getting Jacked..... mangrove jack that is

[004dam]

hey all, ( another post where im chasing info :P)

Last summer i was hunting jacks. As i have never landed one to the shore before. I found a spot down the back of currimundai lake where i hooked upto two jacks on seperate occasions both times snapping my 8lb maxima mono. I had them out of the snags both times and not really a tight drag but it wasnt loose either so it wouldnt go back to the snag. I spooled a spare rod with 15lb mono but never hooked up again.

Now that i am converted to braid this year and i now have a boat! I am wondering what size braid is recommanded for jacks? I am using 6lb fireline but am thinking of respooling to 4lb on the soft plastic rod and 6lb on my bait rod.


Now that i have a boat i can troll lures. I am a fan of lively lures so no doubt i will troll some from of mega micro or mad mullet in 2.5 - 3". But also having a soft plastic fetish at the moment i might grab a few to throw at snags.

Whats every ones passed/present soft plastic choices sizes and jig head sizes?. ( after work some days i will go to a local weir at currimundai to throw soft plastics in the afternoon)

Is trolling in the boat a good method to pull jacks from snags or is it better to anchor and physically cast at snags? I would say i would troll down the back of kawana waters maloolah river for those that know it.

[hairypunt]

I've caught a few jacks in currumundi ive found them to hang in large numbers down the back of the lake where it turns into skinny water with mangrove lined edges.
The most productive method ive found is to throw hard bodies and lightly weighted plastics at the mangrove roots and structure.

The lures that have worked the best for me are sx60's, cherrybloods, husky jerks and the smallest size x raps, for plastics the 2 inch prongs in a natural colour on 1/32 hws jighead.

The jacks i have caught in there have been small only to about 38 so 6lb braid with 10lb leader should get you by,but be warned if you do encounter some bigger ones they may bust you up.

If you want to get into some larger ones i'd try live baiting them at night on the lead up to new or full moon, for this i'd suggest going to 20lb braid and starting at 30lb leader.

Hope this helps mate,
Cheers Kyle.

[tunaticer]

These days I am landing more jacks than ever using 8lb braid and 12 or 14lb DFC leader. For hardbodies I prefer almost any timber 3" deep diver in either reddish colours or cream colours with vertical stripes. I find i have less success with the plastic verson hard bodies on jacks.

For plastics I use Squidgy fish 80 or 100mm dropbears for the start and may swing to a gary glitter colour if the action is slow. Very little difference in the strike rate between the colours and have only had one day where there was a preference of the glitter over the drop bear. Fish just heavy enough to reach the bottom usually. Last decent jack for me was three weeks ago......53cm.

Going to entice a few jacks and jew tomorrow i think seeing the winds are swinging more southerly.

[mearzie]

yeah we get a good run of jacks at coffs here to but we use heavy gear around nasty structure we start at 30lb braid and 40lb leader and even then its not enough we get blown away by lots of huge jack :(

[wayno60]

well as said before you need to stop them before they get back to their holes, cause once their in there you wont be getting them out, so after the first few times of letting them run on light line and loosing them i upped the anty to at lease 15-20 lb.
you have to stop them in their tracks or its all over..

[Matthias]

If your going to trol you need much heavier gear than if you were casting. I'd use 30lb with 60lb leader- no finesse there but you won't lose many. Also I would use a larger size or higher geared reel so you can get them in asap and also if they change direction you can get loose line in quicker. Lock your drag too- dont just have it really tight- lock it. Upgrade your hooks and rings and make sure the lure still swims with the heavier hooks.

This is only what I do if trolling for jacks but hope this info helps.

Cheers
Pete