Article by Capt. Franky Pettolina
I watched as three of my four rods were bowed up with fish. The port engine was still in gear keeping the “Last Call” in a slow turn. Come On! Where is number four???? Just as I was about to give up and stop the boat the last rod started shaking and we had completed our quadruple hookup. My anglers were all cranking away and I saw one of the fish break the surface.
“Woohoo! We’ve got a jumper!!!”
A few minutes later all of the fish had been landed and my trusty mate, Mr. Evans was resetting the spread. That pass over the edge of the shoal produced a mixed bag quad of bluefish and Spanish mackerel. I was really pleased to see the Spaniards. Usually these fish do not show up until the middle of July. I can’t say I was surprised however. The night before I saw a post on social media from my friend Kevin who works on the charter boat “Fish Bound”. The boys on that rig had put their charter on a mess of Spanish and king mackerel, as well as the ever popular bluefish, for the day. After a quick text to Kevin, I had the scoop on the location of the hot bite, as well as a tip on the best lures to use. (I owe ya a beer Kevin!) Surprised or not, I was still happy to see the mackerels.
Over the past few years we have been seeing some of the most consistent Spanish and king mackerel fishing that I can ever recall in Ocean City. On light tackle these fish are loads of fun and they are decent table fare as well. I find that the best spots to catch them are on the shoals and lumps in 30 to 60 feet of water, places like the First Lump or Fenwick Shoal for example. Pretty much any edge up and down the coast can hold the fish though. Most of these spots are within fifteen miles of Ocean City, so on the right day even the small boat crowd can get in on the action. Heck, my old mate Travis and his buddy Colby have even made the trip to one of the shoals on a pontoon boat!
As far as what type of tackle to use I would recommend twelve to twenty pound test on a light action rod. Spinning or conventional tackle will work equally well. When trolling, I use Shimano TLD 20 reels on a 20 pound class star rod. If you find the fish on the surface and want to cast to them with spinning tackle I would say twelve pound test is plenty heavy enough.
For trolling, the best lure to use is a spoon. I like Clark spoons about the size of my pinky (they have size designations, but I don’t remember what size they are called). About three inches. Both gold and silver work. Some days one color will out produce the other, so it pays to experiment. On the troll, spoons work best behind a small rod planer or an inline lead weight. I like a three to four ounce in-line lead with a twenty to thirty foot length of 30 pound test leader. It is a good idea to put a small ball bearing swivel at the half way point of the leader to help eliminate line twist. Spoons do a lot of spinning! When putting the spoon behind the rod planer I like to go a little longer with the leader, maybe thirty five or forty feet, again with a swivel at the half way mark. My typical mackerel spread has a spoon and planer on each flat line and the spoon behind the inline lead on the right outrigger. If your boat doesn’t have outriggers it will work right off the rod tip too. Now here comes my super sneaky tip. On the other rigger (or off the other tip if you are rigger-less) I like to troll a small skirt lure. You can buy these at most tackle shops. Just a plane skirt about three inches long. Blue and silver or black and silver work the best. Put a half to three-quarter ounce egg sinker in the head of the skirt. Thread thirty pound leader through the skirt and tie a hook on that has just a little more gap than the diameter of the sinker. I use a long shank hook and try to position it so the bend of the hook is right at the end of the skirt tentacles. Sometimes you need to use a spacer bead if the shank of the hook is a little short. The leader can be shorter on this rig. Maybe twelve feet or so. You want to make sure to use a very small snap swivel on this set up. Both Spaniards and their royal cousins will attack the swivel if you have one that attracts too much attention. And these critters are toothy!!! Your trolling speed should be between five and half and six and half knots.
I don’t do much casting for the mackerels, but my friends who do tell me that you can use some weighted spoons or two ounce diamond jigs (Hopkins and Stingsilver are some good choices). Captain Wayne Blanks of “Bayside Guide Services” told me that you have to have a swift retrieve to trigger the most bites. He is a pretty fishy dude so I would heed his advice.
Hopefully the mackerel bite is as good this summer as it has been the past few years. It is definitely off to a good start. Maybe I will even see one of you out on the shoals with me cashing in on this exciting fishery!
Capt Franky Pettolina is Co-Captain of the charter boat, “Last Call” which is docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center, owner of Pettolina Marine Surveying, Inc. and multi-term President of the Ocean City Marlin Club. If you would like to book a charter on the “Last Call”, please call 443-783-3699 or 410-251-0575.
