Trevally - tough with a capital T by Dave Magner

If you've spent a bit of time fishing our coastal waters, it's a fair bet you will have crossed paths with at least one type of trevally. And whether it's a huge GT on a tropical reef or a silver trevally sitting underneath a southern jetty, they all know only one way to go and that's straight down.

I rate how a fish performs in relation to the breaking strain of the line I'd normally use to land it. For example, mack and longtail tuna are renowned as hard fighters, but a 6kg tuna is still a fairly comfortable capture on 6kg line. You can even handle the same fish on 4kg line, provided you have plenty of it and aren't in a hurry. Once you get up to fish that are twice the line class, you are asking plenty of the average angler and all your gear has to be in tip-top shape.

But if you apply the same logic to members of the trevally family, the equation goes pear shaped. Fish of even half the line class will push you every inch of the way. A 3kg trevally on 6kg line will make you really work and a 6kg fish on 6kg line is a challenge that can embarrass the unprepared...