TAILOR A GOOD FIT IN COLD
STRONG westerly winds are forecast for the weekend as well as freezing mornings here on the Coast where we are expected to wake to single-digit temperatures. That to me means one thing, tailor time.
With the westerly wind expect the bait schools to be pushed in close to the beach as they seek protection.
Due to the fact the surf should be flattened they can navigate in close and this should bring the predators in close, too.
It is early in the season but I expect we will see some good tailor caught this weekend in the surf gutters along our beaches. If you have a boat try fishing the back gutters along South Stradbroke Island, and if you are fishing from the land, Philip Park and areas north are as good a place to start as anywhere. The headlands like Burleigh and Cabarita should fish well on dusk and dawn, too. I have already had decent reports of tailor being caught in the seaway and the sand pumping jetty but this weekend could signal the start of the tailor season with perfect conditions expected. A lot of people don’t like the taste of tailor because it is a very strong mullet-like taste, but to me it is one of the best-tasting fish around.
I recommend always bleeding your fish if you are going to eat it.
This will help rid the fish of some of the strong taste.
One thing I learnt last year was to smoke the tailor.
You’ve heard of smoked salmon, well in my opinion it doesn’t rate compared to smoked tailor.
The added bonus of smoking your catch is that it will last a long time which is needed with a fish like tailor that doesn’t freeze well.
Of course, there are many here on the coast that don’t eat their tailor catch but rather use them as live bait for big jewies.
With the great tailor conditions expected this weekend the same can be said for jewies so I am expected a busy weekend on our waterways and we will need to show patience at the boat ramps.
Good luck. I will see you out there.