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spanish-mackerel-fishing-rig-gang-hooks

Spanish mackerel fishing rig – custom gang hooks

It’s winter time and one of the premium times to catch mackerel in north Queensland. A popular Spanish mackerel fishing rig is gang hooks. 

Big Spanish mackerel pull like freight trains and are one of the true speedsters of the ocean.

Spanish mackerel caught using a spanish mackerel fishing rig made with gang hooks
Spanish mackerel can be caught with gang hooks you can make yourself.

 

They can also straighten hooks and this happened to me once upon a time using standard gang hooks from the tackle shop and I lost a good fish.

To avoid a recurrence, I make my own custom spanish mackerel fishing rig using gang hooks built to withstand the rigours of a run in with a freight train.

I like to use the Tarpon pattern, model 7766 in the Mustad and model 6026 in the Eagle Claw.

These are a good robust hook with a wide gap that hooks up well and tends not to get hooked up on itself.

It’s important to use forged hooks as stainless hooks are too brittle. Forged hooks allow you to open the eye a little without breaking it.

You’ll also need some good heavy duty pliers, (my favourite bent nose pliers will do), preferably with the eye openers in the handle. The bent nose Kokoda are ideal and include the expansion pins required.

Crimping tool for Spanish mackerel fishing rig
Crimping tool including expansion pins in the handle to open the hook eyelets ready to gang together.

 

 

For bigger game fishing hooks you’ll need a punch of various sizes and a soft block of timber.

In this video we demonstrate how to make you own customised Spanish mackerel fishing rig with gang hooks and cover hook sizes, a neat casting trick to get more bites and how to measure up and rig both a small pilchard and a gar.

 

 

Spanish mackerel are a top grade food fish, although big specimens have been implicated in ciguatera poisoning so be sure and read our previous post on the topic.

For comprehensive training on all manner of sports fish from northern Australia, check out our Fish Smarter online fishing courses or our free related posts below.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Picture of Ryan Moody
Ryan Moody
Ryan Moody started his fishing career on the reef boats before catching bucket list marlin for the likes of champion heavy tackle angler Johnno Johnson, INXS and the King of Sweden. Branching out in the late 80's to guided barramundi fishing, Ryan has made a name for himself as a Big Barramundi specialist and to date has put clients onto over 2000 metre plus barra. That is over 2 kilometres of metre plus barra! With attitudes changing from 'keep all you can' towards catch and release, Ryan has decided to share his extensive knowledge and hopefully inspire people of all ages to get out from behind the computer screen/TV and into the fishing outdoors lifestyle he has spent his life perfecting.
Picture of Ryan Moody
Ryan Moody
Ryan Moody started his fishing career on the reef boats before catching bucket list marlin for the likes of champion heavy tackle angler Johnno Johnson, INXS and the King of Sweden. Branching out in the late 80's to guided barramundi fishing, Ryan has made a name for himself as a Big Barramundi specialist and to date has put clients onto over 2000 metre plus barra. That is over 2 kilometres of metre plus barra! With attitudes changing from 'keep all you can' towards catch and release, Ryan has decided to share his extensive knowledge and hopefully inspire people of all ages to get out from behind the computer screen/TV and into the fishing outdoors lifestyle he has spent his life perfecting.

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