Seaway

[jackash]

Had an all nighter in the goldy seaway last night. Trying to get serious about putting a decent jew on the board this winter. Slow start to the night but just on the start of the runout things hotted up. Started off with a screaming run to my mate and a bite off to start with on a 15cm mullet... probably a sharky we were guessing. Next cast had a 35cm mullet out which something picked up and swam with. I was waiting for him to stop so i could set the hooks (one of the theories on how to hook jewwies i think... wait for them to stop). Unfortunately after a bit of a cruise (it was a very powerful and heavy fish) he spat the bait without giving me a chance to set the hooks. Brought the whole mullet in, still alive, but a little worse for wear, minus alot of scales and a few teeth marks.... think this may have been a ibg jewwy. Next cast the same deal for my mate. He set the hook but no hook up unfortauntely. Had a change of spot because the current started really charging out at about this stage. Resulted in another 2 bite offs in 2 casts. And finally finished the night with a very nice estuary cod. Didnt get the jewwy we were after, but given it was our first proper crack weve definitely got something to build on... 3 of the 5 hits were probably sharkies but 2 of them were very promising (we thought). Any advice would be great.
THanks guys.
Jackash

[ryansrods]

hi jackash i live in yamba latley there has been alot of school fish around 6-10kg which will still pic up your bait but take a fair bit to get in ther mouth i find downsize your bait abit small mullet herring yakkas or squid and you might find you start to hoo k a few i find this because theres alot of white bait in the water this time of year the jew are chocers so a smaller bait works better when the mullet run in winter go bac to ya big baits as there will be alot more bigger fish around

[RAT-KING]

Gday jackash one of the old rumors is that u are meant 2 hook jew on their second run because on the first they run with their mouth open I dont beleive it, I say wait a little while but not too long in the run if its screaming wait a bit then hit it hard or alternatively fish in gear with about 1 kilo of pressure thats one of the best methods good luck Simon

[jackash]

Thanks guys. Ill be back into them in the next few weeks so ill let you know how i go.
Cheers

[Dart_Raider]

Hey Ash sounds like a pretty eventful trip mate! Your bro would've been spewing if he'd been there missing out on those hookups......I can just imagine how excited he would have been. If you're keen for a fish at all just let us know hey.

Cheers,

Simmo

[jackash]

Gday jerry.
HAha yeah i gave him a call, he was pretty excited jsut hearing about it on the phone. Got into a massive giant herring tonight apparently so he was reasonably happy. Mate if i ahve the funds in the next week or two before uni hots up ill let ya know and try fit a seaway sesh in. Far out i want a big jewwy.

[ryansrods]

hi jackash if ya ever in yamba let me know ill put ya onto a big jew if ya want ryan

[the gecko]

Where are you getting live mullet from? Ive found them hard to find around the seaway.

I did a short sesh on fri nite down the seaway with Tailor and Mullet fillets at low tide, but did no good. I anchored up over the pipeline, but without livies its a bit pointless. No hits at all.

Ive also had livies up the river that came back with chomp marks of jaws 3-4 in wide, but no hookup. I moved to a 2 hook rig. Just read up on Snell knots if you dont already use em. They are pretty easy to learn.

Are you in a boat or off the wall?

Hook early or on the second run, who knows, the debate will go on forever. Ive got dvd of guys catching them from a boat in the Hunter river. These guys just use heavy sinkers, livies, put 4 rods out with medium drag, and the jews hook themselves while the rod is unattanded!! They get 4-5 jews in a session, and do multiple sessions. I dont think it makes much difference when you strike, but then again, Im still after my first jew, so Im no expert. I'll get one this season tho.

Andrew

[NeMo84]

35cm mullet, big baits for big fish. What kinda gear u using?

