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This time of year brings exciting prospects for seasoned game fishos and beginners alike. It’s the time to get the big Tuna prep sorted for the south coast and Tassie, and the time where Marlin can be caught locally for us and most of NSW as the EAC brings those warm currents in close to the coast. The prospect of catching big game fish isn’t just for big inboard game boats and small trailer craft fishos are proving how accessible these trophy fish can be. If you are targeting Tuna, Marlin, Dolphinfish or a plethora of others, it is hard to go past the effectiveness of trolling. We will quickly breakdown the basics of what’s needed and the different methods you can use. |
Daran Ryan - Fishing Store Manager at Motackle & Outdoors - Striped Marlin
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While it’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of trolling a livey or dead-bait, trolling lures can be an easy way to get on the water and trolling fast will cover a lot of ground. When trolling hardbodies, the key to success is a good spread and getting the best out of the lures you’re trolling. Depending on the size of your boat, you can troll as many as 6 (or more!) lures or as few as 3. To get a nice multi species spread, I like to run a few hard bodies and a couple of skirted lures. The Halco Laser Pros or Rapala X-Raps are great for running short accompanying two skirted lures. One skirt shotgun on the back of the boat wash is great and one in the side wash in a long rigger position. I try to keep my skirted lures with the same face shape i.e cup, slant cut, flat cut, jet etc, this allows you to troll a speed that suits all your lures, roughly around 5-7 knots (9-13km). A spread like this will attract everything that’s about - Marlin, Mackerel, Tuna, Dorado, Wahoo and more. |
Matt Townes - Mail Order Assistant Manager at Motackle & Outdoors - Wahoo
Matthew McEwan - Warehouse Stock Receiver at Motackle & Outdoors - Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi or Dorado)
| Trolling live bait, while it can seem like a daunting task, is reasonably simple and an ultra effective way to get bites from trophy fish. The only additional things you will need are some quality game circle hooks, a bait needle and some rigging Dacron. Then just get on water and find the bait, jig up a few and rig them through the nose using a technique called bridling. Slow trolling those in wide circles around the bait and birds will have that drag working overtime! To get the absolute best out of this method, always run one on the downrigger a little deeper or at the depth the bait are showing. If you have no downrigger, you can always get away with running a large egg or bean sinker at the top of your leader, leaving plenty of free line to get the best out of the bait. |
Clayton McGuire - Boating & Fishing Specialist at Motackle & Outdoors - Yellowfin Tuna
| Switchbaiting is another popular live bait technique when gamefish are a little picky or when you want to try something different. Switchbaiting is the art of removing the lure (rigged or un-rigged) from the water and pitching a live bait into its place to entice the bite. It's best to leave the lure in the water and slowly wind into the area the 'switch' bait had just been pitched, keeping the fish interested before presenting the new live bait as the lure is removed from the fishes view enticing the bite. As soon as the lure or teaser is past the pitched bait, remove it quickly to avoid tangles. Once the switcharoo has taken place, hang on! This is when tuna tubes become incredibly valuable, being able to have a live bait rigged ready to go and pitch to a Marlin in no time at all. |
Ash Holdsworth - Fishing Purchasing Assistant at Motackle & Outdoors - Black Marlin
| This season looks like a ripper to get out and troll them trophy fish, so bust out the cheese and crackers and get amongst them! - Matt Townes - Mail Order Assistant Manager at Motackle & Outdoors |
