Gold Coast Canal Jack

[mason23]

This was my first jack ever! I've been trying diligently for nearly a year to land one without being busted off. All I was expecting was something around 1.5 to 3kg. How lucky I was to get this guy in the boat after he mauled my gold mad mullet and made like a freight train to the rocks. I locked up the drag on my 2500 theory with 15lb Daiwa Sensor braid to little avail as he pulled nearly 50 metres of line. Fortunately the driver of the boat new I was hooked and had deviated the course of the boat to the middle of the river. So the Jack had little alternative but to head for deeper water, other than to tire himself out trying for the rocks;D I coaxed him up to the boat and after identifying him as one hell of a Jack, he took one look at me and made for the bottom, nearly pulling me over the side with Gloomis in hand. Thank god for the quality rod! Back up to the surface and with lip grip in hand I hauled him on board.

I was hoping to land a nice Jack soon but this thumper sure made up for all the bust offs and lost lures in the past ;) 57 cm and a touch over 5kgs!!!

[sarg]

Nice fish for your first one ti will make many green with envy. Did he win his freedom or tickle your tastebuds?

Andrew

[mason23]

Well, he was my first Jack and I've been eager to taste test one soooo...yeah, he was magnificent wrapped in foil with some butter and garlic and a little lemon. mmmmmm.... sorry guys, I'm sure you understand. It was worth it, and I shared too. Jacks are certainly brilliant table fare:)

[geoff72]

What an awesome jack mate for your first one,well done, shes a craker.

[frankgrimes]

Awesome stuff mate - You'll be smiling for weeks!

[Pistol_P]

A 57cm jack is a snodger mate.....But I cant imagine it weighing 5kgs...:-/
It doesnt look 5kg...:-/

[lumox]

what a way to start your tally

[fishingnottaken]

well done mate, that's an absolute monster.

[mason23]

It tipped the manual scales I had on board at a touch above 5kgs. We checked this a few times on the scales to be sure, and I'm real confident of the weight even from when I was holding it up.

Thanks for all the great comments guys!;D Much appreciated

[bluebeard]

Smile and fish in hand, Sunny blue sky, some wonder why we do it.Good on ya mate.. Just caught my first jack at 52cm... what a feeling A...
BB

[snapperm8]

yer great jack there


cheers dave

[shin25]

A 57cm jack is a snodger mate.....But I cant imagine it weighing 5kgs...:-/
It doesnt look 5kg...:-/

great first jack mate thats a thumper you wont forget that soon ;D

but im with pistol p think you might need some new scales :-/ 3.5kg maybee 4kg tops still an awsome fish hope you dont get the red feaver too bad ;)

[hooknose]

Like the hat says, "champion " !!!

[Why-ting]

Great fish mate. Awesome way to open your account. They dont come over the side that big too often..

Dont want to rain on your party but like a few of the other boys said. You might need some new scales. Hope to see a few more from ya shortly.

Cheers Whytey

[Paddyinoz2006]

What a jack. Some adrenline rush aint it. Must say i would be surprised if he was 5kg's. I caught a 53 cm one that was 2.8 kg's and he was very chunky. Well done on a trophy fish. Did you keep the canines.

[vb4me]

Nice one.
Which canal was that again;D

[gregdeeth]

great jack

[richieboy]

Trophy Jack mate. Certainly a top canal fish. Only landed the one mate and the thought of how hard that 47cm fish pulled gives me goosebumps still.
Can only imagine how you felt. The driver sounds like he needs some congrrats in this too. Open water is your freind.

Richie

[Chalkandcheese]

no way hes 5kg. 57cm would be inbetween 2.5, 2.6 - 3kg.
fella i know gotta 3.6 kilo jack that was 64cm.

nice jack anyway

[robdiep]

whatta horse of a jack..

i'm with most of the guys.. doesn't look 5kg.. i've caught jacks 50+cm and all of them average 2.5kg.. check your scales..

still a top fish in my books!

