Mack Speed

What’s the ideal trolling speed for Spanish mackerel? Some guys swear by eight mph, others say 10 is best, and 12 is a favored marks by some. But truth be told, the “best” trolling speed isn’t any one speed at all. It changes.

Let me first say that I can’t take credit for developing what we’ve come to call “mack speed.” Leave it to bigger brains than mine to come up with stuff like this, and Walt Tomczykowski (an applications engineer) did just that. He logged speed, water temperature, and catch (among other factors) through the course of several seasons of trolling for mackerel, then graphed all the different factors and noticed some commonalities. He developed a formula that matched speed, temp, and the highest catch. Then, he created a table as a “validator of data.” (His words, not mine – I’m not even sure what the heck it means).

Net result? He came up with a very simple formula that accurately predicts the most effective trolling speed for Spanish mackerel on any given day. Here’s how it shakes out: Subtract five from water temperature(F), then divide by 10 = mph.

So let’s say water temp is 86 degrees. Subtract five, and you get 81. Then, divide 81 by 10 and you get 8.1. Mack speed on this day is going to be 8.1 mph.

Walt notes that “past performance may not be indicative of future results, and individual results may vary due to all sorts of reasons such as the accuracy of your fish finder (for speed and water temperature), turns made while trolling, the ability to note speed when fish on, water current, waves, and wind to name a few.” He also says the formula is plus or minus 0.3 mph (for some qualifying reason that is beyond my ability to comprehend). But his logs bared it out, so for two seasons now I’ve been setting to mack speed every time I’ve set out to troll for mackerel. It works. I’ve also tried varying speeds when the bite was hot, just to see if it made a difference. It did. Will you catch some mackerel, whatever speed might be your favorite? Sure. Will you catch more Spanish mackerel trolling at mack speed? Heck yes.