AWOONGA JACK

[darryl_l]

I have been receving unconfirmed reports of the first Mangrove Jack being caught at Awoonga. Could any of the Awoonga stalwarts confirm or deny this??

Darryl L

[bosso]

yeah a_different_perspective had a post about one 49cm the other day

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

49 cm from about 9 days ago.
johnny M

[flickflack]

Man they are a nice looking fish!

[Fitzy]

They're happeing!!!

I got a call from a fella up there this week woh just caught a 45cm jack.

Yeeeeeeehhhaaaahhhhh!!!!!


Fitzy..

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

That is very encouraging Fitzy to hear those reports. Photos for true I.D. are great as there have been a few incidents of mistaken identity with sooty grunter of similar sizes. I've seen photos of jack captures only to find out they are actually sooties. I also heard a story of two reef fisherman who swear black and blue that they caught 4 jack off one snag and 3 off the next on small live red claw!(Experienced Fisherman) The fish were supposed to be about 2 to 2.2kg, sounds right,,,but stories are stories until proven otherwise. Photo's everyone if you get the opportunity. With the number of anglers that will fish Awoonga this year, it will give a good whole scale image of the success of the stockings of jack. Most jack should be between about 1kg and 3 kg! I hope we see more Fitzy.
Here's another pic of that same fish, not looking much different to a saltwater version!
Johnny M

[Rainbowrunner]

To my knowledge a few have been caught although small.
I used to work at the Gladstone Area Waterboard hatchery and it was my job to feed the broodstock, So I probably fed their parents. Good to see these fish being caught. Hopefully they are released as the number is nowhere near the amount of barra . Besides imagine when they start pushing 10 15 20kg.

[darryl_l]

So are people targeting them or are they just a by-catch while chasing the Barra??

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

It is possible that people are targeting jack in Awoonga. If an angler is targeting jacks, they will be catching more other species and certainly more barra by accident whilst targeting jack, and if they do catch a jack, it will be a great reward!
Numbers of stocked jack per numbers of stocked barra are about 13 000 jack, and pushing toward 2.5 million barra fingerlings. In simple form it is about 1 stocked jack per 192 stocked barra fingerlings. And mix in the survival rate issue, along with the mass surface area of the lake, it seems a tough road ahead if one wants to land a jack. Time will tell, and hopefully in the next 5 yrs, a major breakthrough can be come forth, as I haven't met a fisherman yet that doesn't rate highly the old 'red dog'!
Johnny M

[darryl_l]

Thanx for the info Johnny,

Do you do midweek charters as I will be up at Awoonga from Mon 8th to Sat 12th Nov and might be looking for a lttle guidance. I have now caught over 50 Barra and > > NOT ONE > > has come from Awoonga

Darryl L