Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » Targeting Giant Herring

Targeting Giant Herring

By Andrew Schrodter

Well, where do I start... they are fast, they are renowned for throwing lures and they can make short work of heavier leaders. However, when you put the formula together they can be a blast to catch! This is a fish that I never really thought I'd spend much time chasing, however I've had fair success in land locked lakes, without ever putting the time in fishing larger systems looking for these speedsters.

I was lucky enough to be given a hot tip from a good mate on an area that was fishing well and I was able to pull trevally, queenfish and snapper from this spot. There was also talk of a few giant herring being caught, however it was more as a by-catch rather than as a target species.

I rocked up and started scanning the area with my Lowrance sounder and to my surprise I found a huge school of fish on the Side Scan that looked inviting. So I marked the fish, grabbed my two setups, which consisted of two Okuma Cerros combos, one rigged with a ZMan 5" Scented Jerk ShadZ in Electric Chicken colour and the other with a TT Lures 1/2oz Switchblade (the greatest lure on earth), with both running 20lb mainline and leader.

First up was the Scented Jerk ShadZ. I positioned the boat, made a cast up current and worked it back towards the boat. Zzzzzzzziiiippp, after a hop off the bottom it got nailed and as soon as the fish was hooked it was lost! Still not knowing what it was I grabbed my other combo with the Switchblade on, positioned the boat again and started to fish vertical, giving the blade very short but punchy vibes off the bottom, no more than a foot each vibe.

Keeping an eye on the sounder, I saw a few nice fish holding on the bottom and by the time my lure was in position it was smashed and the fight began. Still not knowing they were herring, I felt slack and quickly wound line to get back in contact. It took off arcing up towards the surface and boom, out of the water she went and back down again to continue peeling drag. I was pumped and after a brief but intense fight, I was able to land the giant herring with the Switchblade engulfed in its mouth. I had done it! My first giant herring that wasn't from a land locked system and I was stoked! This was the fish that started an intense one hour bite period that consisted of a dozen hook ups and four giant herring landed, ranging from 80cm to 1m.

Okay, so these fish are hard to hook and land... so here are a few tips for you.

Line Class - I run 20lb Platypus Bionic Braid as a mainline, which I'm very confident in, however you could easily run anything from 8lb up to that 20lb. You don't want to go too heavy to the point that it will affect your lures performance, including sink rates.

Leader - I have had the most success running a 20lb leader of around 2m in length. Just note, 20lb with these fish can be easily rubbed though so you'll have to play with what you're happy with. Lately I have been running a 6" 30lb bite tippet to stop reduce them rasping through.

Combo - As above, I run a few spin combos that I prefer so that I can really nail my drag settings, firm but not tight enough to stop the fish from taking their quick runs, while still being able to keep tension at the same time. My combos are Okuma Cerros 701H 5-12kg spin rods and Helios HSX-40 spinning reels (my allround setups that cover jacks/herring/snapper/barra).

Lure choice - My personal favourite is 1/2oz TT Lures Switchblades in any of the colours. It's more about the fast, short and aggressive vibe off the bottom. The 3/8oz model also works well, however I prefer the profile of the 1/2oz as it is slightly larger. Plastics are also a great option, with ZMan 5" Scented Jerk ShadZ, 3" Slim SwimZ and 3" MinnowZ all being great choices.

Sounding - I use a Lowrance 12" Elite ti2 unit. I generally run side image/down scan/maps and traditional 2D. This is one of the most important tools for being able to target these fish as you can set up a drift pattern, mark the fish and position the boat to be above them (deep water), while if they mark in shallow water you can position the boat to the side and cast to them. Herring don't mark up as they look. Being a slender fish you'd think they'd look slender on the sounder, however they tend to look more round (see pic attached).

Okay, so if you're keen to target these elusive fish, be prepared to spend a lot of time sounding up and keying a pattern together to be successful. Just beware as these fish are nearly always on the move, making it hard to stay with them. However, they won't go too far from where you find them. Generally no more than a few hundred metres from an original mark. They love current and deep water, with slight sand undulations, so they can sit there out of the current and quickly dart out and attack bait fish.

There you go, I hope this helps. Have a good think about the systems that you fish and get out there and give it a go. I'm sure there are some giants in your area!

All the best with the fishing.
Andy

Gear List

Okuma Cerros Spinning Rods - CER-S-701H 7' 5-12kg
Okuma Helios SX Spinning Reels - HSX-40

Platypus Bionic Braid - 20lb
Leader - 20lb

TT Lures Switchblade - 1/2oz
TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead

ZMan 5" Scented Jerk ShadZ
ZMan 3" Slim SwimZ
ZMan 3" MinnowZ