# Spanish Mackerel Rigs



## DanNbama (Mar 7, 2017)

I plan on making a trip down the weekend after Labor Day and plan on going to Ft Pickens. I heard some Spanish Mackerel were hitting pretty good and was wondering what was everyone's opinion on a rig to use.

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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

Get you some 2x long gold or silver single shank hooks, with a standard mono 30# leader 20" long with a 20# jet black swivel (don't use any shiny swivels at all, spanish will hit the swivel and cut you off).

If you keep getting cut off use the same hook and go with 27# seven strand non coated leader. Make your leader no more then 6" long.

Catch some small LY's 2" to 4" long, then take your gold or silver long shank hook and run the hook threw the bottom fin on the belly right behind the fin, there is a small breast bone in there that makes it hard for the hook to pull out. Plus when the LY is swimming around the long shank hook runs parallel with the LY making it to when the spanish strike they get all hook.


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## JQbigrig (Nov 9, 2016)

I agree with pier dude! I was at fort pickens 8-6, my first cast with a gotcha plug and i got a nice spanish, but the guys using the ly's were hooking up almost instantly. Plus, i lost all my gotcha plugs....$$$


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

You can also use 6" 27# seven strand on your gotchas as well, it actually makes the lures action 40% better. The Ly's will get you bigger fish.


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## DanNbama (Mar 7, 2017)

Thanks a lot. 

On the 2x long shank hook, what size hook would be recommended. 1, 2 or bigger.



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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

1/0 & 2/0 Spanish

3/0 & bigger Kings


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## RfmTX (Jun 5, 2013)

What's an LY?


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

This is an LY/Pilcher. You can see the breast/belly fin right below the gill line run the hook thru there.


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## Ruade (Jul 14, 2016)

Jqbigrig I was at ft Pickens on sunday. Think I saw you there at the corner. I was the short guy with the girl with blue hair lol. 

Pierdude thanks for the tip on the wire. I was using a 1/0 circle hook and 30# fluoro only got bit off 5 times.


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

I would never use a circle hook for kings or spanish, long shank hooks give you a better chance of hookups with mono as a leader, if the spanish are in a frenzy and are hammering your bait as soon as it hits the water then still use the long shank hook just switch over to seven strand leader so you are now wasting time making up mono leaders instead of catching fish.


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## Ruade (Jul 14, 2016)

Yeah I have to get more long shanks. I didn't do too bad ended up with 6. I need to get a bigger cooler so I can keep more.


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## smooth move (Sep 25, 2012)

i use a gold spoon with a black swivel and 6" of solid wire leader and another black swivel tied to the main line braid.


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## dobs (Sep 28, 2012)

How do you keep this little bastiges alive? Caught a net-full in the bayou on the way out, put them right into live well...all dead 45 minutes later! Maybe the transition from brackish to salt got them? Same live well that keeps bait alive all day when I get a 20shot from the bait guy!


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## lettheairout (Mar 11, 2008)

dobs said:


> How do you keep this little bastiges alive? Caught a net-full in the bayou on the way out, put them right into live well...all dead 45 minutes later! Maybe the transition from brackish to salt got them? Same live well that keeps bait alive all day when I get a 20shot from the bait guy!


Usually add a little ice to the well. And lots of oxygen. 

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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

might be talking about menhaden not LY's, BTW what is the size of the livewell? what size pump?


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## JQbigrig (Nov 9, 2016)

ruade said:


> jqbigrig i was at ft pickens on sunday. Think i saw you there at the corner. I was the short guy with the girl with blue hair lol.
> 
> Pierdude thanks for the tip on the wire. I was using a 1/0 circle hook and 30# fluoro only got bit off 5 times.


 
i saw the chick with the blue hair  i was in the middle at the end of the pier the whole time.


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## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

i used to target spanish bout 10 yrs ago when i fished perdido pass on the weekends. when the tide was coming in and the ladies were feeding, the spanish were plentiful. my theory was that the ladies were sucking the top, the spanish were feeding on them, and the blues were feeding third.
i used to use a silver or gold spoon tied directly to 80 lb. braid.
pier dude is dead on about the spooky spanish. they will hit anything shiny.
i used to bycatch the ladies and use their skin as the bait. still got spanish and blues. fun as hell.

jack:thumbup:

oh, i forgot to mention that when the spanish DID get the braid, it was ruint. you got to retie when it frays.


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## Longbow (Jan 3, 2016)

sounds interesting about the 6 in leader never thought about it always use mono thanks


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