Queenfish – love or hate them?

Queenfish (Scomberoides commersonnianus) are a fantastic sportsfish inhabiting the tropical waters of Australia.

They are very similar to another great fighting species, the Giant Trevally.

For the sports fisherman, Queenfish are right up there with tuna and other pelagics, as one of the best light line sportfish.

Being an aggressive pelagic species, they respond well to any kind of lure that is retrieved fast.

Like a fleeing baitfish, metal slices are the most popular way to target them.

QUEENFISH ARE AVID SURFACE LURE TAKERS

So poppers like the Halco Rooster Popper and Nomad Chug Norris are perfect examples.

A fast erratic bloop and jerky action retrieves are the way to go.

Queenfish love chasing so you can’t wind fast enough some times.

A good high speed spin outfit with a gear ratio of 6 or better.

While their fight is exciting and unpredictable and take you all around the boat.

There is a downside!

They are often caught as by-catch when targetting other species like fingermark and large-mouth nannygai.

Queenfish will also hold on the same kind of structures as these bottom dwellers.

However, the queenies aggregate in numbers mid-water.

This makes it very hard to get slow pitch jigs, sinking stickbaits and even soft plastics to the bottom.

Hence why Queenfish are both loved and hated!