SHORE ANGLER
Words and Pictures by MATILDA BJÖRKLUND
HOLY MACKEREL! Do bait attractants work in sea angling? Matilda Björklund puts one to the test
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’ve been using Holy Mackerel oil now since I first saw it in my local tackle shop, Plymouth Angling, last summer. I’ve been wanting to try a fish oil attractant for a while after seeing other people using it in videos. I first tried the Holy Mackerel oil for mullet and I had excellent results by making ground bait and also soaking the hook bait in oil before casting. I have noticed a difference in how quickly bites appear when I use the oil compared to when I am not using it. When you use it in ground bait you can see a nice trail of oil on the surface that most definitely attracts the fish to your bait. I spent a couple of months only fishing for mullet; we fished all over Devon and Cornwall. At the end of the summer we went to Wales and did some fishing there as well. All the time I used the oil I had excellent results. Many times we’ve fished when only one of us has used the oil on the bait to compare the results and every time the person using the oil gets bites faster. It is very potent and you do not need much at all. I prepare my bait normally and then dip my hook bait in the oil. Holy mackerel have a variety of different scents and both small and big bottles which are easy to use and good value.
Use the oil in your groundbait when mullet fishing
GROUNDBAIT During one session with my partner, we went out mullet fishing for a few hours. We prepared a bucket of mashed bread and poured some oil in it to make ground bait for the mullet. We threw out some of the oil-soaked ground bait and cast our baits out. Right from the start we missed a few good bites. After a while Phillip hooked a mullet that took his bread that was soaked in mackerel oil: a nice 2lb. Not long after that I hooked and lost one myself. We decided to move further down the river, It was low tide and I decided to have one more cast before going home. All of sudden, I noticed a bite and picked my rod up. The fish started running with the bait and I knew I was into a good fish. It was after the second run I realised it was going to be a big fish and that is when I started to get a bit nervous with my 5lb line and size 8 Kamasan hook.
NEW PB The tide was ripping through and I waded out to try and get control of the fish. At one point it became stuck in some weed and I was sure I
A mullet falls to the scent of the mackerel oil
was about to lose the fish I was very confused because it was so strong and fast and it did not feel like a mullet. I waded out a bit further and now I was very close to the fish. Phillip waded out to get the fish in the net and that’s when he saw it was a bass. When I cast out my bread with mackerel oil I didn’t expect a bass but I managed to land what is now my new personal best fish of 9lb 6oz. I know people occasionally catch bass on bread but I have never before, and especially not at this mark where we have been fishing so many times. Now we had tried the oil for mullet fishing it was time to see how the oil would do for other types of fishing and species. We headed out to one of our marks where we fish for huss and eels. I baited up and soaked it in mackerel oil. Once again, Phillip didn’t use any so we could compare the results. I was definitely getting bites faster and missed two even though the fishing was unusually slow. We were there for a couple of hours before the tide started to come in and I put out a fresh bait with mackerel oil on. After a little while a few bites developed followed by one big take and I grabbed my rod to set the hook. The fish did not want to come to the surface and tried to stay deep. Eventually I got it up and it turned out to be a 10lb bull huss. I had baited up another rod and in no time I once again got very powerful take which was my second huss, this time just under 12lb.
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17/02/2022 13:27
