Late Jack

[the gecko]

This 50cm jack was caught fri nite on the Gold Coast. After a few 40lb leaders had been bitten thru, I was thinking that they must be bull sharks or maybe jew, so I threw out a toothy critter rig.

He woofed down a large hunk of mullet flesh and got gut hooked on a 7/0 hook with wire trace. Not very sporting of me, I know, but not bad for bycatch….. I didn’t think thered be any jacks left, so this boy was a nice surprise. After a careful operation and his 15 mins of fame photo, he got to swim away.



cheers
Andrew

[Keechie]

nice jack keep it up . goodluck

regards,
keechie

[Shagga]

Nice jack Andrew regardless of the rig. There may still be a couple of straglers around.

[cuzzamundi]

Ripper bruiser mate!

cuzza

[Leighton]

yeah dont be to harsh, plenty of us still Jack Virgins
Do you ever keep any for the table?

[geoff72]

well done andrew, i should have taken that spare seat but other committments had to happen. Dont be to hard on yourself about the rig, there are still alot of bullies around so thats the best by catch you can ask for. Cant wait till those jew kick in.

[the gecko]

Capt Stabin,
Eating jacks is a touchy subject around here. Ive eaten a couple, and mentioned it before, and I got abused from all sides from people Id never even heard of. I prefer to eat the cod and flattys, and any bycatch I get now.

Heres a few thoughts I have on jacks on the table;

If I did eat a jack, Id never mention it on ausfish.....
Jacks are not endangered, theyre just harder to catch.
They are great fun to catch, and deserve to be caught twice.
If you choose to release, then I applauded you.
I believe God created fish for our pleasure, be that food or C and R.
If you choose to fillet, then I support you.

Its up to each fisherman to decide what to do with his catch. The problems come when we try to impose our opinions on others.

Geoff,
Don’t worry, we’ll catch up. Looks like they might still be on for a few weeks. Water temp was still 23-24. Shagga reckons all the bustoffs we had over the last few months might have been jacks, not bullys. He might be right. Until we put a wire trace out and land a few more, we’ll never know. That’s why I used the wire, curiosity. Have you landed any bullies around there to get a look?

Somebody here mentioned that jacks have canine teeth and are unable to bite thru 40lb leader, they can only rub you off on structure. (who was that again?). Im beginning to doubt that now. More research is required…..


Cheers
Andrew

[BogusPokus]

Nice fish there. I probably would have eaten the little sucker considering it was gut hooked. They do have conical canine teeth at the front but they also have a couple of teeth further back that are like a few canines joined together that are more than capable of cutting leader if they contact in the right way.

[Didley]

Hi Andrew , fact is you'll never really know. I've got some jack jaws mounted on my wall here, and i cant see how they can bite through a 40lb leader, but I still think they do. Maybe they just get lucky and get the points of the canine teeth lined up with the line and pop.24050

[groverwa]

Didley

Now that is an interesting piece of art

Mike

[Didley]

Didley

Now that is an interesting piece of art

Mike

Thanks Mike. Now ask me if they were released to be caught again or taken for dinner:-/

[Dirtysanchez]

LoL Didley, nice one.
Liking those teeth.. when you are done with them my mother in law says she needs some new dentures.. how much would you ask for these ?

Anyway, I caught a 30cm beasty the other day, which considering I was fishing for whiting and bream, was pleasing. Of course I released him, but jeepers each time I tried to grab the long shank hook to remove it he tried to bite me.. I put the rag over his eyes and used pliers, and just as well, he bit the pliers!

Beastys aren't they ?

[frankgrimes]

Somebody here mentioned that jacks have canine teeth and are unable to bite thru 40lb leader, they can only rub you off on structure. (who was that again?). Im beginning to doubt that now. More research is required…..

Cheers
Andrew

That was Matthias mate - Haven't seen a post from him in a while.....thread fyr: http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?p=597254#post597254

Nice Jack btw.

Mick.

