Still catching mackerel off the pier behind the Discovery Center. Using a single minnow lure with no barbs. So much fun, they fight like mad! I am eating what I caught yesterday as I write this. I bake them with garlic, rosemary, lemon juice and a splash of Kikkoman Soy Sauce all wrapped up in tinfoil. They are bony, but super nutritious.
If you're thinking of heading down there, there's no bag limit but they have to be 10.5 inches.
Posted Nov 7, 2019, 10:08 AM UTC
I think about cooking them different ways, but I always go back to fried in butter and flour. Mmm crispy skin.
I go back and forth from the stove to oven. The bones almost make it a finger food.
Hmmm, might have to hit up the wharf on the Alderney side, it has been a couple years since we headed out for mackeral!
I wish they would increase the minimum size. A mackerel fillet is superior to dealing with bones, but the population doesn't have a chance to get big. I see people with buckets of tinkers.
Supposed to be 10.5". I have got some super fat ones and was there almost everyday and the biggest one I caught was 14". Drives me up the wall to see people breaking the law and keeping every little mack they catch.
i wish they'd scrap the size requirements altogether and institute a bag limit of say... 15?
15 would be 3 casts on a good day, I'd rather a size requirements. Although, is there any credence to the theory that size minimums make the overall population smaller by thinning out the "big" genes?
Absolutely, the big ones have already spawned. Taking anything that hasn't spawned eliminates a substantial amount of fish.
I did not know that. Thanks!
Fried in butter with vinegar on top. Yum.
people still fish Mackerel by the rotary ? I forget the name of the spot, little park by the end of quinpool via the rotary. I remember a student just going there catching tons and freezing them for the winter time. Smart way to save $$.
Couldn't tell you honestly. I a 5 minute walk to the harbor, so I just go there. I do freeze them too.
Horseshoe Park. I know some people fish there pretty often. My brother and I have fished on the other side of the rotary along Regatta Point Walkway before and have caught LOADS of mackerel well past summer. Great place to catch them, and easy way to obtain some super tasty fish.
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Well you just enticed me to go fishing again. I've been sitting here watching fishing videos because I didn't think I'd have any more luck this year.
Nice! Dress warm, mackerel go in and out of the harbor with the tide, I tend to catch more about halfway of the tide going in either direction.
https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Halifax-Nova-Scotia/tides/latest
That handy website shows you live where the tide is at.
Yeah for sure, I use that website a lot when I want to go clamming. I haven't got to any mackerel fishing yet because I tend to like to avoid people and most places are packed with other people. lol
It's been myself and another fellow for the last few weeks. Over the summer there was 60+ people on one section of dock.
Is there anywhere around there to park easily without paying?
Do you mind sharing where you go clamming?
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I get mine at the government wharf in Terence Bay, you can cast a line with 5 hooks and come up with all 5 full in barely 30 seconds at the right time of year/day!
I'm not into the multi hook lines. I use a single, barbless spinner. I like fighting them and their having a good chance of getting away. Got to feel for the bite, set the hook and keep the tension going in the right direction.
If I was trying to feed a family, had only 15 minutes to fish, then I'd use one. I get bored even when I pull one after the other up on the single hook.
I snag a bag of fresh smoked mackerel every time i leave my parents house. Love it!
Nasty. Maybe go a couple kms further from where my poop exits
Perhaps you should educate yourself about the harbor and how the mackerel go in and out with the tide.
No thanks, I'll fish where its clean
Thanks for your input.
Was that a pun? lol. Im done. No more computer for me today. BTW im trolling hard, I mean technically we are inhaling atomic poo particles from Buddha rn, r we not?
RIP.
Nah, mackerel from the harbour are safe to eat, as they don't spend most of their time here. i wouldn't want harbour-lobster though, that's for sure!
Mackerel in the harbour aren’t resident, they move in and out. So long as you clean and cook them they’re fine.