Tailor
Targeting Greenback Tailor on Lures
I define Greenback Tailor as any fish over 60cm or over 2.5kg. You won't find too many fish in the seaway at this size, most are loners or are swimming with groups of smaller fish. The ideal method to catch big Tailor like this is using live pike or a strip of bonito, but thats kinda boring. Targeting greenbacks on lures is more challenging and more fun so this article will go into a bit of detail on how I and others have caught these larger fish on lures. I'm going to do this on a case by case basis, detailing the conditions and techniques used at the time. Between now and February is when you will catch the big ones on lures so its a good time to try for one.
This 65cm Tailor was caught on the 25th January 2007, no swell no wind and it was at top of the tide with minimal tidal movement. Water visibilty was about 3 metres. It hit the 9cm Redhead Skitter pop close to the rocks at around 6am using a 3 bloop pause retrieve, one of the first fish caught on the redhead skitter pop, a lure which I now consider to be one of the must have lures for the seaway.
This 67cm Tailor was caught on the 25th November 2007, on that particular day the usual techniques (twisties, minnows and poppers) had yielded nothing, the tide was incoming and there was a 15kt Se wind blowing making things difficult. Water visibility was about 2 metres. As a last ditch effort at around 8am I put on a 35gram sniper(chrome lure) cast it into the current line gave it a 6 second sink time and cranked it back. As the lure neared the boat and started skipping along the surface this tailor had one swipe at it, missed and then connected on the second strike. Once we had landed this fish, using the same technique we then went to land another dozen fish between 50 & 60cm. A classic example of finding just the right technique on the day. They didn't want the smaller 20gram twisties we were throwing and would only hit 35-40gram chromes.
This 65cm Tailor was caught on the 15th November 2008, the tide was running in, no wind, 1 metre SE Swell, water visibility was about 2 metres and he hit the redhead skitter pop using a steady walk the dog retrieve about 2 metres away from the rocks at around 4.30am.
This 71cm Tailor was caught on the 3rd December 2009, It was the first half of the runout tide, no wind or swell, visibility was around 3 metres. This particular fish hit an 85gram Raider (yes thats right 85gram.. the big one) that was cast along the front of the wall and retrieved using a steady retrieve, he hit it about 2 metres out from the rocks then went on to put on an excellent aerial display. It was hooked around 4.30am.
This 63cm Tailor was caught on the 2nd November 2010, tide was running in, 1 metre ESE swell, water vis was 1.5m. This fish took a Zipbaits system minnow 15f being worked with a stop start retrieve about a metre away from the wall just on first light at around 4am.
This 63cm Tailor was caught on the 11th November 2009, no wind, 1m NE swell on a run in tide. Water vis was about 2 metres. The fish struck the 9cm Metallic skitter pop on a 3 bloop pause retrieve about 3 metres away from the rock wall, the fish had a couple of goes at it before hooking up properly. When you get a few hits without a hookup, stop the retrieve and jiggle the lure in place, most of the time the fish will come back and smash the lure and hookup.
And last but definitely not least Dad got this 74cm Tailor on the 9th November 2011. Water visibilty was poor with less than a metre due to disturbed sand thanks to the prevailing northerly winds. 1 metre NE swell with a 10 kt Northerly wind. Despite catching a few small tailor on twisties it was quiet, after a switch to a 9cm skitter pop in a mullet colour, dad nailed this fish on his second cast about 1 metre away from the rock wall just on sunrise at 5am. We continued to catch a few more tailor on poppers after that.
Conclusion
So looking at that info, it looks like we have a few things we can look at for targeting greenbacks on lures.
- Cast close to the walls, as close as you dare, any more than a few metres away from the rock edge and you are out of the zone.
- Use reasonable size lures, preferably 9cm and above. Big Tailor are not scared of attacking a 40cm pike so a 9cm lure is just a snack to them.
- While catching greenbacks is certainly possible once the sun is in the sky, most of them are caught between first light and sunup.
- Water clarity, tide and swell do not seem to matter, though run in tides do seen to yield them more consistently.
Now you'll notice that all of those lures only cover the top couple of metres of water, so what about the fish on the bottom where all the livie caught fish hang out? Unfortunately while I've managed to catch a couple of fish that would have just nudged 60cm on the bottom with vibs and plastics, I'm yet to see a consistent method of lure fishing to target those fish. While they are quite happy to hit a pike as soon as you put it down there, they'll ignore lures all day long.
Seaway Tailor Fishing Overview
Tailor are the most frequently caught fish in the Gold Coast Seaway, ranging from 20cm tiddlers to 80cm+ Greenbacks. The average size is typical chopper size around 40cm. This article will go into the best locations, tides, seasonal changes, successful lures and techniques that I've used over the years.
To start with lets talk seasonal changes.
There are only 2 seasons to Tailor fishing in the Seaway, theres the summer season and the winter season. Tailor's behaviour differs in these 2 seasons which is why I separate the 2. During the summer season which starts in October and goes through to March, Tailor more commonly feed close to the surface and will form large surface feeding schools, depending on the amount of bait around. You will quite often find them close to the rocks less than 1 metre under the surface. Summer time is popper time and you'll consistently catch your biggest fish on poppers. The Flats, The Face, The Edge and Rock X are the best spots during the Summer Season.
