mangrove jack ,poddy mullet

[childers]

hi ,just looking for opinions and advice for best way /place to put your hook in a live poddy ,and your reasons of why eg- does the jack just smash his head off first ,or does he play with the poddy or try and scale it , how do jacks eat or attack a poddy ,what type and size of hook ,thanks for any imfo .

[cuzzamundi]

mate if you're using a single hook rig, then i'd go through the upper lip for sure - jacks love to kill their prey head on. if you can though, also attach a stinger hook to the caudal region of the fish towards the tail. you can cover more ground then, as sometimes they'll go against their normal head first attack. try clipping part of the mullet's tail to give it an injured appearance and to control its swim path - i find some mullet are too hard to control and keep in the strike zone otherwise. let us know how you go mate.

cuzza

[ffejsmada]

When fishing large poddy's, gar etc for jew, jacks & others, place the hook in the back half caudal area with no lead to have the bait swim away from the boat. When fishing livies with lead, I place hook in front half or through both lips with hookpoint facing up. This way you have bottom half and top half of water covered.

[devocean]

I prefer dead frsh than live fresh for jack fishig

[devocean]

I wouldnt reccomend a stinger hook as they are already hard enoyugh to pull out of cover and an extra hook is an easier way for you to get snagged

[hooknose]

Have to agree with Devocean, Fresh and dead is better than live for Jacks. Catch your mullet, Herring, Sardines etc and throw them staight on the ice and keep them there until you use them, try it you might be surprised)

The old inside out mullet , butterflied mullet or a mullet rigged as a "gag" bait is definately the go. Also agree with what he reckons about the stinger hook, especially up north where you are fishing in close around those clusters of big hoop mangrove roots, not so much the case in SE QLD.
Cheers !!!

[rick k]

hey Hooknose, could you provide a bit more info on gag baits?

[sea tiger]

Giday all, i had the pleasure of watching a mangrove jack attacking a live poddy mullet whilst fishing for a Barra in the Hinchinbrook Channel, he would come out and savage the tail end slashing deep wounds into my poor intended Barra bait. When fishing for jack i've had alot of success using flesh baits, and the humble old pillie works a treat under a float, fishing in back water with heaps of mangrove roots to bust you up on. Lock your drag up, don't take your eye's off your float and hang on. Good luck, the first time i fished for jacks i went home with my tail between my legs, four nil to the jacks.
PS, Mustad allround 3/0 7766D hooks have worked well for me.

Cheers Tiger.

[hooknose]

Hey rick k,
The "gag" bait is a method of rigging dead herring, mullet, sardines etc and is lethal on fish. It was shown to me by an old fella( think his name was "Punchy" and sadly he is no longer with us) who used to fish Cooktown Jetty in the late eighties to great effect nailing Jacks, Barra, Fingermark, Salmon( Bluey's and King ) etc, I even saw him catch Coral Trout on them off that Jetty. They will often catch fish including Barra when you have livies out on other lines that are not getting hit.

The secret is that the baitfish must be caught fresh and put straight on ice and I have found they work well in all fishing situations including out on the reef. You must use a hook with a big enough gape that the point and barb of your hook are clear on the outside of the bait( you will see what I mean when you see the diagrams). You must also be careful when pulling the half hitch up tight or you will rip through the tail( herring especially ) and have to start again with a new bait.

The cuts you make to the bait release all the juices and forms its own burley trail. Make sure you leave the guts attached and hanging. In no current( turn of the tide) use no weight with the rig or a small pea sinker on the leader above the bait( usually 40lb Jinkai or similar), when rigged this way it casts like a bullet and is baitcaster friendly. In strong current it can be fished with a sinker above a leader about a metre long or whatever suits you. Have used them on patenoster rigs on the reef to great effect.

You might think it is a bit of a piss around until you get used to doing them but they are definately worth it. Give them a go and let me know how you get on !!!

[devocean]

I would reccommend good sized tru turn perma steel hooks and I also agreewith using pillies as the soft bait tend to get more hookups because the skin on mullet can sometimes get in the way. The best bait by far is boney salmon or milk fish which are like plagues up where I am. I read somewhere that people pay big money to catch em on fly. I get em around the 3 to 4 kg mark in the cast net.

[Tropicaltrout]

Well i use a 2/0 hook placed between the dorsal and the second dorsal, and have caught plenty this summer Jacks attack were ever they hit first there know real hot spot all they do is spot and attack in a split second if the hook was in the pectral fin it would not matter its chance with a jack they are hangry and they don't care were they hit.

TT

[rick k]

Thanks heaps Hooknose, I caught a biggish herring last night that would have been perfect for that treatment. Instead I hooked it lightly back from the vent and lost it on the hit.

Thanks again!!

[geoff72]

I have caught jacks on live poddies and fresh dead poddies,placed the hook thru the lip and also thru the shoulder and have success both ways, i think they just smash what eva they can without any thought of head or tail first.
My line that i use is 8lb fire line in crystal and a 30lb stren leader, i use a small pea sinker(rolling) just to add a little bit of weight to the bait but not enough to stop it swimming and i use a size 1/0 or 2/0 Owner circle hook, i also have the drag up pretty tight. these work for me ,other people have there tackle,this is what i prefer. hope some of these tips in the thread help, best feelinggetting those jacks

[childers]

thanks for response, hooknose cheers for a detailed reply ,heres bream by-catch on poddy ,couple of jacks on flesh strips.

[Chuckmeister]

That is a nice catch. What a quality bream!