# Mackerel Fishing



## txhunter2506 (Jun 10, 2014)

I have a goal this summer of catching a Spanish Mackerel on my fly rod but don't know what leader setup to use. I have a 9wt rod with floating line, any suggestions?


----------



## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

txhunter2506 said:


> I have a goal this summer of catching a Spanish Mackerel on my fly rod but don't know what leader setup to use. I have a 9wt rod with floating line, any suggestions?


Iâ€™ve gotten them on fluorocarbon, something with a little thickness like a 20-30 pound material. You will run the risk of them biting through it, but the thicker fluorocarbon should hold up over a couple of fish.

Otherwise, there is the knotable nickel titanium wire.

Spanish mackerel tear up deer hair in a hurry so have lots of flies tied with that available or use synthetics like Steve Farrar blend.


----------



## txhunter2506 (Jun 10, 2014)

Sounds good, thanks for the advice. I've caught a few on spinning gear and that's a rush on its own but the fly is so much more rewarding


----------



## Bird (May 10, 2005)

I like deceivers with long shank hooks. Take a lot of them and plenty tippet. I've caught a few of them on fly but you will lose plenty to bite offs.


----------



## Popperdave (Jul 9, 2016)

Two other obtains, one is a wire tippet leader. These are pre rigged with a wire tippet to attach the fly to. The other option is the add a short (4") piece if so single strand wire to the fly using haywire twist. I used both and they work fine. If you go with the haywire twist I would pre rig several flies before you go. It's much easier to tie these at home than when you are on the water. I've used both for baracuda.


----------



## Fishsurfer (Dec 14, 2014)

X2 Knot-able wire leader.


----------



## Gladesgator (Jun 29, 2015)

You can also use a short piece of very light wire with an Albright to tie it directly to your tippet. Use coffee colored wire, this is what we used in the Keys for toothy critters such as Kingfish, Cero and Spanish macks along with Cudas and Wahoo.

If, you use a wire tippet with a swivel or crimp there will be more cut offs from other fish while your fighting the fish, especially with mackeral.

Use a longer shank hook in your flies, keep the back of the fly relatively close to the hook bend, add thin mylar to the sides of the fly and not a lot of hair. This will allow the fly to move faster thru the water which macks like.
Good luck


----------



## Solodaddio (Mar 22, 2014)

Cool, report back when you go!


----------

