Trevally can be caught all around the Australian coastline, down south the main specie is the silver trevally – but as you venture north the options expand considerably, Peter Morris here covers some of the tactics to catch this prime sport fish.
When it comes to our more sought after recreational fish species, trevally would comfortably retain a very high position on the popularity list. This family of fish are a firm favourite with most sporting anglers and have gained their popularity from a combination of incredible fighting abilities, genuine good looks and large distribution range across our country.
While it can be common to associate trevally with sub-tropical climates and warm water, we are very fortunate enough to have many different sub-species that fall into the trevally family. Certain members of the family prefer the warmer waters of the north while others are equally at home in cooler southern waters. Overlaps of various species can occur depending on geographic location which adds further to the excitement of targeting these powerful adversaries.
Trevally are also a species that have adapted incredibly well to living in heavily urbanised areas of our coastline and even our major cities. This therefore opens up many opportunities for anglers to enjoy the challenges that these fantastic fish offer.
A GT that simply engulfed a Berkley frenzy popper.
ESTUARY TREVALLY
Quite often we hear our rivers and estuaries described as ‘the nurseries of the sea’ and on the whole this saying certainly rings true. While the vast majority of adult fish will move to offshore reefs to live out their lives, our rivers, estuaries, bays and harbours hold waters where many trevally in their juvenile form can be encountered. Our estuaries provide ease of access for many anglers and it is here that you can quickly gain respect for these fish with even 1 to 2 kg fish punching way above their weight class.
In saying this however, there are always times when the rules can be thrown out the window and larger trevally that could be well considered ‘oceanic’ will wonder into our rivers and estuaries, albeit not overly common. Some of the more regular species of trevally encountered throughout our cities and heavily populated areas of our coastline include giant trevally, big-eye’s, golden’s and silver trevally. All of which can quickly become addictive targets.
An average size silver trevally taken on a soft plastic.
Golden Trevally are amongst the most stubborn fighters in the trevally family and on light line can be a handful.
GIANT TREVALLY
When it comes to trevally anywhere, the giant trevally (Caranx Ignobilis) stand out as the true heavyweights. The distribution of these fish is widespread with the fish existing and preferring the warmer tropical waters. Juvenile fish can invade our rivers and estuaries from about the mid north coast of New South Wales, extending right along the northern half of our continent. Giant trevally are a fast growing fish that mature at around the ages of 3 to 4 years where at this time they are generally around 60 cm in length. Juvenile fish absolutely thrive in our estuaries and very quickly establish themselves as top line predators. They are a powerfully built and aggressive fish and many anglers fishing our estuaries (particularly those live baiting with prawns and yabbies) are usually well under gunned for their first GT encounter. Even smaller fish around the 1 to 2.5 kg mark will very quickly expose any weakness in your gear or overall set up.
Finding GT’s in our rivers and estuaries will see you looking for very similar ingredients to those out on a reef complex. Although the terrain is vastly different, there are strong similarities too. Key factors to keep a very close eye open for include strong current/fast flowing water, structure and bait schools. Throughout our estuaries certain locations may have a combination of all ingredients and a common example may be a bridge where bait is holding and the strong tidal movement is creating good water movement. These are areas you should start fishing immediately.
The periods leading up to and immediately after the full and new moon phases can see fish activity dramatically increase due largely to big tides and strong tidal movement. In my opinion strong current flow is what really stirs these fish and gives the green light to feed. It is here the fish can use their superior swimming abilities and power to ambush baitfish, prawns and anything else that is unfortunate enough to be in the fish’s path.
Due largely to the aggressive nature of these fish there is an enormous list of artificials that work very well. Everything from hardbodied lures, plastics and flies will be successful when presented in the correct manner. Due to the visual excitement these fish offer, surface lure casting remains one of the most satisfying methods of capture. Surface poppers and stickbaits can be absolutely brutalised by these fish and some of the better ones I have used include the Owner Cultiva ‘Gobo’ poppers, Storm chug bugs, Berkleys’ 3B (68 mm) Scum Dog Walkers and the Cultiva’s Zip N Ziggy’s.
As one would expect, soft plastics work incredibly well on these fish too and I have a strong preference towards small fish and prawn imitation plastics. As with any form of angling, lure selection should intelligently be based around the bait the fish are feeding on in your chosen estuary.
Big eye trevally in profile.
BIG-EYE TREVALLY
From about Tweed Heads on the New South Wales border up to South East Queensland, The big-eye trevally (Caranx Sexfasciatu) would most definitely be one of the most common species encountered in our rivers and estuaries. At times, the schools of these aggressive hunters can be absolutely enormous, making life incredibly uncomfortable for bait schools throughout any river system.
Big eye trevally are easily distinguished by their colouration in having blue to green shades above the lateral line and silver below. The white tips on both the dorsal and anal fins and characteristic ‘big eyes’ are other distinguishing features. These fish are very efficient night time feeders and can be heard in the dark of the night smashing through the almost helpless bait schools. Different size classes of these fish seem to enter our river systems with fish anywhere between 40 to 60 cm commonly encountered. While these fish have a growth potential of up to 90 cm any fish around the 60 cm size will see numerous blistering runs and that ‘trevally famous’ never say die attitude.
