Tailor are one of Australia’s most common coastal species which are found throughout southern, eastern and western states of Australian, inhabiting coastal beaches, river mouths and rocky headlands. They are often found in large schools chasing even larger bait schools and average between 1 to 2 kg but have been found in excess of 10kg. They are a hard fighting fish with razor sharp teeth and feed in pack mentality attacking small bait fish, prawns, squid and anything shiny that may get in their way. They are a high rated table species when bled properly with a nice white flesh which is excellent when smoked.

When it comes to tactics for chasing tailor you don’t have any element of finesse, it’s all about fitting the profile of the bait that they are feeding on and having line heavy enough to not be chomped through. They will take a variety of soft plastic and hard body lures with metal slugs being the most effective. Bait wise you can’t go past the old oily pilchard being one the main food sources for tailor but tailor are not fussy and will take a wide range on live and dead baits.

When Bait fishing for tailor heavy trace lines are in order to stop these toothy critters from biting strait through your line. Tailor are most commonly found along coastal beaches so surf rods are in order to get your bait out in the gutter right were the fish are feeding. Any were from 10 pound to 30 pound main line can be used to bring these fish to the shore with at least 50 pound plus or steel for your trace line. When choosing swivels try to purchase dark colours compared to the shinny alternatives. When tailor are feeding in large schools they will compete for food and that little glimmer or flash coming off your shinny swivel will look pretty tasty. Gang hooks are a effective means for tailor, they provide a good hook up rate, reduce the chance of getting bitten off and allows your pilchard or flesh bait to present nicely to the hungry tailor.

When it comes to lures tailor will have a chop at just about anything that grabs their attention. Soft plastics are very effective which allows you to use verity of retrieves to attract them into striking. However it can be quite costly with tailor making short work of any soft lure in no time with their sharp teeth.

Whatever your style, tailor will always pack a punch and will give minutes, even hours of fun. Be prepared for anything when tailor fishing and give it a go - it's well worth your time!

Talking Tackle: Prawn star lures

The prawn has inspired many different types of hard body and soft body lures for many generations and has proven its self as a popular bait to imitate for fish and anglers. The Prawnstar is one of the latest lures that has given the prawn lure a new dimension and action. The lure has a unique tail which has been almost cut free from the solid body to allow the lure to flick and twitch around like a real life prawn when retrieved. This life like action has proven more than effective on many different species such as flathead, trevally, tailor, mangrove jack, cod, bream and many more Australian species. The Prawnstar’s come in wide variety colours and sizes from the Prawnstar shrimp in the Ranga colour to the original Prawnstar in the El Natural colour. Prawnstar’s are cleverly weighted with a hidden weight place in the head of the lure which can be changed to suit the conditions. The Prawnstar’s can be retrieved in a variety styles from a slow constant lift and wined to give the lure a slow glide off the bottom to a sharp twitch and lift to make the lure look like a fleeing prawn. The Prawnstar is one Aussie made lure that has taken the prawn style lure to a brand new innovative level so get out there and give it a crack, the results will speak for themselves.

Emma and Holly were using soft plastics the Bli Bli Bridge to catch this nice tailor and solid flathead.

Anthony Roads and Ben Rich show how effective hard body lures can be tailor with the boys catching a nice feed in the Maroochy River.

The Prawnstar is a proud Aussie invention that’s has been made and tested on Australian species.

This Estuary cod couldn’t resist the action of a Prawnstar lure.