# Spanish Mackeral



## Katmaster Jr. (Apr 24, 2006)

I normally fish for Spanish Mackeral when I go down to Florida. Can someone give me some good idea's for catching them around Nag's Head? Any particular pier's that are good for them? What kind of lure's should I try? And what are the time's to catch them?

I heard that around Oregon Inlet it can be very good for them, but I've never done any Spanish Mackeral fishing in NC so any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank's,

Zakk


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## hokieboy (Jan 19, 2006)

Gotcha plugs, gold hook rigs, spoons, and you can catch the big ones on king rigs. The time depends on water temp but May is usually when they begin to show.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Katmaster Jr. said:


> I normally fish for Spanish Mackeral when I go down to Florida. Can someone give me some good idea's for catching them around Nag's Head? Any particular pier's that are good for them? What kind of lure's should I try? And what are the time's to catch them?
> 
> I heard that around Oregon Inlet it can be very good for them, but I've never done any Spanish Mackeral fishing in NC so any info would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> ...


 Zakk,the best time,IMO,to catch spainish is early morning or late in the day,just before the sun goes down.. Bait,generally glassminnows is what they feed on here on OBX.. 
Piers: I'd say Avolon pier,then Nags Head pier would be the best for spainish in Nags Head area.. Down here on Hatteras,all three can be excellent Rodanthe,Avon,and Frisco.. For lure selection go with a gotcha,mainly because of the way it works from a pier,the hieght seems to help the action.. IMO,ain't much better than gold with red head,or chartruese body with red head.. Another idea from the pier that works good at times is a "double bucktail rig".. A small clarkspoon tied about 3' below a trolling sinker,casted,allowed to sink,and reeled to the top fast can produce as well.. Course there is the ole tried and true, stingsilver,that can work well on a pier,especially when a long cast is needed................................................ Beach:At OI I would suggest fishing the n end near rip, or s end at jettys.. You can use the same stuff on the beach,but IMO stingsilver is best... There are several variations of this lure,and many colors.. Straight chrome works better at times,but many other colors work well also,experiment..  Just sling it as far as you can,if you don't see them on top,and retrieve as fast as you can crank..

Here is a pic of one of the newer versions of a stingsilver.. It cast well and catches well also....


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## Katmaster Jr. (Apr 24, 2006)

Awesome info, greatly appreciated!

Like I said, I've mostly done my Spanish Mackeral fishing in Florida so this info will help me a lot. 

Zakk.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Drumdum said:


> Course there is the ole tried and true, stingsilver,that can work well on a pier,especially when a long cast is needed................................................
> 
> What is you prefered weight and size stingsilver. How about you favorite colors.


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## yogai (Oct 21, 2005)

Some of the things we do for spanish

1. tie like 12-20" of 30lb straight to your line. put a smal; split shot just below the knot on the 30lb. use a 1/0 or 2/0 live bait hook and freeline small sardines. when they're running around in groups you can just cast it out and let the thing so some swimming. That's my favorite way b.c its easy and fast.

2. use sabiki/gold hook rigs. bigger ones with flashy tails. a speeding mack will not take time to inspect a flash of silver/gold that the other 500 in the school have passed up. B/c of this, I sometimes just tie on like 3 gold wire hooks and put a piece of tinsel on them. just bounce the thing up and down with a small bank sinker.

3. Gotchas are o.k., but I don't use them b/c theyre expensive and nothin else around here bites em. Sometimes I use a popping bobber and sardines to get the high-running schoolies. freelined shrimp too can work well


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Fishman said:


> Drumdum said:
> 
> 
> > Course there is the ole tried and true, stingsilver,that can work well on a pier,especially when a long cast is needed................................................
> ...


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## narfpoit (Jun 16, 2004)

I like to put my gold hooks and tinsel above a gotcha. Work it at the surface. Caught blues four at a time and the spanish loved the gold hooks too. Just check your line after catching a few cause the eat it up trying to get those hooks. I was using 60# ande and they were still getting close to going through it. Anyway it was a lot of fun.


John


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## gilly21 (Feb 15, 2006)

Sting silvers from the beach will catch you some spanish for sure. Although one morning at HI I was in a crowd casting at spanish and hooking up 3 to 1 against everyone throwing a 1oz T-Hex. They are killer on blues and spanish. They are hard to find down in NC but well worth the effort. I get mine direct at aoktackle.com. Soon as they start coming out in colors they will replace all the stings in my bag.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

I'd sure like to see how those things run in the water with that lip on there,and the back of it looks like it has a keel to keep it from spinnin... 

Do they come without hooks,and just the splitrings on there? That would be great,cause I have some nice looking teasers made by Mr Flathead that would work like a charm on there...  

I'd have to fish them against a stingsilver more than once to base my opinion of whether they worked better or not. Seen many times where one lure worked better than another on a given day,and got smoked the next..  All of em have a place in the box with me,if'n they catch fish....


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## the rhondel (Feb 6, 2003)

...hmmm...now I know what happened to all my ole bottle openers.....let me know how they do DD...the R


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## gilly21 (Feb 15, 2006)

DD,

I think if you ask he will send them with out hooks. Definately save a buck or so too. He is going to offer them with a treble too. If you PM me I can hook you up with his info so you can ask him any questions direct to the maker. He made a trip last week to the OBX and now Trechs lair, Hatteras Jacks and Dillons carrys them in the form pictured. I have noticed the do not spin when burning them accross the top of the water and I can make them walk the dog under water like a Gotcha too. At the end of last summer and early fall I slayed the blues around the point on the 2 oz version. They hold up very well to the green eyed monsters too. I still chuck the one 2ozer I cought well over 50 5-10 lb blues on and it has very slight surface scratches on it.


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## windy (Sep 24, 2005)

I have caught lots of spanish and blues with stingsilvers [2 oz] tied directly to my line. I very seldom get my line cut. I do not use a swivel.


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## Sudsrat (Dec 25, 2005)

Just came across this thread.Thanks Gilly!
Drumdum,if you haven't seen the T-HEX's at the shops,
give me a holler(info is on my site).
I'm sure I could hook you up  

Steve


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## Lafayette_River (Apr 12, 2005)

hey zakk we vac on the banks in june(this year july) my general rule has always been .......skip breakfast, catch spanish.show up late for dinner caught spanish just my 2 pennies usually from avon as the condo is in walking distance(this year we'll be in buxton)


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

DD the name of the comp that make dem lures is AOK lure comp.. Real nice guy.. He has a website that you can google up... JAM 

"One Arm Bandit Started" the Mackish season on 5/22/06 @ 2:08 p.m Steve got the first 2 In Buxton.. The man flat out fishes hard... Congrat Steve..

JAM


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

Here is the link to the website:

http://www.aoktackle.com/


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