit of large wahoo & mackerel (Gulf of Mexico oil rigs), although my main target is Tuna. Debating whether to go with wire trace ( generally not used to it). I am also hoping my stick baits will be large enough to keep leader away from their jaws.

When the Spaniards is around I use wire.

I use 58lb wire that I fold double.

In total the trace around 6 inches long.

I use the haywire twist to connect to the swivel and the Albright knot for wire to shock leader.

I have seen Spaniards and Wahoo hit the stick baits often around the head area.

This will result in a bunch of lost lures.

80lb shock leader is about the thickest dia that will easily do the Albright Knot.

Hope this helps.

[Michael Mihajlov]

Great fish from the rocks! Love the hit and first run with macks!

[Joey Tun]

Thanks. I'll prepare a short section of wire and carry it along as an insurance.

[Khai Huang]

Great fish! and land based also!

[Gerhard Delport]

Thank you guys.

[Felix Lux]

That's a ripper, big congrats Gerhard! SHame it was so dark, would have liked to see more on the gopro

[Gerhard Delport]

That's a ripper, big congrats Gerhard! SHame it was so dark, would have liked to see more on the gopro

Thank you Felix,

I was hoping that the light would not be as bad but had to play with setting just to get an idea what happened....

The water temp has now dropped too 17.3C and they have moved out to deeper water...