Those of you that have been sea fishing from a boat will know that Mackies can be a pain in the proverbial b*m when you are trying to get your rigs down to the sea bed where the decent fish are supposed to be.
But you probably know that Mackerel make good bait for those self same (and in my case, ELUSIVE) big boys.
Here is my tip for you: Catch the b*ggers, fillet them and freeze them.
BEFORE YOU START CLICKING ON THE "WHAT A WASTE OF CIAO SPACE THIS IS" BUTTON, let me explain a bit more.
Freezing mackies, or more accurately, THAWING mackies, makes them go mushy and difficult to keep on the hook. The clever thing to do is to cut into fillets whilst fresh, layer them in a box containing 3 cm of salt and totally cover them in MORE SALT, 6 - 10 cms deep.
These fillets should be left in the garage FOR A WEEK before they are bagged and frozen.
When you are going to use them, take them out of the freezer, and add a wee drop of cod liver oil to the bag to marinade them as they thaw. The salt both preserves them and dries them, the freezing allows long term storage, and the cod liver oil enhances them.
This method gives a bait that is robust, better than fresh, and leaves a very strong scent for predators.
