The straw as a mackerel lure

The straw as a mackerel lure

It's that time of year! Huge schools of Spanish mackerel have invaded our coastal waters. Time to break out the the spoons, jigs and straws! Straws? Yes. For years Florida anglers have fashioned a very effective mackerel lure using a small treble hook, a length of leader, and an ordinary drinking straw. It's an old, inexpensive and proven Spanish mackerel getter.

By Jim C. Arness

Hello and good day! I was tying lures today when I had a brainstorm. (Luckily nobody was hurt.) I had heard about an old standby for Spanish Mackerel using a simple soda straw. By snipping of a small length of the straw at a 45 degree angle and threading it onto a length of your favorite leader with a treble hook at the end, poof! Mackerel cannot resist it, so I've heard. I also have heard that -and experienced- mackerel can be a bit finicky when it comes to the size of the bait or lure in question.

Here's my idea, I bought the aforementioned striped straws, and the only ones available were the "bendy kind" the ones with the funny ribs in the neck. By using this end of the straw I can change the length of the lure but tugging the bendy part straight out. If I want it small just kink the ribs back in place.

This can all be done on straw lures already rigged and takes minimum effort and time. Saves time and lures because you could tie up only a few knowing that they can be adjusted to meet the size of the bait that the mackerel are feeding on at any given time. The "bendy" also allows for further experimentation by giving the expanded straw a bit of a curve, bending it a little (or a lot) to the side. This should give the straw a different action and possibly alter the air bubbles the 45 degree cut in the straw gives off. The mackerel season has arrives, Time to try this out!

Well, I hope you and your readers like it, and good luck to all!

Sincerely,

Jim C. Arness

Note from Capt. Mel Berman:

I fashioned a straw lure per Jim Arness' instructions, adding a split shot at the top of the straw to keep it in place and give it some weight for casting. The result was that I not only caught mackerel with it, but pinfish, sea trout and other species also seemed attracted to this home made lure.

And this from a reader, Bob Carroll

Capt. Mel,

Here is another version of the straw trick. For those times that macks are feeding on glass minnows and wont take anything else take a piece of one eighth clear plastic tubing , slice off an appropriate length and bevel the front end at a 45 degree angle ,run a light wire leader and attach a single hook. You can use a split shot to hold in place also. I get my tubing in a hobby shop. They don't tear this up as much as straw. I carry a scissors in the boat and can make new ones in a hurry according to the size of the bait i see they are feeding on.

Bob Correll