THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

In contrast, feather rigs today employ small needle sharp hooks, light monofilament, and come in a
huge range of presentations. My particular favourites are shrimp rigs, sabiki's, and either the small red
or the luminous green rubber shrimps marketed by Mustad.
Actual feathers, thankfully, have been pretty much consigned to history and nobody should be sorry
about that. So there is a world of opportunity out there now in terms of choice, most of which is very
good, and some of which is truly excellent. But as ever, that can vary on a day by day basis according
to ambient light and prevailing sea conditions.
CHUB MACKEREL Scomber colias
Bucket List status – no result yet
Mark Kaeznarek, Chub Mackerel Previously known and recorded as the spanish mackerel,
appearance wise, the chub mackerel is not so radically different
from the mackerel we see around the British Isles, and as such, could very easily be over-looked.
The general body layout and size range is similar too. Features like the presence of a swim bladder,
which chub mackerel have and 'normal' mackerel lack, carry little weight in terms of field identification.
Chub mackerel have nine or ten spines in the first dorsal fin whereas our mackerel have at least eleven.
Chub mackerel also lack the two small inconspicuous keels at the base of each tail lobe which again are
present in regular mackerel.
Colouration and markings, though broadly similar to those of the mackerel, tend to be made up of spots
forming faint wavy lines, with the addition of more spots below them stretching all the way down the
fish’s side to the belly.
In addition, the scales around the pectoral fin and to the rear of the gill cover are larger than the rest and
tend to stay attached, even when scales elsewhere are lost, almost forming a corselet.
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