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The Winter Season starts in April and goes through til August. During winter Tailor more commonly hold closer to the bottom in deeper water and rarely feed on the surface. During this time Vibs and plastics are the best lure to get them though you will still catch a few on metal slices. They rarely hit poppers or shallow running minnows. The Runway holds the most tailor during the winter season but you can still catch a few fish on The Flats and around the entire front of the north wall.
Secondly lets talk tides.
My preferred tide for tailor is a run-in tide and theres a few reasons for this. Firstly the water is cleaner which when you are lure fishing makes a difference. Secondly, on days when there is a big swell running it calms the front of the seaway making it possible to fish most areas safely. Lastly tailor seem to prefer it, many times on days when I have fished the bottom of the runout and caught no fish, as soon as the tide has changed to a run-in the fish have switched on and began to feed aggressively. Only a couple of times has it been the other way around.
Locations and techniques.
The North Wall produces more tailor than any other location in the seaway so I'll go into detail about certain areas there before covering the rest of the seaway. Before continuing please see The North Wall up Close and Personal
The Face
While tailor can be caught around the whole north wall area there are a few spots that consistently yield fish, the first of which is 'The Face' . This area only exists on an incoming tide and tailor love to sit just out of the current line and grab bait that swims by with the current. Tailor can sit anywhere from 1m under the surface right down to the bottom which is around 13m. Metal slices work the best with 20gram twisties and 40gram raiders being my most favoured. Cast your metal slice just beyond the current line and to get the fish that are sitting more than a couple of metres down a countdown is required, I usually start at 4 seconds and then go to 6, then 10, but no more than 15 seconds otherwise you'll get stuck on the bottom. Knowing what depth the fish are sitting at is important as it enables you to get to the right depth everytime. Vibs such as the Zipbaits Vib 80-25g or the Eclipse Heavy Slight 90 work well for the tailor sitting close to the bottom, they can also be used with the cast and countdown technique.
Rock X
Is primarily a shallow minnow and popper zone but slugs can also be used with a countdown of no more than 6 seconds. Plastics can be used if you are feeling reckless and sometime yeild some nice fish. Sometimes you need to get real close, within 30cm of the rock. Many of the strikes come within 1m of this rock.
The Flats
Located on the northern side of the north wall The Flats consistently has tailor in residence, but usually only at first light. Any techniques work here, but shallow minnows and poppers are my favourite during the summer months. During winter when the fish are holding a bit deeper, vibs such as the Zipbaits vib 90-35g work well.
The South Wall.
Due to the high amount of landbased anglers the south wall can be a tricky area to fish. The best spots for tailor are the bay to the south, sometimes schools will hold in this area and a metal slice sunk to the bottom then retrieved back to the boat quickly will get results. Due to the southerly orientation of this area, it is fishable in only the best conditions as any swell over 1m creates large and dangerous swells. Around the front of the south wall in the wash zone is always worth a cast with metal slices or poppers.
Wavebreak Island
Wavebreak Island can be broken up into 2 sections, the flats and the north wall. The north wall of Wavebreak island yields a few quality tailor mainly on metal slices or poppers cast and retrieved through the tidal flow at the very tip of the wall. Poppers can be cast right in close to the wall in the small eddy there and hits usually come just as it enters the current zone. The flats usually only yeild tailor at night and poppers are the best for this area, sometimes bait schools can gather here and the tailor hunt them. Worth a cast if you are filling in time waiting for the sun to rise.
The rest of the seaway.
During the summer months on a run-in tide always keep an eye out for birds signalling a school of tailor feeding on the surface. These schools go up and down very quickly and can pop up anywhere so you need to be on the ball to get a lure in there quick. Sometimes the fish in these surface feeding schools can be quite large up to 55cm. Best lure for this is the 20gram twistie which perfectly matches the frogmouth pilchards the Tailor are feeding on.
Lures
While any lure will catch tailor while they are in the mood I do have a few favourites I prefer to use. My top 5 tailor lures are as follows :
Halco 20gram twistie - During the summer run of fish when they are feeding on frogmouth pilchards this lure is an exact profile match, mainly used for prospecting and surface feeding schools.
Megabass Vision 110 in SeguroIwashi Stardust is my top lure for prospecting the edges and places like The Graveyard, and Rock X. Will outfish any other lure when a school of tailor can be found sitting shallow close to the rocks.
Zipbaits Vib 90-35g in Hologram Iwashi is the top lure for winter tailor or when they are sitting deep. Useful on The Flats, The Face, The Eddy and The Runway. Can be Jigged or cast and retrieved, tailor seem to prefer it with a fast erratic retrieve.
Tackle House Contact Feed popper 120 in Sardine Slit HG- This lure is only new but its success so far on winter tailor(which are very hard to get on poppers) has been exceptional, can be used anywhere but Rock X, The Graveyard, The Edge and The Flats are the best place for poppers. I can't wait to try it out on the summer run of big Tailor.
Spanyid 65 gram Raider - For when you need distance or just need a fast reaction lure the 65gram raider is the one to use. Useful on The Flats, The Face and with long casts right along the front of the north wall. Can also be sunk down deep with a countdown technique, keep it under 10 seconds though.
See Also Seaway Tailor Video