School mackerel

School mackerel size and bag limit in QLD

Min 50 cm. 10 per person. No closed season.

Checked 8 Oct 2026 against the Queensland Government pages: size and possession limits and closed seasons.

Limits are possession limits: they count everything you hold, including any at home in the freezer. In yellow (conservation park) zones: max 2 lines and 2 hooks in total per angler. Green zones: no fishing. All QLD fishing rules

When to catch school mackerel in South East Queensland

• P peak season
• S in season
• – off season
• C closed season for at least part of the month

Tide: Work current lines and bait schools.

Time of day: Mornings.

Weather: not fussy about wind; rain makes little difference.

Seasons partly come from Coastwatch report mentions, not catch numbers.

School mackerel by area

Not in our guide for Noosa, Moreton Island, Offshore Moreton and Offshore Gold Coast.

Around Scarborough and the Redcliffe Peninsula

Our local Redcliffe Peninsula notes come from local fishing columns and reports, and for school mackerel they differ from the South East Queensland picture. Around Scarborough the best months are May, June, July and August, with September to April also worth a try.

Woody Point jetty (land-based), Bramble Bay round to Scotts Point (stay out of the MNP12 green zone), open water off Redcliffe while drifting for diver whiting, and the bay beacons by boat.

When: Mornings.

Spots in our local notes: Woody Point Jetty.

Where to catch school mackerel in SEQ

Moreton Bay: the northern bay beacons and channels, Rainbow Channel, Hope Banks, north of Peel Island, Bramble Bay to Scotts Point (outside the green zone), off Red Beach (Bribie), the Brisbane River mouth and Woody Point jetty. Also the Caloundra reefs and the Gold Coast 12s.

Catch Signal forecast areas that rate school mackerel: Maroochy, Mooloolaba & Coolum, Caloundra & northern Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island & southern Pumicestone Passage, Redcliffe Peninsula & Deception Bay, Bramble Bay, Pine River & Sandgate, Brisbane River, Central bay & Moreton Island west, Wynnum, Manly & Wellington Point, Cleveland, Peel & Straddie west, Victoria Point, Redland Bay & bay islands, Jumpinpin, Jacobs Well & Pimpama, Gold Coast Broadwater, Seaway & Nerang River, Burleigh to Point Danger, Ocean side of Straddie & Moreton, Offshore: Mooloolaba to Caloundra.

Spots to try for school mackerel

Picked because the water each spot reaches suits school mackerel (our habitat match), not from catch reports. Each spot links to its place on the area page; tide times are for the place our forecast reads for that spot.

How to catch school mackerel: best baits, lures and rig

Baits

• Pilchards floated down a burley trail
• Live herring or yellowtail pike
• Diver whiting fillet

Lures

• Metal slugs 20-50 g
• Small stickbaits
• Hard-bodies trolled on paravanes

School mackerel rig

Whole pilchard on 3 x 3/0-4/0 ganged hooks with a short light wire trace.

Good to know about school mackerel

Reported in the bay all year; mentions in Coastwatch reports peak in Apr-Jun and Oct-Nov, while our local Redcliffe Peninsula notes give May-Aug as the best months. Release undersize fish carefully.

Open in the forecast

See school mackerel in the Catch Signal app: seasons for the area you fish, closed-season warnings and the best days this week.