How do you catch mackerel in the UK?

Using a beachcaster or bass rod and daylights or feathers is a very effective way to catch mackerel, and if a shoal is cast into it is possible to catch a mackerel on every lure. However, there is little sport in this method. Most anglers use lighter bass or spinning rods if they are fishing for mackerel for sport.

What is the best tide to catch mackerel?

Re: Best tide for mackerel/pollack With mackeral, I reckon the incoming tide is best time to try for them… anything from 3 hours before high tide to 2 hours after!.. I think the mackeral will be higher up in the water column when the tide is in!

What bait is best for mackerel?

The most common bait used to catch mackerel is mackerel themselves. Mackerel strips are excellent baits. You may also want to see my “Setting up a mackerel for bait” guide in the Beginner’s guide section. Other baits used include garfish, scad, sand eels and squid.

What month do you catch mackerel?

The ideal season to catch mackerel is from May to June, however they are taken in huge quantities throughout the summer and larger fish are occasionally captured in the winter.

What month is mackerel season?

General information. Mackerel are seasonal fish and usually arrive in our waters around late spring and leave early autumn… BUT… For the last two years, the mackerel have been arriving late September and staying through to January/February.

What size hooks for mackerel?

There are numerous feather rigs, tinsel rigs, sabiki rigs, hokkai rigs and more available which are effective for mackerel. I favour tinsels, feathered sabikis and luminous hokkais. I tend to choose rigs with hook sizes ranging from size 4 up to a size 2/0.

Can you catch mackerel from the beach?

Being a highly mobile migratory fish, mackerel like deeper water and any beach, jetty, pier or breakwater that gives you access to deep water is a great choice, particularly if it’s in open ocean.

Can you catch mackerel from the shore?

The best places to catch mackerel are piers and rocks, both of which are already in deeper water. Mackerel don’t normally come in too close to the beach. This doesn’t mean that they don’t but as a general rule you’ll get much better results if you’re fishing away from the beach. The best baits are the shiny ones.

What depth do you catch mackerel?

Mackerel generally remain at the same depth which is between 8ft to 20ft. They also generally stay quite close to cliffs and walls. If you’re fishing from a pier then you will probably only need to be casting out between 5 to 30 yards.

What’s the best bait for mackerel?

The best bait for catching mackerel is either a sandeel or strip of mackerel, but lures are also highly effective. I recommend the spinners listed on this page alongside Japanese Sabiki feathers for more hook ups. Fishing with baited mackerel feathers allows you to catch mackerel as well as other species.