Ned Kelly’s Tips & Tricks – May 2025
Tailor Fishing
In this month’s edition of Ned Kelly’s Tips & Tricks, we are targeting Tailor. They are a pelagic fish that school in large numbers and move up the east coast during autumn & winter to the Fraser Island area where it is generally recognised they spawn.
The presence of Tailor schools is influenced by weather, ocean conditions and bait schools such as whitebait, pilchards & garfish. Generally when there is a period of 2 to 4 weeks of relatively calm weather & ocean conditions, large bait schools form and remain in certain areas while ever the calmer conditions exist. This in turn attracts Tailor schools who gorge themselves on the bait.
How to target Tailor:
Lures & baits are effective in enticing Tailor. Metal lures of various sizes from 20 to 85 grams work particularly well. Occasionally, they will only attack metal lures that match what bait fish they are feeding on. For example, a 20 gram lure may be required if they are feeding on whitebait. It pays to have a selection of different sized lures for this reason. Metal lures come in all shapes and colours but it is not overly important to select any specific shape or colour as nearly all lures have some chrome surface which is the main attraction. Stick baits also work very well and may assist in reaching fish feeding wide as they can be cast further.
Throwing pilchards and garfish on ganged hooks is the most common method used for targeting Tailor. Casting & slow retrieve or casting a bait under a bobby cork and left to wait for a bite are the common methods used.
When to target Tailor:
It is generally recognised that Tailor are active at dawn and dusk and this is when most fish are caught.
Here’s a couple sneaky tips that has worked for us over the years. It is not a well known fact that Tailor in larger models can be caught after dark. The best method for catching Tailor from headlands and break walls after dark is using pilchards or garfish on ganged hooks fished under a bobby cork at a depth of 1 to 2 metres. The key is to use a starlight on the bobby cork so that when a fish strikes, you can visually see the cork pulled under the surface. To fit the starlight, we drill a hole in the cork & insert half the light into the hole. The hole should be drilled so that the light needs to be forced into it or alternatively, a dab of super glue will keep it in place.
Another method for targeting big ‘green back’ Tailor 2kg or bigger is to fish holes and gutters on beaches on a rising tide after dark using whole bonito slabs on a set of big ganged hooks or a snell rig. Large Tailor generally prefer big flesh baits and are more commonly caught at night.
From now until the end of August is the prime time of the year to chase Tailor so dust off the gear and ‘spin up’ a few of these hard fighting fish.
Tight lines everyone 
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