is this lure correct for mackerel?

[calm_entity]

I have some of these with 2 hooks one at the front and one at the back?  The ones I see for sale in Norway are usually just one hook at the back.  What is the purpose of 2 hooks?  I'm worried that if the mackerel or sei try to eat the whole lure it will get hooked twice and it will be very difficult to remove the lower hook.

 

[vikandreas7]

I would be inclined to agree this type of lure could be quite annoying to remove when fishing mackerel. They tend to inhale the hook and due to their size it can be really annoying to remove treble hooks in general not to speak of dual treble hooks like this. Personally my recommendation is some sort of sabiki rig with a 40-60gram lure at the end if casting and 60-100gram if fishing from a boat. As for what type anything can catch mackerel really. I myself have caught mackerel on a snap swivel I forgot to close once. The advantages here is more hooks in the water = more mackerel caught as you will usually get bites on multiple hooks at the same time. Personally I also crush the barbs on the treble hook attached to the lure at the end to save some time in the cases where the mackerel really inhales the lure. Kinda sucks when there is mackerel about and you are stuck there spending 10+ seconds getting it off the hook instead of getting your rig in the water again.

 

Again anything will work, but more hooks in the water is recommended and I would agree that the faster you can get them off the hook the better. For sei/lyr I wouldn't worry as much because even if they do inhale the lure they won't be that annoying to unhook due to their larger size and the fact that they also do not bite as frequently means spending a couple seconds extra to unhook them is not as big of a deal.

 

Realize this was quite a lot of rambling, but hope it was of some help.

[TT]

[calm_entity]

helpful stuff, I appreciate the detailed answer and the pic.

[sjøsprøyt]

Mackrel is actually really easy, compared to just about anything.

First I would like to note that spring time mackerel is rather low on fat and have a gentler taste, along the year; summer and autumn it is rather fat and have a strong taste. I use spring mackerel for eating, due summer and autumn it is let free or used as bait. If you want to eat fat mackerel the same applies as to dogfish, gut immediately and put on ice in the cool box immideatley, no longer than 3 months in the freeser.

Mackerel is one of the most open-minded and ruthless hunters of the sea as long as the bait is not too big, it will go at just about anything that draws its attention. You only need one small bended singel hook to catch it.

 

 

Endret September 19, 2023 av sjøsprøyt

[calm_entity]

Thanks, I tend to eat any mackerel I catch.  I do not have a boat so I can generally only catch Mackerel, Lyr and Sei.  I do not like Lyr or Sei particularly but I will happily eat mackerel (even the fatty stinky ones).

Is mackerel season over in Stavanger?  The last week of September I caught a lot i the early morning using sabiki system with a spinner at the end, catching them 4 or 5 at a time.  But today it was much colder and I caught nothing.  Does the season usually end in October or can you continue catching them later?

Other fish I have caught from the shoreline in Norway are wrasse (not sure of the Norwegian name) and one time I caught a greater weaver, which have poisonous barbs, but actually it was very tasty.  

Endret October 9, 2023 av calm_entity