WITH the availability of AI and other means of distorting photographs I was a little skeptical when these amazing images landed on my desk.
This is the biggest tailor, a Jumbo, I have ever seen!
Netted off the beach, this huge fish estimated close to 10kg, by local Greg Tarrant and his commercial fishing crew was swimming with a large school of mullet.
Interesting to learn that tailor can be caught in all Australian States but rarely in the warm waters of the Northern Territory. Maximum length is quoted as 1.2 metres.
From my memories growing up on the Far North Coast of NSW, tailor were targeted from Byron Bay into South-East QLD.
Famous spots I recall were the sea walls at Brunswick, Ballina and Tweed Heads.
Across the border, Snapper Rocks and Currumbin were tailor hotspots, particularly in the morning on first light, till sunup.
The preferred baits were Sea Garfish or pilchards on a gang of three or four hooks tossed out behind the shore break all but guaranteed an immediate strike.
There were those who chose to cast silver lures way behind the tailor school and wind their Alvey reels as fast as they could.
The tailor immediately attacked only to be hooked.
It was well known that the home of great tailor fishing was Fraser Island where fish to 3kg could be bounced up the beach.
The same rules apply if you wish to catch a tailor – garfish, pilchard for bait or cast and retrieve a silver spinner. First or last light are the best times to attack
In the kitchen I prefer smoked tailor fillets in a white sauce or leave the fish in the fridge overnight then cook crumbed in hot oil.
Once introduced to the moist, tasty fish you will be on the beach the next morning.
By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE
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