Landbased mac tuna

[jenno64]

A couple of weeks ago I spotted some action on a sand flat below my house and saw some predators zipping around chasing bait. I grabbed a rod with a 100mm sugarpen and bolted down, wading out to thigh deep where I was surrounded by thousands of whitebait. Small tailor were tearing through them and leaving them with bites missing from their backs! There were some bigger fish flashing over the flat too with some iridescent blue flashes zipping past me and some bigger shadows further way (salmon i think) I had a few small hits over the flat but started casting out over the drop off where there were some boils from time to time. Hooked 3 mac tuna on light line 4lb with 10lb leader and then a salmon that got some serious air but spat the hook. Last cast something possibly bigger smashed the lure and my leader knot pinged. Took two fish back up to the house and filleted them straight away, cut away and flesh with blood and was left with some very firm and tasty sashimi, done with sashimi soy, sesame oil and sesame seeds....delish!

Haven't been out in the boat since so I'm hanging for a trip!

[Isaac Ct]

Mmmmm, some nice looking Sashimi there @jenno64, well done. A bit of fun on the silly string with the mac tuna's and the salmon. Well done.

[joshGTV]

Jenno what part of town do you live in? When I was on Pittwater on Sunday there was a school of macks busting up off the sandflats at Palm Beach. 

As an aside - I'd always heard that they were rubbish eating - not the case I presume?

[Restyle]

Not bad for what, 20 minutes of casting?

not a huge fan of sashimi mac but when that fresh They’d be alright. Im yet to find a school of macs or bonito to have fun with but they’ll find me soon/

[Little_Flatty]

Love it @jenno64. You're making me crave a Poke Bowl. If only I had a population of mack tuna to tap into as well.

Shame about losing the Sugapen, but by the looks of your meal, you have been handsomely compensated for your loss.

Edited February 21, 2022 by Little_Flatty

[Larkin]

Nice land based catch especially over the sand flats 👍

They’re great fun on light gear.

what system - port hacking? Or Georges/Botany Bay ?

[Denisfisho]

I saw these down Wollongong way too, not interested at all in my zman 2.5 grubs unfortunately

[Yowie]

Never eaten them Rob, as the fillets are salted and used for bottom fishing. Attracts just about any fish that eat other fish. A prime bait and the smaller ones don't have thick fillets like the larger ones so better on the hook.

[Pickles]

Nice work Rob - great little string pullers on light gear - well done.

[Scratchie]

The old Mac tuna put up a good fight especially on that gear! Can’t say I use them for a table fish but that looks good. They haven’t turned up in Port Stephens yet. They were so thick last year, at one stage I thought I had a world record snapper on the line 😂

cheers scratchie!!!

[noelm]

Cant say I would eat one, way too "bloody" for my liking, good bait though.

[Chhayzor]

Keep hearing they're not the best table fish.

Haven't had a chance to decide for myself yet. I need to catch one first...

Sounds like a fun session. Well done 👍

[jenno64]

On 2/21/2022 at 4:28 PM, Isaac Ct said:

Mmmmm, some nice looking Sashimi there @jenno64, well done. A bit of fun on the silly string with the mac tuna's and the salmon. Well done.

Yep great fun on silly string!

On 2/21/2022 at 4:36 PM, joshGTV said:

Jenno what part of town do you live in? When I was on Pittwater on Sunday there was a school of macks busting up off the sandflats at Palm Beach. 

As an aside - I'd always heard that they were rubbish eating - not the case I presume?

Port Hacking - I did my research and worked out to cut all the blood out

On 2/21/2022 at 4:57 PM, Restyle said:

Not bad for what, 20 minutes of casting?

not a huge fan of sashimi mac but when that fresh They’d be alright. Im yet to find a school of macs or bonito to have fun with but they’ll find me soon/

They turn up and disappear quickly

On 2/21/2022 at 5:46 PM, Little_Flatty said:

Love it @jenno64. You're making me crave a Poke Bowl. If only I had a population of mack tuna to tap into as well.

Shame about losing the Sugapen, but by the looks of your meal, you have been handsomely compensated for your loss.

Yep good addition to a Poke Bowl

On 2/21/2022 at 5:54 PM, Larkin said:

Nice land based catch especially over the sand flats 👍

They’re great fun on light gear.

what system - port hacking? Or Georges/Botany Bay ?

Port Hacking

On 2/21/2022 at 6:33 PM, Denisfisho said:

I saw these down Wollongong way too, not interested at all in my zman 2.5 grubs unfortunately

They liked the surface action as there was heaps of bait around

On 2/22/2022 at 8:05 PM, Yowie said:

Never eaten them Rob, as the fillets are salted and used for bottom fishing. Attracts just about any fish that eat other fish. A prime bait and the smaller ones don't have thick fillets like the larger ones so better on the hook.

I thought about your salted fillets before I considered eating them. Would have been able to salt a lot of the discarded blood-fillet flesh so next time I might try a few for slated baits.

On 2/22/2022 at 9:24 PM, Pickles said:

Nice work Rob - great little string pullers on light gear - well done.

Good fun Bob!

On 2/23/2022 at 3:41 PM, Scratchie said:

The old Mac tuna put up a good fight especially on that gear! Can’t say I use them for a table fish but that looks good. They haven’t turned up in Port Stephens yet. They were so thick last year, at one stage I thought I had a world record snapper on the line 😂

cheers scratchie!!!

They don't hang around too long Jeff!

On 2/23/2022 at 6:00 PM, Chhayzor said:

Keep hearing they're not the best table fish.

Haven't had a chance to decide for myself yet. I need to catch one first...

Sounds like a fun session. Well done 👍

Try one you'll be surprised:)