Setting up for targeting spaniards

December and everyone’s thinking mackerel.

And rightly so, I guess – there could be a few popping up at any time now.

The fact is that there could be heaps swimming past, but if the water isn’t right, they will not feed.

Towards the end of December, they’ll be starting to get in the mood, however in these parts, it’s not usually until the second half of January that they really start to fire up.

This is also bait collecting month for me, in preparation for the upcoming months of mackerel mayhem.

Way up into the fresh, Damien was casting for bass when a flathead jumped on his lure.

Tailor and bonito are high on my agenda and first priority as dead bait for spanish mackerel, but big slimy mackerel and pike are also very welcome.

There are a few bonito around at present, though they are the large spring models that enjoy the green water on our shallow reefs.

If you are into a feed of sashimi, these are great, but I’m after the smaller specimens for tow bait that seem to like the blue water better.

Night trips through January are good because this is the best time to collect pike, and you can fish for a snapper or jewfish as a bonus.

Mackerel aside, your best bet for offshore fishing will be to head out wide for a mahi mahi on the 50-fathom line.

Night fishing in December might produce some bait for the mackerel season and a nice feed of fish while you’re at it.

The fish aggregating device off Cape Byron has plenty of small fish hanging around it, yet finding a legal one among them can be hard some days.

Hopefully this improves soon – the fish often do get bigger as December moves along.

While you are trolling for a mahi, there could even be the possibility of an early wahoo out wider.

Our local creeks and rivers are fishing well for the usual suspects.

Flathead are spread throughout the system and in the Tweed River, they are up at Murwillumbah, despite the water being a little fresh.

Damien landed a little bass on a recent excursion to the upper Tweed River.

Damien and Toby went up for a bass fish recently and picked up their target species, then a flathead jumped on Damien’s lure.

This is in completely fresh water, so when I say they are spread out, I mean it.

Big females have been spawning down towards the river mouths, though they’ll be finished now and making their way up the rivers again, looking for herring and prawns and whatever else they can fit in their gobs.

Mangrove jack are a go-to species for the warmer months too and they’re around in good numbers.

Any rock bars, snags and pylons hold this fish and at the moment, mid to upstream in the Brunswick River and the middle reaches of the Tweed are where the main bulk of fish are.

If we don’t get a fall of fresh, keep heading upstream – you’ll catch them all the way to the freshwater.

Toby with a solid bass. He caught the target species at least.

I think a lot of the time bass fishos get blown away by large jacks and put it down to big bass.

A sizeable bass is certainly capable of hanging you up in the snags, but jacks get up there in the fresh too and only occasionally does one get landed on bass gear.

Mud crabs are obviously high on the agenda at this time of year, though unfortunately they don’t usually tend to hit their peak until after the school holidays at the end of January.

Don’t let this put you off though as there will still be plenty for a feed in varying stages of moult.

Just sort through them and chuck back the empties.

Mud crabbing and jack fishing always go hand-in-hand for me.

I reckon warm summer afternoons having a fish for jacks while the crab pots soak is just about the best this month can offer.