| Spanish Mackerel or Spaniards as they are commonly known and Wahoo, would have to be one of the most sort after pelagic fish in SE Qld. They hit hard, fight hard and taste great.
Spaniards and Wahoo are sometimes caught when targeting other species, in these cases it more often good luck that the fish is landed. Spaniards and Wahoo have a razor set of teeth that will make short work of mono. It this reason that anglers that target spaniards and wahoo use a wire trace. There are several wire traces on the market, however we find that the multi strand wire is the best in the 60LB class. Hooks are a personal choice, but should be chosen to match the size of the bait used.
Areas for target Spaniards and Wahoo are generally locations that have a good hard reefy bottom and also a location where there is a good current flow as well. There are dozens of locations that fit this description on the Gold coast& just about all of them will produce Spaniards and Wahoo when specifically targeted.
By catches using this rig include Shark Mackerel, Spotted Mackerel, Cobia, Tuna, Sailfish and Marlin.
When targeting Spaniards and Wahoo the bait is directly proportional to the size of the fish. The bigger the bait, the bigger the fish. Yakkas are by far the easiest bait to use & also gather, however slimies, pike, tailor all produce fish also.
The rig we use consists of a trace of approx 1m, matched to 2 hooks matched to the size of bait that you intend to use, a keeper hook and at the top of the trace is a black crane swivel in the 80lb bracket tied to the wire via a figure 8 knot. |
