Sabiki / mackerel feathers
BeginnerAlso called Feathers, Hokkai, Daylight feathers
A string of small lures under a light lead, worked through a shoal. When mackerel are in, this is the rig.
Catch shoaling mackerel, coal and scad quickly.
You buy the string. Tie it on, add a light lead, retrieve. The skill is spotting a shoal and not tangling, not tying a pulley.
Diagram
When to use
Summer piers, points and harbour walls when mackerel, small coal or scad are actually in — birds working, other people catching, a moving tide.
Summer piers and points.
Ground and marks
Pier, Rock mark, Harbour, Beach. Ground: sand, rough.
Summer piers, points and harbour walls when mackerel, small coal or scad are actually in — birds working, other people catching, a moving tide.
A January beach, or two hours on the bottom after the shoal has gone. Feathers will not invent fish.
A run of tide along a pier or point. Slack can still work if the shoal is under the lights. No shoal, no tide trick will help.
Marks: Pier, Rock mark, Harbour, Beach. Ground: sand, rough.
Cast, let them sink, retrieve in lifts. When you feel rattles, keep the retrieve steady. Do not leave them on the sand like a flapper.
Hooks As dressed, usually 6–2. Lead: 1–2 oz above or below the string.
Spinning or light pier outfit, 12–20 lb. The string is ready-made, 4–6 small hooks. Light lead 1–2 oz above or below. Replace rusty hooks.
How to tie it
- 01Cast, let them sink, retrieve in lifts.
- 02When you feel rattles, keep the retrieve steady.