As with all species of trevally, big eyes will happily eat live prawns or small live baits but in my opinion they are a species that are best targeted on lures. At times you can enjoy sessions where it can commonly be a fish a cast, particularly when the fish are in a feeding frenzy up on the surface. Many years back now my introduction to big eyes came about casting poppers blind into the dark of the night. Working the lure and going only by feel and sound was an incredibly fun way to tangle with these fish that were simply annihilating the popper worked across the surface. While big eye trevally can be very active of a night they can be just as equally active of a daytime and just about everything from soft plastics to small metals will be eaten with a serious determination. The size of your lure is the more important consideration as on many occasions these fish will feed on smaller bait such as jelly prawns or small fish.
The best approach is to cover all bases and carry smaller surface lures between 50 to 70 mm along with smaller soft plastics and metals.
A nice golden trevally released into the shallows.
SILVER TREVALLY
The silver trevally (Pseudocaranx Dentex) is a favourite around the southern half of our continent. These superb sportfish are incredibly popular with anglers living in our big cities and were a personal favourite of mine growing up in Sydney.
The current Australian record for a silver trevally sits at an amazing 10 kg which is no doubt an exceptional specimen. To be fair however these fish usually attain a maximum length of 80 cm and come in around 5 to 6 kg in weight and any fish encountered at this size is certainly something to brag about. In our estuaries silver trevally enjoy structure and strong flowing current much like their northern cousins. They are both fast and dirty fighters with an amazingly stubborn attitude to match. Fish around the two kilogram mark are capable of putting on a great performance and an extended fight on light line. Silvers encountered in estuaries and bays can be anywhere between 500 g lightweights to the run of the mill 1 to 2 kg fish. Although not common, fish up to 4 kg in estuaries are by no means out of the question.
Targeting silvers in our estuaries can be achieved in quite a wide range of areas such as sand flats, shallow weed beds, deeper holes and snags. For the bait fisherman, silvers are one species of trevally that respond incredibly well to berley. A berley mix can be as simple as a bread or chook pellet mix with a handful thrown in every so often. Softer baits such as peeled prawns, half pilchard pieces, squid strips and slimy mackeral all work extremely well fished lightly down the berley trail.
When the soft plastic craze took off many years back now I can still vividly remember how silver trevally climbed up about 10 notches in the popularity stakes. There became far more and well deserved recognition for this species as a lure taker with many more fish falling to soft plastics. Silver trevally are aggressive takers of plastics, small metals,stickbaits and flies but soft plastics can really shine on this species when the fish are a little more finicky. One plastic that was always a clear favourite of mine (and saviour in many instances) was the Berkley 3 inch Power Bait in the pearl/watermelon colour and this soft plastic really has stood the test of time. The various styles of worm and grub soft plastics on today’s market also claim many fish.
GOLDEN TREVALLY
Golden trevally (Gnathanodon Speciosus) is a species that prefers the warmer tropical waters and would have to rate as one of the more handsome species of trevally. Along with the giants these special fish almost feature a look that seems to state some authority. Golden trevally are distinguishable from their relatives by fleshy rubbery lips and unique colouration. As juveniles these fish are almost bright yellow with black bars and slowly fade to a more golden to silver colour as an adult. The feeding habits of this fish are incredibly interesting and quite unique to the family. The protractile jaws are used to form a tube to suck prey out from the sand, reef and algae dominated habitats. Both sand and prey are taken into the mouth and filtered through the gill rakers where sand is expelled and small organisms are trapped and swalled. Other interesting behavioural characteristics include the willingness to often follow larger moving objects like sharks and jellyfish.
Given the physiology of this species it becomes fairly obvious they are best targeted deeper down the water column. All of my encounters have been with soft plastics worked with a slow roll dead on the bottom. Throughout the estuary your aim should be, as always, to imitate a natural food source which will be prey like crabs, prawns, yabbies and small fish. The soft plastic market of today will see you staring at hundreds that work fantastically well. Other lures worth carrying are small soft vibes, blades and diving lures.
GEAR SELECTION FOR ESTUARY TREVALLY
Your very first consideration when it comes to gear selection for estuary trevally is how sporting you wish to make the contest. Other considerations are whether you are boat or land based? And what sought of terrain you are fishing. Rock bars, neighbouring jetties, bridge pylons and boat moorings can all be very hazardous to any light line angler.
For the sporting and those willing to take the occasional risk, a slim, light graphite stick in the 7 ft length range with a rating of 1 to 3 kg will be the ideal choice. In combination with a small thread line reel in the 2000 size over which you can run 4 to 6 lb braid, you will be holding a very versatile outfit. This set up will provide a perfect balance of sporting fun while at the same time be able to handle the majority of fish with relative ease. The exception here will be when larger specimens do decide to make an appearance.
A giant trevally or golden in the 4 to 5 kg range will give you both a very serious and nerve racking contest. Dependant on factors such as experience and type of terrain you are fishing it can in some cases make sense to move up in line class to say 10 lb braid run over a heavier outfit. This will not only provide an angler with more stopping power but also feature added line capacity which can be an especially important consideration for land based anglers
The key is to reach that balance whereby you are enjoying the thrill of that line burning action while at the same time controlling the majority of the fish you hook. The beauty of trevally is that they can be full of surprises and there is always that unstoppable fish that is there to one day punish you. To me this simply adds even more appeal to this amazing family of fish.
Born in Sydney, Peter has spent 15 years fishing the coast of NSW targeting everything from whiting to marlin. Now resides in Queensland and has fished many tropical locations throughout the top end, the Coral Sea, Fiji and Vanuatu. Peter enjoys all forms of fishing from heavy GT popping, land based spinning for big pelagics, soft plastic work for snapper and luring the local estuaries for hard running trevally and mangrove jack. Peter began freelancing in 2009 is currently a pro angler with Purefishing Australia and Tonic Eyewear.