[ryansrods]

depending on the size and kind of bait your using as to when to set the hook if your using squid or small livies or fleshh you can usually strike a fish fairly early but if your using big livies what for the first hit (the fish disabling your bait)second hit the fish takes your bait in its gillrakers and blows the scales off third hit and hes swallowed set the hook this isnt rule of thumb when ya think ya got it worked out theyll do the total opposite but after catching hundreds of xos jew hyave found this to generally work 8 out of 10 times ryan

[jackash]

Thanks ryan. Info is mighty useful.
Gecko. Mate got the mullet down at broadbeach. Got rellies that live on the canal there so stopped by. Mind you the decent sized ones were very few and far between. Fair few poddies around but only got 8 or 9 good sized ones in 3 or 4 hours cast netting. Yeah was out of the boat. Fished around wavebreak a bit then on the pipeline for the top of the tide. Over near the north wall though.

Nemo. Fishing with a penn spin reel, 20 lb braid. And Jsut a 7 ft Wilson Live Fibre around 10 kg. Then again the first few we had enquiries from i dont know if this gear would have given us much control over the fish.

[ryansrods]

jackash fishin wit a bait of the size you been fishin nothin less than 50lb 80lb even better would be nothin worse than hookin ya trophy fish and ya been snaped off cause of ya light line

[Gold_Coast_Chaser]

Maybe i should give this a go one time, probably be a bit more of a buzz catching a big Jew, then bream and whiting, although i do love catching bream and whiting. You guys all seem to struggle catching mullet, I catch mullet in my canal with the cast net very easily, if i wanted to i could net up to 50 live mullets between 10-30cm (The occasional whopper 40cm that tugs at your net a bit)within an hour, its a Nerang River canal. Any hints on fishing that seaway??? Maybe a PM?

[jackash]

HAha mate i got nothing worth Pm'ing yet. Hit the seaway and drift you baits back into the pipline on slack water and before the current gets to strong.
Yeah i might pull out some heavier braid for next tim ryan. The two suspected jewwy bites gave me some sort of idea of what i might be matched up against.

[ryansrods]

jackash can the braid for jewies and use a quality mono for fish of this class anyway braids fine on ya little fish

[jackash]

Will give it a go. What the theory behind this... pulled hooks coz of no stretch..?

[the gecko]

Im running 30lb braid on a Backbone Elite 10kg snapper rod too. Ive just bought 2 new rods, and all the tackle shop guys reckon this is sufficient for jew......

Ive gotta agree that mono is widely used for jewies tho from what Ive read. More stretch, less chance of a fussy jew dectecting a line is the issue, not pulled hooks. So the rig is important too. I use a sliding sinker rig, so that the bait runs freely off a baitrunner 3500 reel. All I need is the fish to cooperate now.

Im gonna have to get livies upriver I think.

cheers
Andrew

[jackash]

Fair enough will definitely get the mono out. YEah i too was of the opinion my tackle would be sufficient... then again i didnt feel like i had alot of control over the one that sucked in my sea mullet. i do have a heavier rod though so i may aswell use that. Yeah we were jsut using a sliding ball sinker. Heavy enough to get it down to the bottom in the current. Let us know how you go gecko.

[jackextracter]

Braid should be ok thats what we use and every one else i know, mono has more stretch but u let the fish run anyway i have never had a prolem with braid.

[ryansrods]

i find mono works better as it does aid in not pulling as many hooks and because of the areas jew usually hang around right on the edge if not on structure braid just parts as soon as it hits anything under that much pressure and it does help in turning the fish s head like a sling shot

[sneaky]

Hey jackash, i grew up in Forster Tuncurry and the place is famous for big Jew of the breakwall. as a kid we'd spend tides trying to catch these sometimes elusive beasts, and hours catching our live mullet for bait, in NSW theres no cast nets. But once you break the drought you get a feel for it. When it comes to setting a hook in a jew i go by feel, i reckon every fish species can swollow a bait or play with it, depends what feeding mood there in. Some of my biggest jacks have bit like little brim on strip baits till they lean on it. My brothers Jew record is 38kg and he said it bit like a tiddler till it leant on it, u just know when you think its time to strike. Sometimes you get it right and others not. Experience

[ryansrods]

so true sneaky

[jackextracter]

I have had em hit like bream also, one had me convinced my mullet was getting pected by bream and i went to wind in and boom a big heavy wait and zzzzzzzz big surprise so they must just sit there for a while and mouth the bait.

