Spanish mackerel in Australia

Identification and biology

The narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus commerson, is the long silver torpedo of the tropical and warm-temperate coast: a row of wavy vertical bars along the flank, a mouth of razor teeth, a tail built for speed and a first run that empties a reel. It ranges from the Kimberley across the top of the continent and down the east coast to New South Wales, where it is a summer visitor on the warm current, and it feeds on pilchards, garfish, herring and squid around headlands, islands, reefs, shoals and the current lines between them. Queensland manages it hard after its stock assessment, with a reduced bag limit and closed seasons on the east coast that follow the new moon in the north and fixed dates in the south; the state hub shows this year’s dates.

Where they live through the year

In north Queensland and the Territory the mackerel season is the dry, from about May to October, when the water clears and the schools hold on the headlands, the shoals and the island passages of the Whitsundays, Townsville, Cairns and the Gulf; in the build-up they thin out. On the central and southern Queensland coast, from Mackay to the Gold Coast, the run is late winter through summer along the reefs and bait grounds, and in New South Wales the fish arrive with the warm water in summer and hold off the northern headlands and the reefs to about Sydney into autumn. In Western Australia the north-west, from Exmouth to Broome, fishes through the dry, and the Perth reefs see the odd fish in a warm summer.

The mistakes that cost fish

Trolling without a wire trace, which loses the lure and the fish to the teeth; and trolling too slowly, when a gar rigged on a chin weight or a deep diver at a fast walk is what the fish chase. Fishing the wrong tide at a headland: mackerel feed on the current, and the run of the tide over the shoal or past the point is the session. Ignoring the closed seasons on the Queensland east coast, which differ between the northern and the southern zones; the state hub computes them for this year. And, on the table, not bleeding and icing a fish that spoils faster than most.

Reading the report for mackerel

The wind row is the first thing to read, because the south-easterly trade wind closes the reef and the headlands for days at a time through the dry; the calm mornings are the mackerel mornings. The tide panel gives the run at the headlands and the passages. The water temperature estimate matters in New South Wales, where the fish come with the warm water. The species card rates the month; the state hub says whether the season is open in the zone the water sits in.

Tackle setups

Playbook by water temperature

The plan the daily report picks for spanish mackerel in each band; the water temperature on each page is a seasonal estimate for its type of water and says so.

Month by month

Activity for the southern year, 1 slow to 5 peak; January is midsummer. Current month highlighted.

Waters we cover for spanish mackerel

35 Australia waters carry spanish mackerel on their species card, each with a daily report.

Common questions