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Weird tailor behaviour while chasing kings


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Went out this morning with a rod rigged with slapstik

Destroyed by tailor and saw some kings cruising. Soft plastics are not making it past tailor swarm so I switch to metal jig. No takers on fast retrieve and jigging

Put on 3 inch burkley clear minnow and did sub surface walk the dog. No takers

Then switched to a pearl white streakz 3.75 and hooked quite a few tailor but kept only one

 

Very unusual that I cannot hook tailor on a 15 g jig lure on forward assist. And none chasing it as you do fast retrieve 

 

Edited by faker
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Probably they're only feeding on whitebait? I find the fish at this time can be really finicky. I went out this morning at North Sydney and saw a school of big kingies close to the shore, they would chase the jig (with blade attached) for a bit but no commitment. No tailor there tho for me to at least have some fun. Got a flatty and released.

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4 minutes ago, lhan said:

Probably they're only feeding on whitebait? I find the fish at this time can be really finicky. I went out this morning at North Sydney and saw a school of big kingies close to the shore, they would chase the jig (with blade attached) for a bit but no commitment. No tailor there tho for me to at least have some fun. Got a flatty and released.

Yea but you would expect them to chase the clear berkley minnow jerk shad not the white one

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9 minutes ago, Aussie_fisher said:

When they first start coming in the harbour they are really fussy and only feed on small baitfish apparently (I was told this by a charter)

The kings or the tailor?

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Think about how a fish eats-Tailor are called tailor for a reason-they usually use those lovely teeth to remove the rear end of the baitfish and then return to eat the remains-a trailing hook or rear single works best , jig heads and front hooks miss a lot of tailor. Kings are different , they tend to attack from the side/head and swallow head first.

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3 hours ago, lhan said:

Probably they're only feeding on whitebait? I find the fish at this time can be really finicky. I went out this morning at North Sydney and saw a school of big kingies close to the shore, they would chase the jig (with blade attached) for a bit but no commitment. No tailor there tho for me to at least have some fun. Got a flatty and released.

i am assuming blues point/ lavender bay area?

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26 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Jelly prawns this month for Kings after sun-up

Can you give me a run down on what to use each month? General idea for harbour and Rocks 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi @faker, the kings are feeding (at least yesterday-Wednesday) on small jelly prawns. The little 25mm strike tiger grubs (or any white or clear grub) will get you hooked up, but you have to fish light to flick such a small sp and jighead, that landing them is a whole other story. - good luck though.

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17 hours ago, devoker said:

Is there a source I can learn which fish eat which bait each month?

As a rough guide- now until about the middle-end of November estuary Kings normally focus on jelly prawns throughout the daylight hours, prior to sun-up squid, small sized bait like juvenile Yellowtail. November-December focus switches to Anchovy/Pilchard fry in the 2-3cm range, followed by Whitebait during daylight hours. Early morning they will take a well presented FRESH Garfish and FRESH Squid.

December onwards they are back on 'regular' diet which can be any of the above plus cuttlefish,octopus,prawns and then Slimy Mackerel. If using Yellowtail try to obtain the small 'jellybean' sized ones under about 10-12cm if possible. Most other estuary pelagics will be more interested in Whitebait and juvenile Pilchards around Christmas time, but the prawn runs on the dark of the moons and outgoing tides see almost all estuary species focus on prawns- including Kingfish.

From the rocks- October is a great month for both Mulloway and Kings and they will take most live baits such as Yellowtail. Garfish and Slimy Mackerel, plus the ever reliable Fresh Squid. Along the eastern suburbs cliffs 'medium' sized Kings and Mulloway are keen on Yellowtail and Pike, but more importantly (in my opinion) is early morning from first light to sunrise, when they'll take slow spun Garfish and also large minnow-style lures.

Tailor, Salmon and early-run Bonito are best fished for with chrome lures in the 25-50gm range during the same period when casting towards visible schools. Bait fishing for Tailor is basically the following 'formula'- little to no moon= dusk and sunrise for best results, 1/4 to full moon= night time for best results with usually only a short period around sunrise really any good. Surface feeding schools are likely to be seen and 'matching the hatch' with bait-fish sees trial and error using chrome lures from 3cm up to about 10cm the normal approach

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1 hour ago, wazatherfisherman said:

As a rough guide- now until about the middle-end of November estuary Kings normally focus on jelly prawns throughout the daylight hours, prior to sun-up squid, small sized bait like juvenile Yellowtail. November-December focus switches to Anchovy/Pilchard fry in the 2-3cm range, followed by Whitebait during daylight hours. Early morning they will take a well presented FRESH Garfish and FRESH Squid.

December onwards they are back on 'regular' diet which can be any of the above plus cuttlefish,octopus,prawns and then Slimy Mackerel. If using Yellowtail try to obtain the small 'jellybean' sized ones under about 10-12cm if possible. Most other estuary pelagics will be more interested in Whitebait and juvenile Pilchards around Christmas time, but the prawn runs on the dark of the moons and outgoing tides see almost all estuary species focus on prawns- including Kingfish.

From the rocks- October is a great month for both Mulloway and Kings and they will take most live baits such as Yellowtail. Garfish and Slimy Mackerel, plus the ever reliable Fresh Squid. Along the eastern suburbs cliffs 'medium' sized Kings and Mulloway are keen on Yellowtail and Pike, but more importantly (in my opinion) is early morning from first light to sunrise, when they'll take slow spun Garfish and also large minnow-style lures.

Tailor, Salmon and early-run Bonito are best fished for with chrome lures in the 25-50gm range during the same period when casting towards visible schools. Bait fishing for Tailor is basically the following 'formula'- little to no moon= dusk and sunrise for best results, 1/4 to full moon= night time for best results with usually only a short period around sunrise really any good. Surface feeding schools are likely to be seen and 'matching the hatch' with bait-fish sees trial and error using chrome lures from 3cm up to about 10cm the normal approach

Thank you so much, I am not into bait fishing, but I wanted to learn so I can match the hatch with the lures.

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