[fish2death]

Hi! Jackash just reading about your runs with no hook up, what i have beening doing for a few years now with a good sucsess rate is to pick where you want to place your hook, take a scale off and place a good strong toothpick just under the skin, then place the hook though the skin around the tooth pick, you get maxium hook exposure and you will be suprised on how well it holds on, Ive used this method in storm seas off rock walls and the livey will stay on and in good shape, i also open the gape of the hook so the point is away from the shank so if the jewie goes to spit it out during the strike you have a better chance, good luck!!!

[84mick]

Hey guys, if your pulling hooks often would circle hooks work better as they hook the corner of the jaw?

Cheers, Mick.

[ryansrods]

circles are good but the trouble i find is its hard to find a big enough circle these days and i have had trouble wit the chemicay sharpened ones snapping half way through the bend

[mattooty]

Braid should be ok thats what we use and every one else i know, mono has more stretch but u let the fish run anyway i have never had a prolem with braid.

Not nearly an expert, but lost 2 big fish due to 50lb mono rubbing off on rocks a few nights ago. Either run a hell of a long leader or just mono.

Jackash, another thing to think about, where are you hooking your mullet? Underneath behind the anal fin or in the back?

[jackash]

The medium sized one just were a single hook in the back behind the dorsal, The big one put one in the shoulder and then on behind the dorsal. Whats the go? And what hook size would you boys suggest?

[ryansrods]

stick with a single hook 10/0 with a wide gape i use the black majic lb 9/0 wich are about the size of most 10/0

[jackash]

YEah i only had 6/0's at the biggest on me the other night so went for 2, as a single 6/0 in a 35cm mullet didnt seem adequate.

[ryansrods]

most 6/0 havnt got a wide enough gape to get a good hold around the jaw bone of a jew let alone be strong enough big fish big bait big gear

[fish2death]

From my experience I would not use a circle hook for Jew, the object when targeting Jew is to let them take the bait down passed their crushing plates just behind their jaws, Jew will crush and swallow their prey. If you hook a big Jew in the mouth you are in for a fight this usually happens in rough condition off some headland or rock wall or close to structures and your chances are minimised by the control you have.:P
If you let the Jew swallow the hooks passed the crushing plate they will only have one or two good runs and you have control when it comes time to land them, I use 10/0 or 12/0 VMC for live baits attached as I described in previous post with good success, I use 50lb mono with 80lb trace at least 2m long this is fishing off a wall or headland.
Haff!! ;)

[the gecko]

So 10/0s are the go, I agree. Where do you rig em, 1 in the nose/mouth, and 1 behind the dorsal fin?

How important is the sinker rig, it must run freely?

What about depth of bait, bottom or midwater?

Andrew

[ryansrods]

from my experience you have alot more control over a fish hooked in the jaw rather than gut hooked and you will pull hooks easier ya might be lucky enough to reset the hook 10/0 definatly the go get rid of ya 2 hook rig and stick with 1 10/0 you will have a better hook up rate and your bait will stay alive alot longer

[fish2death]

Andrew, depending on the situation for example: if in fast current I would place a 8/0 or 10/0 though the nose and hang a stinger with a 7/0 treble just behind the gills on top If using a large up to 400mm mullet hang one each side, bloody hard to lose them with this rig, I use this mainly for fishing drains where two gutters run out sea, they swim great and stay alive for a long time. If fishing off a wall or headland with some current I place a 10/0 just under the skin just behind the anal fin, (try using the toothpick). If fishing on a slack tide using a float I use 2x 10/0 one though the skin just behind the dorsal fin with the toothpick and the other 10/0 hangs free line the barb up with the eye of the hook. I have used the above in NQ years ago with good success on Barra; the main thing is to have plenty of hook exposure and an open gate in the hooks.
Haff!!

[ryansrods]

i still cant figure out for the life of me why people continue to use 2w hooks

[fish2death]

Ryan how you going, I just used one 10/0 for years and had a lot of geting the livie back no scales and squashed, so i though i would try how i use to hook up livies in NQ for Barra and had better results, been a bit sloww this year with the closures of the Richmond but looking foward to winter,
cheers Haff!!