ANGLERS go nuts when the first sniff of mackerel hits the Coffs Coast. Sabaki bait jigs run out of tackle stores at a rate of knots and the once laden shelves lie bare. 44lb mono wire trace suffers a similar fate as do the favoured mackerel hooks. Mackerel always appear in dribs and drabs for a month or two, prior to settling in for the season, but once they do arrive proper, they stay.
With the mackerel, schools of northern bluefin, or long tailed tuna as they are also known, arrive as well, although they don’t receive the accolades of their toothy neighbours, at least from boaties. Many anglers, unfortunately, look upon northern blues with disdain. It’s a case of severe tunnel vision in my book because the tuna are…
