HOOK SIZE
Many of the same rigs used by 
anglers for snapper can be used for 
trevally however, I would go down 
in hook size by one or two sizes 
as they have smaller mouths than 
snapper. They also don’t have the 
same dentistry to mash a bony piece 
of kahawai or pilchard so can need 
a little more time mouthing the bait 
to get it into position to set the hook 
properly. They can be a soft sucking 
or light biting fish and fool the 
fisher into thinking they have baby 
snapper toying with the bait when in 
fact they are healthy sized trevally.
If you are fishing off the rocks 
or in the boat and trying to catch 
them around reefy territory, the 
best method I have found is to fish 
in shallow 10-15m water and have 
the berley near the surface. Snapper 
will be attracted to the berley trail 
however they will seldom come all 
the way up the water column to the 
boat itself. Snapper are more likely 
to wait for the morsels to slowly 
drift down to them however, trevally 
will venture higher up in the water 
column, and this is where they start 
to separate from the snapper and 
can be targeted more selectively.
SMALLER BAITS
As mentioned already I would go 
down in hook size (try 5/0 or 4/0) 
and instead of using pilchard chunks 
I would instead use pilchard fillets. 
The fillets are easier to remove from 
the hook, but they are also easier 
to hook the fish. Only fish flesh like 
kahawai without the skin also works 
but don’t overload the hook with a 
huge ball of bait. Think finesse and 
easy ingestion when cutting and 
threading your bait onto the hook.
If you are finding it challenging 
to get the fish to bite, patiently 
continue the berley trail until the 
fish have been lured into a false 
sense of security. This is where 
throwing a handful of chunks of 
bait with one loaded with a hook 
into the berley trail will fool them. 
I would also recommend going 
down in leader size as they can be 
line shy. This is a double-edged 
sword as you get more hook ups, 
but you also have less power to 
muscle the fish out of the reef.
Sight fishing for trevally by teasing 
them up to the boat is an effective 
way to avoid hooking kahawai or 
small snapper. Watch the bait and 
keep an eye out for the silver ghosts 
that will move into view and feed on 
the free food. Don’t use a sinker and 
preferably no swivel either. Instead 
use a joining knot like the Albright to 
attach your leader to your mainline.
When you hook one try to play it 
with a decent amount of pressure but 
remember to play the fish smoothly 
and always net them instead of 
trying to lift them by the leader into 
the boat. Their soft mouths will often 
tear and they can escape easily.
This is also the same strategy for 
when fishing off the rocks. Dispense 
the berley and keep an eye out for 
the grey silver shapes that will come 
into view. Sometimes it may pay to 
have two outfits - one for snapper 
with larger hooks and heavier line 
and another which has smaller hooks 
and lighter line to target trevally.
Pilchard fillets are sometimes more 
effective than chunks of bony 
bait at hooking these shy fish.
Trevally have soft mouths and 
fight hard so keep the pressure 
on when playing them but 
keep the rod action smooth.
Feature
30  FISHING IN GODZONE MAGAZINE

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