Commonly referred to as Skippy!
Also referred to as a Skippy the silver trevally is the smallest member of the species and is encountered in cooler waters than most of the other trevally members. They are a feisty little scrapper that are considered to be a shear angling pleasure to the many shore and boat based anglers who target them. Silver trevally would have to be one of the tastiest fish you can eat once smoked!
Silver trevally can be located from as far south as Albany right up to the Shark Bay region throughout Western Australia and also S.A., TAS, VIC and N.S.W.
Silver trevally grow to around 6kg in weight and measure up to 55cm in length although a typical sized Skippy is around 1 – 2kg in most Australian locations.
Silver trevally prefer cooler, southern waters to 120 meters in depth, they also frequent areas such as jetty’s, wrecks, off shore reef systems, beaches, rocky head lands and estuary’s
Silver trevally are easily identified by their silver body colouration and dark, blotched marking on the gill plate. They have a small mouth with no teeth present and a forked tail with small scoots at the base.
Skippy are quite tasty when eaten fresh or smoked!
Large Skippy, like all trevally are a hard fighting species that will test the skill of most anglers and are especially challenging on fly tackle!
Light to medium weight graphite rods in the 2 – 3kg range, around 6’ in length matched to spin reels in the 2500 – 4000 class spooled with braided or gel spun lines with a breaking strain of 10 – 20lb are ideal for casting lures both from the shore and out in the boat for most trevally species including Skippy. Shorter, more powerful out fits are necessary when targeting larger silver trevally in deeper water around rough structure and sharks! Silver trevally are also a fantastic target species for salt water fly out fits which should be rated to between 6# – 8# depending on the size of fish being targeted.
Small pieces of cut fish and squid as well as larger baits such as whole mullies/pilchards will all make great baits for fussy trevally such as Skippy, try fishing them on long, nylon or fluoro carbon leaders and running sinker rigs from shore and light paternoster or drift baiting styled rigs from a boat. It is also important to match your hook size to your bait. Small to medium sized soft plastic and metal lures are also ideal for both casting from shore or a boat for many species including trevally.
Fresh blue sardines are the gun bait for targeting silver trevally around inshore waters and should be fished on as lighter rig as possible for best results.
Rising or full tides are best suited for targeting most inshore species including trevally.
