Well what an extreme summer we have been experiencing. Wild weather and abnormal sea currents have resulting in some average and bizarre fishing. One of the very early and weird arrivals in Sydney Harbour is the Frigate Mackerel. A January arrival is unheard of with a guest appearance normally expected around April! For this reason i thought i would concentrate this month's species spiel on this fantastic fighting little tuna.

Frigate Mackerel (Auxis thazard)
Common names: Frigates, frigate mack tuna, leadenel
Identifying features: Frigate Mackerel are a small torpedo shaped tuna which looks similar to fellow Scombridae tunas such as the Australian bonito, Striped tuna and in particular Mack tuna. The main differentiating feature is that frigate mackerel has very widely spaced dorsal fins. Also the frigate mackerel lacks the three belly spots of the Mack tuna.

Size: Frigate mackerel can grow to almost 60cm in fork length with a weight of over 4kg. Generally in Sydney Harbour we catch them between 25-40cm. Such a frigate is likely to weigh between 0.3-1kg.

Lifecycle: Unfortunately minimal biological information is available.

Diet: Frigate mackerel eat a wide variety of food including small fish, plantonic crustaceans and larvae

Distribution: Frigate mackerel are a widely distributed pelagic fish found around the world in temperate to tropical water temperatures. Frigate Mackerel can be found right the way around Australia and tend to frequent Sydney Harbour towards the end of Summer.

Eating Qualities: Whilst frigate mackerel make a very average table fish they do make excellent bait with a strong, dark, oily flesh. The whole fish can be stripped up and used to target a variety of species or kept whole to target a variety of billfish. In fact some fisherman suggest Frigate mackerel are the best marlin bait on the east coast and either should be kept alive to slow-troll or dead to be rigged up as skip baits.

Bag and size limits: No bag or size limits in NSW

Fishing techniques: Frigate mackerel make a viable target for light tackle sports fisherman and game fisherman alike and are susceptible to a number of techniques:
Sight casting- Frigate mackerel can often be found on the surface eating large schools of small fish. If this is the case i suggest spinning small metals (normally 2-8gm) or if a fly rod is handy having a crack with a fly which matches the hatch as closely as possible. If the fish are being really difficult try casting a sabiki jig in the middle of the school and retrieving it quite quickly.

Trolling- Frigates are also very susceptible to trolling. I have had a lot success trolling small shallow and deep diving Rapala x-raps normally white in colour. When trolling i also often put an unweighted sabiki out in the middle of the spread. Generally if the frigates are on small baitfish the sabiki will be the first thing to be taken.