Perfect holiday weather: 28 degrees air temperature, light wind and a few clouds. Still the alarm clock rings at 6:00am. We are not here to catch up on sleep but being caught up in fishing. Our target fish are Grouper, Snapper, Red Bass and Giant Trevally (GT). All fish in these saltwater infused fish are extremely strong. Warm oxygen-rich saltwater generates a high metabolism and therefore, they are on the hunt for prey all day long. But that doesn't mean that they're indiscriminately picking on anything that ends up in the water.

The table is abundantly set, so if you want to be successful with artificial bait, the bait should correspond to the natural food. Mackerel is one of the most common prey fish of marine predators. And the Mack Stick is the perfect optical image of a mackerel. The bait has a reflective foil inside and whenever the bait flanks sideways, the Mack Stick flashes seducing through the water and thereby attracts the predators.

SALT 1DFR Pop n Stick in Aktion

Gone fishing

We let our boat drift along the edge of the reef, long casts are a must for successful fishing. I use the rod SALT 1DFR Pop n Stick with a casting weight of 100-200g. I can fish this rod relaxed all day long. The Mack Stick is fished most effectively in fast strokes close to the surface. The style is similar to jerking, but much faster and with more emphasis in the rod strokes. Out of nowhere comes the attack when the predator decides to jump on the lure. This happens with brute force. Often the fish continues if the first attack was not successful. Therefore, it is important to control the bait in case of a bad attack, continue to control the bait at high speed so as not to diminish the attractiveness for the fish. The bite itself immediately hits the brake, with the high brake forces (>5Kg) that are used, the rod is immediately bent to the hand part and the fish tries to escape into the corals with all its strength. This should be avoided as much as possible, otherwise a fish loss is inevitable. With a little luck you can hold a beautiful Red Bass in your hands.

Full Focus!  The Bite can happen at any time

Off to the next sport: Short Break for the Mack Stick