[jackextracter]

Nice jack mate normaly around that size they are around 2.5-3kg nice jack anyway.

[Dorado]

Great 1st Jack mate! Well done:)

[cervelo]

Sensational first Jack, probably a good environment for a fish that size, I've heard if there are jetties and mangroves they're pretty hard to stop at first. Is the gold mad mullet a plastic or hardbody?

Cheers
Glenn

[Matthias]

I'm having trouble believeing it was 57cm, let along 5kg. Also saying it pulled 50m of locked 15lb drag......

It's a nice fish mate but you need some better measuring equiptment. And try not to bulls@#t so much aye.

Pete.

[mason23]

Hi guys,

Yes I did keep the canines...hope thats not too weird, is it. Don't know what to do with them though, someone was telling me to drop them in peroxide to clean them up...any ideas?

I'll get some electronic scales next week and take a photo with the scales next time. The scales were brand new but were part of filleting kit bought cheap from a tackle store. Guess they're not reliable. Nonetheless, he was a heavy, chunky fish and was great to eat! I'm wrapped and still can't believe I caught this ripper after trying for so long and being busted so many times.

The lure was a Mad Mullet in gold, hardbody, with a slightly deep bib.

Cheers for all the great messages!

[mason23]

To be more precise, the lure was:

mad mullet deep diver 76cm in gold from Lively Lures.

http://www.fishinglures.com.au/index.html?target=p_52.html&lang=en-gb

I've caught a few flathead and small trevors on this before, it has a great tight action in the water and once down stays down, on the cast or troll.

Good luck guys:)

[Tim_N]

Maybe 5 lb, check the scales are in pounds not kg's.
Tim

[the gecko]

5 lbs or kilos, who cares, its a great fish for a first jack. Thats really well done.

If your gonna get some more jacks, Id get a brag mat from BCF for about $17, and take the photos of the fish on the mat. Then youll get no arguements out of anyone.

I once showed a pic of a fish hanging off the lipgrippers with the built in digital scales, and I still got accused of rigging the photo. I guess it is possible to rig it. Now I dont even weigh them, I just measure em on the mat and take a snap.

You might also invest in some photo editing software like Photoshop, so you can black out your background. You dont want everyone hanging out at your new spot. Get a free copy of Photoshop from limewire.com for those who dont know how to get free stuff. Its suprising how many spots get recognised from a little clue.

cheers
Andrew

[mickstar001]

Regardless of weight mason great fish mate well done, made it hard for yourself to beat that one!

Mickstar

[Roo]

I don't care if it was 10kg in a vacuum bag, good fish anyway you look at it. and they are quite a taste sensation too!! well done to the driver also:P

cheers, roo.

[Brenno]

well done great jack.

i've only managed to catch one (legal) and that was 3 years ago, still it's one more then a mate of mine thats been fishing for years.

[Murph77]

Ripper jack mate, congrats. Great way to open the account

[One Day]

Nice fish. Interesting that it still has fairly prominent vertical bars. They usually lose them fairly early in the piece. Well done.

[gone]

awesome fish there buddy where did u get him if you don't mind me asking?

[shin25]

Nice fish. Interesting that it still has fairly prominent vertical bars. They usually lose them fairly early in the piece. Well done.

the bars have nothing to do with age ive noticed that in my pet jack whenever he gets excited or aggresive the bars come out in full but fade away in a cpl of minutes

[jackextracter]

the bars have nothing to do with age ive noticed that in my pet jack whenever he gets excited or aggresive the bars come out in full but fade away in a cpl of minutes
When they do get larger\older when they move out on the reefs they start to fade away and become very red.

[Hardb8]

On ya m8..That's a CRACKIN JACK! Don't ever feel ya have ta justify keepin fish for the table m8.Eating fish is but one of the many pleasures assocciated with our Passion/Sport/Lifestyle.

Congrats ;) .