Blue Mackerel
Blue mackerel are a schooling pelagic species caught right around southern Australia, from southern Queensland across to southern WA and through Tasmanian waters.
Recreational anglers in NSW and Tasmania regularly pull them up as bait for tuna, shark and gemfish, but they're also worth keeping for the table — high oil content, firm flake, and genuinely good eating when bled promptly and cooked fresh.
Scientific Name: Scomber australasicus
Also known as Slimies, slimy mackerel, common mackerel, school mackerel, Pacific mackerel, English mackerel, spotted mackerel, Japanese mackerel
- Iridescent blue-green back with narrow, broken diagonal bars; pale silver-white belly with small spots along the lower flanks — the spotted belly separates them from many other mackerel species.
- Fusiform (torpedo-shaped) body with two widely separated dorsal fins, each followed by 5–6 small finlets running toward the tail.
- Distinctive adipose (fatty) eyelids that leave only a vertical slit over the pupil — a quick ID feature in hand.
- Common size around 30 cm; grows to roughly 40–44 cm and up to 1.4 kg at the upper end.
What to know
Habitat Distribution
- Found in marine waters around the entire Australian coastline except the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York — most abundant in cooler temperate waters from southern Queensland to southern WA, including Tasmania.
- A pelagic, schooling species: juveniles favour inshore and shallower coastal waters, while adults range across the continental shelf to depths of around 200 m.
- Commercially fished mainly off southeastern Australia — especially southern NSW, eastern Tasmania and South Australia — under the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery.
Key Locations
- Southern NSW coast — the main focus of commercial purse seine and recreational fishing for this species on the east coast.
- Eastern Tasmania — a key area for both commercial small pelagic fishing and recreational bait gathering.
- South Australia — part of the western stock's range and historically significant for commercial catch.
- Southern WA, including waters around Perth — recreational anglers target them here, particularly as bait for larger pelagics.
Specific Spots
- Schools of adults tend to concentrate along continental shelf margins and drop-offs — working the shelf edge puts you in the zone where baitfish and mackerel stack together.
- Juveniles and smaller fish move into inshore coastal waters, making them accessible from headlands, piers and shallow reef edges, particularly in NSW and Tasmania.
- When schools are feeding near the surface, look for bird activity and baitfish disturbance — mackerel push bait upward and birds work the edges.
Blue Mackerel FAQ
Answers from onWater's species guide.
What are the best lures and bait for Blue Mackerel?
Small metal slugs and chrome slices cast into feeding schools are the go-to, they sink fast, flash like baitfish, and blue mackerel hit them readily on the drop or retrieve.
What flies work for Blue Mackerel?
Small Clouser Minnows (which imitate baitfish) in white, chartreuse or silver, tied on size 2–6 hooks, are the most practical choice when mackerel are feeding near the surface.
When is the best time to fish for Blue Mackerel?
Open all year in Tasmania with no closed season; availability varies with school movements rather than a fixed calendar. Schools are most reliably encountered in temperate southern waters during the warmer months (spring through autumn) when baitfish are more active inshore.
How do you catch Blue Mackerel?
Most recreational anglers in southern Australia target blue mackerel from boats over the continental shelf, using metal slugs or sabiki rigs to fill a bait bucket before switching to larger target species like tuna or shark.
What do Blue Mackerel eat?
Blue mackerel feed on small baitfish, squid, and zooplankton, their willingness to take a wide range of offerings is why small metal slugs, soft plastics, and sabiki-style bait jigs all work. Match the size of the lure to the baitfish in the area.
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