No fish can beat mackerel rigs when you want to catch larger predator fish like tuna or billfish. Mackerel can become dead bait when used to fishing and since there are lots of species of mackerel with different sizes, you can simply choose one out of them to attract larger fish. Mackerel species such as Spanish mackerel, sierra, cero, and Australian mackerel are some examples which can be used to make great baits. Of course the best of them all is the Spanish mackerel due to the availability. And it is not too hard to catch baby Spanish mackerel which the size very suitable to make excellent baits. Not to mention bluefin tuna really love to eat them a lot. Although you should limit yourself when catch and making baby Spanish mackerel as the baits otherwise you will cause a conflict with the federal fisheries officers and the state.

How to catch and prepare mackerel rigs

First you need to catch the Spanish mackerel fish to make good mackerel rigs. You need to spot large school of Spanish mackerel and then cast small spoons, nylons, plugs or feathers jigs to catch them. You need to choose bait that eye-catching with bright and shiny colors. Just go to the tackle shop and fyi, most tackle shops know where to find school of Spanish mackerel and thus you can ask them. Spanish mackerel fish is a fast swimmer, they will give strong fights with high speed movement and this is why they can make a great tackle game.

Alternatively, you can purchase frozen mackerel rigs from shops, but different stores/ shops offer different qualities. When you can find one shop that consistency supply high quality frozen mackerel for baits, then stay with them even if the price is slightly more expensive, but it is worth it.

When you catch your own mackerel, you need to store them quickly into a cooler full of crushed ice. Soon after you catch a mackerel, add baking soda, formalin solution, salt, and large bucket of seawater. Remove the guts and rinse the mackerel cavity when they are dead. Never leave the fish on the deck, the mackerel should stored into cool brine/ salt water as soon as possible. This can be done for frozen mackerel fish as well since you need to thaw mackerel fish in cool brine.

Finally, start rigging the mackerel fish

To catch larger fish, you need to have both angling and bait rigging skills. Spanish mackerel rigs offer easy and simple preparation if you know the basic principles how to rig it. Follow these guides to make a great mackerel rig with Spanish mackerel:

1.      Remove the eyeballs before you rigging the fish so the bait can swim better

2.      Make sure that you follow “bilateral symmetry” when rigging the fish, whether you rig the mackerel on the wire or cable, mono, or place the hook on top of the fish head or in the body cavity, it is all about symmetry.

3.      When rigging the baits, make sure that you can still be able to see the bait on the surface or in other words you need to make the mackerels stay in sight. To do that, you can pull the mackerel head using circle or J-hooks sewn on top of the fish head plus close to the nose tip.

4.      There are many ways to make the best mackerel rigs including:

That’s several steps you can follow when making good mackerel rigs, no matter what kind of rigs you want to have, mackerel fish will get the bite coming from your targeted larger fish. Spanish mackerel is the best choice of them all as the rigs.