Mackerel

[img]http://img.tapatalk.com/3e2822da-a770-4c83.jpg[/img]Just wondering what is considered a keeping size for mackerel seen a bloke today keeping what looked like Joeys I only kept 3 but they were my biggest by far so I felt I was ok to keep them they were about 15 inches a piece is this ok?
If they are too small I'll be using them as bait and learn for the future
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I do not think there is a keeping size limit for mackerel. The quota for this type of fish is hundred of thousand of tons per country... the number of fish taken by seals and dolphins goes to hundreds of kilos per day. Also the size of hooks we use do normally hurt those joeys... even if they survive the initial throw back they would end up being a meal of the bigger fish out there while recovering if not the seagulls. They also have a very good reproductive cycle which keeps their stock good for now. They easily grow... those eggs in early summer would be caught as joeys late summer... unlike Bass... which grows very slow.

So bottom line... anglers / bashers should be good to keep them at any size...

my thoughts anyway and in no way have any legal basis whatsoever.

Cheers for that it's handy to throw in a pan for dinner and it's handy for bait and the mark had no shortage of them by any means they were being caught for fun

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Just keep them, as I recall there were some posts a while back on survival rates of handled mackerel. If you do search on the site you'll probably turn them up. Anyway, an overwhelming majority of them don't survive being returned, so just keep them for bait or eat them and it saves a couple more from being caught.