[Didley]

Thanks Mike. Now ask me if they were released to be caught again or taken for dinner:-/


My Japanese lawyer has asked me to add it was done in the name of scientific research.

[jackextracter]

Nice fish there mate, i have put the jack gear away now and im happy with the ones i landed this season so im targeting snapper more often now cause it seems to be cooling off and the snapper are coming on the bite, u should catch the jacks on and off for a couple more months now untill they shut down hard when winter really hits, i have always wounderd about jacks biting u off i spose it is possible cause when they are hooked they chomp there mouth non stop to get rid of the hook all it would take is to get the hook in the right place.

[cuzzamundi]

That comment was made by me regarding the jacks. I suppose anything is possible when it comes to fishing (especially jacks), but i wouldn't guess it'd be a regular occurrence. i've played many in a favourite (and snagless) place on the sunny coast on light line and leader and not had a problem, which is why i personally wouldn't consider being "bitten off' to be too much of a likelihood with jacks.. Have been obliterated time and time again due to snags and structure in various other systems up and down the coast, but never bitten off by one that i can recall. pike eel on the other hand have canine teeth, but are also equipped with shorter, more blunt (but still very abrasive) dentures as well. they'll bite you off in an instant, as will the bulls of course, which is why i still think it was probably one of those two the bloke was getting hassled by. having said all that i am speaking solely from MY experience/s; yours may differ...

cuzza

[the gecko]

Thanks cuzza, I think Ive discussed this teeth issue with both you and matthias. Ive now spoken to members who have definitley landed bullys in this spot, so now I know both bullys and jacks are present. Until yesterday, Id not had a confirmed bully report, but now I have.

Im gonna stick with the wire and target bullys just for fun. I also think its time to hang up the jack gear and target something else more like jews too.

Im still undecided on the teeth issue, I reckon maybe jacks can bite thru 40lb, if they get it at the right angle. Next time I get a good one, I will stick some leader across his jaws while hes chomping.....

cheers
Andrew

[cuzzamundi]

Yeah Andrew, that'd be a great idea actually. I'd love to hear the result, as you're probably bang on if they grabbed the leader on the right angle! I'll pm you now regarding a great bully spot down your way. Thanks mate.

cuzza

[Didley]

Andrew, I reckon the hits U get where there is the big pull and its cut through could be MJ, but I've had no bite at all, the line just goes limp, bring it in and the hooks gone with a clean cut through. I've had quite a few of those while jack fishing and I think that's bully's. With the canine teeth of a jack, I think you'd have to have strong tension on the line for him to bite it through.

[the gecko]

Didley,
I reckon the limp bites are mudcrab...eels seem to do the same thing too. It still comes down to - unless you use a wire rig, we'll never know.

Ive had big runs and bustoffs where the fish was just too big to be a jack. Geoff says he landed a 3 ft bully in the area.

More research is required. I can tell the missus Im doing it in the name of science,,,,lol.

Cuzza, thx heaps for the pm.

Andrew

[childers]

nice red boy gecko, i think you would be unlucky for jack to bite through leader ,but heres a bit of food for thaught i met a guy chasing jacks one night and he said he has lost jacks at the boat ect, has had them vilontly thrash there heads side to side and bang gone, sawed through the leader that was his story anyway .

[Didley]

You'll never know Andrew, if you keep getting jacks on wire, maybe you'd have got em on mono too.:-/ The bullys can't be that big, how about U put on some diving gear and sit there and watch my bait 4 me, then we'll all know. In the name of science of course.;D

[greenie.77]

nice jack there good to see thay are still around. And i believe in catching them twice three or four times they are to good to eat.

[nuggstar]

NICE JACK gecko

[peterm]

Hi Andrew , fact is you'll never really know. I've got some jack jaws mounted on my wall here, and i cant see how they can bite through a 40lb leader, but I still think they do. Maybe they just get lucky and get the points of the canine teeth lined up with the line and pop.24050

Geez that's an evil set of chomps ;-)