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.
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.
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.
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