Catching Mackerel with a Sabiki Rod
Historically speaking, tracking down and hooking mackerel during May on Cape Cod is about as straightforward as it gets. Nevertheless, there are always times when the mackerel will prove hard to find. On these fishing trips it can make a huge difference to strategically use sonar, and cover a lot of water, until the macks are found.
Homemade sabiki rods make catching mackerel much easier. Sabiki rods prevent sabiki rig tangles and permit the sabiki rig to be stored and used again multiple times.
To make your own sabiki fishing rod, just secure an old fishing reel to a five foot long, half inch wide PVC pipe. Drill a hole in the PVC pipe a foot above the reel seat and thread the main line through the PVC piping. 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.
Keep in mind that mackerel often move quickly. If you have a reliable sonar unit, it is possible to cruise around an area in order to locate a spot with the greatest density of macks. Don’t be afraid to reel up and move around a bit.
The awesome thing about using a sabiki rod is that once you are done fishing, you can simply reel the entire rig into the PVC pipe. This makes storing sabiki rigs much easier, and virtually eliminates the many headaches of using sabiki rigs. Stay safe out there and good luck fishing!
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