Mackerel are coming

[jackdaniels]

They should be arriving any day now as conditions are about right for them. The captains who have been out fishing for stripers and blackfish in the past week have been marking surfaces temps in the low to upper 40s. There have also been spot readings of herring along the beaches which the mackerel tend to run with.

Perhaps the biggest indicator though, is recent memory. Last year the macks showed up the day after Christmas and then there was pretty good run on them for a couple weeks in mid-January. They had come in pretty close at one point, inshore of the Sea Girt Reef and gave anglers a good shot at filling a five gallon bucket before they moved off to the East.
"We used to see them the first week of November around Election Day. Now it seems they are arriving later between Christmas and New Years," Captain Willy Egerter of the Dauntless said.
Captain Jimmy Eliot of the Miss Belmar Princess is planning to fish for them this Saturday if the weather holds. If not he'll sail an open boat trip on Sunday leaving the dock at 7:30 a.m.
"There supposed to be some southeast wind on Saturday so we'll wait and see what happens. What I plan to do is start looking for the macks off the beach about 4 or 5 miles. Then I'll take a look around the west side of the Mud Hole and the east side of the BA buoy and hopefully locate them in one of those areas," Captain Eliot said.
The strategy for catching mackerel is pretty basic. Anglers should come prepared with 3 to 6 mackerel teasers, either red or green tubes, spaced out between 10 to 12 inches on their line.
Depending on the drift speed and current, bank sinkers between 3 and 8 ounces should be tied with a drop loop on the bottom. The ideal drift speed is a half knot to to 1 1/2 knots.
"This time of year the mackerel stay close to the bottom. To catch them, anglers should drop down to the bottom and bounce the teaser rig or reel quickly half way up to the surface and drop back down again," Captain Egerter said.
Anglers should also come prepared with a five gallon bucket or a cooler because if the fishing is good, these fish can add up quick. When the fishing is fast, it's not uncommon to catch three or four mackerel on one cast. The trick to catch several at once is to wait a second after the first mackerel hits for others to attack the rig.
What to do with the mackerel after you catch them? Many anglers catch mackerel for bait. Some anglers choose to freeze mackerel whole. Others fillet and salt them before freezing them in zip lock bags. Either way, they will keep and be ready bait in the future.
The mackerel caught in the winter also make for good eating because they are less oily this time of year than in the spring when they are spawning. A good recipe is mackerel salad. To prepare this dish, first head and gut the mackerel and then broil them. After broiling, let the fish cool and pick the meat off, mixing it in a bowl with either tartar sauce or mayonnaise. And then bon appetit.
http://www.app.com/article/20091225/...017&source=rss

[paul708]

great . they are alway fun to catch.

[ReelSmith]

Mackeral fishing in the late winter was something to look forward to off the coast of MD. I don't know if people just olost interest in it or there was a major decline in catches, but boats aren't running trips for them anymore.