Using a Sabiki Rod to Catch Mackerel
Historically speaking, tracking down and landing mackerel during May on Cape Cod is pretty much as straightforward as it gets. Nevertheless, there are always trips when the mackerel will be tricky to locate. On these days it can pay big dividends to strategically use your fish-finder, and cover a lot of water, until the macks are found.
Homemade sabiki rods make mackerel fishing much simpler. Sabiki rods reduce sabiki rig tangles and enable the sabiki rig to be stored and used several times.
To make your own sabiki fishing rod, just affix an old fishing reel to a five foot long, half inch wide PVC pipe. Drill a hole in the pipe a foot above the reel seat and run the main line through the PVC. Tie the end of the line to a sabiki rig, attach a weight and reel the entire sabiki rig into the pipe.
Once you have found the mackerel schools, release the sabiki rig from the sabiki rod and allow the rig to tumble to the depth where mackerel schools have been seen on the sonar. A slow jigging technique usually works very well, however it can pay to experiment with depth and jigging motion.
Unfortunatley, mackerel often move quickly. This means that you will have to move as well if you hope to stay with the fish. Cruising around until you mark mackerel on your sonar is encouraged. Staying mobile can be key.
When you are done jigging for the day, simply reel the entire rig back into the PVC sabiki rod. This way, when you are ready to fish again, the rig will be set to go, and most importantly-tangle free. Jigging for mackerel, and other bait fish in this manner, eliminates many of the headaches associated with fishing sabiki rigs. Tight lines and good luck fishing!
For even more helpful fishing tips , and informatiabout about fishing Cape Cod for mackerel, striped bass and bluefin tuna, simply click about aboute of the above hyperlinks.. This article, Using a Sabiki Rod to Catch Mackerel is released under a creative commons attribution license.
