There is quite a variety in the Mackerel family like School, Spotted and Spanish that are available to Queensland fly anglers. They all have triangular shaped teeth on their top and bottom jaws that mesh with the accuracy of a Formula One race car gearbox. Their teeth can bite through traces made of mono with as little effort as your wife saying no to a new fly rod purchase. Their appearance is spear like, long and thin - perfectly designed for fast movement through the ocean, be it for chasing smaller fish for food or trying to escape from a fly wedged in the hinge of their mouth. Spotted and School Mackerel will be encountered in large schools like packs of ferocious wolves, while the large Spanish Mackerels in my limited experience, hunt in small packs.

These Toothy Spears are an exciting fish to capture on fly or for that matter any type of fishing tackle as they greedily attack any small fish shaped fly. The fly pattern best suited for the task is the Surf Candy, due to the epoxy body which will resist the onslaught of those can-opener like teeth.

Other fly patterns that will induce strikes (but can become reduced to a near bare hook after a few hits) are Lefty’s Deceiver, Joe Brooks Blond, Glass minnow and Clouser deep minnow.

If you are concerned about losing flies, attach the fly to the leader with a fifty eight pound breaking strain single strand wire trace about one hundred to one hundred and fifty millimetres long. Hay wire twist the fly to one end of the trace and use a similar connection procedure to attach a thirty eight pound swivel to the leader end. The wire trace should save a few hours in your fly tying room.

For Spotted and School Mackerel, a seven to a nine weight fly fishing outfit should have all participants enjoying their adventure . For Spanish Mackerel, a twelve to a fourteen weight outfit will see a big smile on the anglers face that is lucky enough to land one. Fast sink shooting head fly lines have a part to play as do intermediate fly lines matched to the outfit used. When using an intermediate or shooting head fly line, it is best to select a line weight that is one or two weights higher than the rod. This will help load the rod for a quick and sometimes lengthy cast. Of course, check with the rod manufacture first to ascertain if the rod can handle the over weight line so you do not void your warranty.

Mackerel start showing up in the ocean off South East Queensland in the warmer months of the year. They come into Moreton Bay and other inshore waters to feed on bait fish schools. The Mackerel use the contour of the ocean floor like a jackeroo uses a fence to muster cattle. They drive the bait school from deep water towards a sand shoal. The underwater sand dune forces the bait fish to follow it to the surface, where the Mackerel circle around the bait ball in an attempt to prevent the bait fish from escaping too quickly, which gives the school of Mackerel time to gorge themselves. This feeding frenzy can be seen by the keen eyed angler from some distance away, with the assistance of Terns, Gulls and Mutton birds hovering overhead and diving into the bait school for an easy meal.

When the angler approaches a bait fish school being slashed by Mackerel, over a sand bar, in about one metre of water, cut the engine and let the momentum glide the boat into an up current position about ten to fifteen metres from the action. If the wind is slight, the boat should be behind the bait ball and drifting with it at the same speed. This should give plenty of time to land quite a few fish before the Mackerel get spooked or the bait ball breaks up.

Cast the chosen fly so that it lands about one metre past the bait ball. Let the fly sink to a depth of about half a metre, then start a medium speed retrieve through the bait ball. If every thing is going well the fly will be attacked before it is more than one metre from the bait ball. When the fly is hit, pull back on the fly line with the stripping hand, this will set the hook into the Mackerels mouth. This is the most awkward time for the fly angler, on one end of his line he has a cranky spear ready to hurl off at great speed and at his feet he has ten metres of fly line ready to tangle on any and everything. This is the time to stay cool and look down to make sure the line is not under foot or looped around the gaff handle. Once the fly line has been cleared the fish can be fought off the reel. A four kilo Spotted Mackerel in full flight will make a fly reel spin like the blades on a Southern Cross windmill in a 40 knot gale. Very exciting and intimidating for even the most experienced fly angler.

A three kilo Spotted Mackerel can strip one hundred metres of backing from a fly reel in seconds on the first run before it tires. The angler can recover most of the lost line before the Mackerel gets its second wind and shoots off again. Two or three good runs is what an angler can expect from most Spotted and School Mackerel but when it comes to a twenty five kilo Spanish Mackerel, my advice is "Good Luck"! You’ll need it!

So if you are looking for some fast action this summer and you have access to a sea worthy craft, stop dreaming about Bonefish and land a few Toothy Spears instead.