How to Catch Queenfish on Light Tackle

If you learn one fish in the Gulf, make it the queenfish. Talang if you grew up here, queenie once you’ve caught a few. They’re fast, they jump like they’re personally offended, and they live close enough to shore that you don’t need a boat to meet one. Doha’s corniche, Dubai’s breakwaters, the channels off Abu Dhabi, the east coast beaches. Pick your city, they’re out there.

Find the bait first

Queenfish go where the baitfish go, so stop scanning for fish and start reading signs. Birds dipping. Bait spraying out of the water. A current line peeling off a breakwater tip while the tide moves. Dawn and dusk are your windows, and a moving tide matters more than the clock.

The setup

• A 3000 or 4000 size reel on a rod light enough to cast all morning.
• 15 to 20 lb braid and a metre of 30 lb fluorocarbon. Rough mouths, small teeth. You don’t need wire.
• Slim spoons and small stickbaits, 20 to 30 grams, in anything silver.

Retrieve like you mean it

Cast past the activity, count the lure down a couple of seconds, then bring it back fast with sharp twitches. Faster than feels right. If a queenie boils behind it, don’t slow down to help. Slowing down ends the chase. Speeding up gets the bite.

The eat, then the jumps

Don’t swing hard when it hits. Queenfish slash at a lure, so just keep winding until the rod loads up. Then let the fish put on its show. Three or four jumps is normal, and every jump can throw the hooks, so drop the rod tip when it goes airborne and keep the line tight.