Richmond Jew

[rabbi]

Hi Jewienewie, Thats a shame but you know the old saying "you shoulda been there last night"
Am is the better bet now the moon is filling up and getting brighter. But judging by the amount of mullet getting hauled near Shaws Bay there should be a few jew around munching on the mullet in the river. The fish I got were not caught in the river but they are not far away from coming in. No major runs of jew yet anyway. You will know when they come in, just keep your eyes peeled for the flat bottomed boys up the river. cheers, ..

[BLOOEY]

Good luck to ya Sean.I hooked my first bigun in the tweed last night only to have the line snap.rabbi you seem to have those jewies really sussed.Ive spent countless hours on the rocks spinning for jew for a couple of schoolies.What setup do you use for spinning big minnows?

[rabbi]

Hi blooey, Yeah, The first big jew is the hardest to catch & I think I spend too much time hanging around with the fishes.
My rigs for HB's are easily identified if you find my lures washed up on beaches.
The rig I use most for any lure fishing for jew, whether it is a HB or SP is about a metre of plastic coated wire with a black swivel on one end and just a loop join with the crimp directly onto the split ring of the lure. I use shorter lengths for SP's and smaller rods. I used to use heavy mono leader but found that the lure did not swim properly because of the line drag and also I used to lose a lot of jew on 80lb leader mono because the line would get chafed by the jews teeth even though they are not cutting teeth. Lost faith in it after a while because of so many line breaks at the teeth end especially when putting more pressure on the line at the end of the fight. If fishing in swell around barnacle covered rocks the wire will not break as easily, although I have been down to a couple of strands of wire from abrasion at times.
Fishing in the river with light gear for jew I have used mono with success as the line pressure is not as great with smaller rods.
In rough water I use a mainline of 13.6kg (30lb) mono but come down to lighter line in calmer conditions. Alot of jew fisho's use 22kg (50lb) and heavier line but the 30lb will still get big fish if you have patience landing them and it is easier to use.
I have caught good jew on 4.5kg braid but braid is not great around rocks and heavier braid on bigger gear tends to pull hooks out of the jews mouth as there is no give at all. Most people have little patience and try to drag the fish in as quick as possible and that usually ends in tears.
Every time you go out you should look at the water you are fishing and choose the best lure for the conditions as sometimes the fish are on the bottom or on the surface. They will take a lure that is barely moving or at other times the lure needs to go at full crank. This combined with correct tides, moon phase and water conditions should produce fish. I normally keep the moon and tides to myself as this is a major factor. I have caught big jew in the middle of the day when the moon is in the right place. Hope this helps you some. cheers, Steve.

[BLOOEY]

Bloody oath that helps me steve.I've just upped the ante in the tackle stakes and am headed down now for another shot.Thanks heaps.

[Sean]

Hi Rabbi, That is some excellent info there, thanks mate, I have caught jew before but only on Bait so this year I think I might focus on lures as I am C&R all my fish anyway.
What strength wire do you reccomend? I always thought of jew as a bit fussy so I would have thought wire would turn them off but it mustn't. When you cast for them do you cast towards banks like bream luring or out into channels? Sorry, I know that I should get out there and figure it out but casting lures is a bit of a confidence thing and I would worry that I am not even close and wasting my time and as I get to fish not too often as I have 2 young children I don't want to lose hope too quickly.....Any lure in particular that is a reasonable one? Thanks again mate, Sean

[Tony_N]

Hi Rabbi, .... snip.....Any lure in particular that is a reasonable one? Thanks again mate, Sean

G'day Sean

Mate, I know you asked Steve and not me and I don't want to appear to be a smartarse or steal anybodys thunder - but just in case he doesn't get to reply to your question I thought I'd send this PM with some info I have. This is just 2nd hand info and I don't claim to have any personal knowledge since all of my jewfish have been caught outside on bait except for 2 on Snapbacks on the top hook of a paternoster rig.

1st of all Steve has said on this site that any lure that looks like a mullet is the go

2nd I have a book by Frank Prokop called Lure Encyclopaedia which has tested all sorts of lures on a broad range of species. His top 10 for Mulloway in order are:

Killalure Jewie 150
Bill's Bugs Jew Lure 126
Predatek Viper 150
Manns 12+ Boof
Illusion Lures Wedgetail deep 12
Illusion Lures Jester
Majic Lures Mulgar 10+
Mudeye Lures Nomad
Larrakin Lures LK 150
RMK Scorpin 125DD

To get an idea of what these lures look like you could browse the book - I think K-mart will have them in stock - they do in Lismore.

PS I was going to PM this but thought it would be interesting to see if Steve uses any of these so I'll put it up.

FWIW

Tony

[rabbi]

G'day guys, I just got back from Inverell today as a great mate and uncle passed away last week and I went to pay last respects. He was a grand old murray cod fisherman from way back and was well known in the Inverell district as well as being the grandson of a local bushranger. He caught some of his biggest cod on lures after I showed him there was a better way. I grew up with Don and my father always around me and they knew more about the bush and pride in work than most people will ever know. You could not get a more upright, larger than life respectable man who took pride in himself and his family.
God bless you mate.

Anyway,,,,,,
After looking through those lures, most of them would do the job even though I don't use any of them but have fished with people who have had good results on them. I use HB lures closer to 200mm and assorted SP's but these only work at certain times too so a variety is good. But having said that we have caught jew on lures that are stationary in the water or are hit when the lure hits the surface. I believe most lures will work when used in the right way, in the right place and at the right time. It would not be a challenge if it was too easy. I think Tony's idea of reading up on the subject and learning about the species is a good plan. I will help as much as I can with tackle and such (that I use but I still get done over a lot. I would lose a couple of dozen lures each year to jew ) but wont let too much info go with the right place and right time subject as you could probably understand and I am allergic to crowds.
I am still learning about the subject myself and found another way to fish with SP's this year which seems to work well.
Plastic coated wire around the 60lb mark works well but make sure your crimps are fitted properly as they break the wire if you overcompress them. Someone told me way back that jew can sense electrical activity when using wire and they won't come near it but I have never had a problem with it.
Going south this winter to try for snapper off the rocks with light gear as a few mates have been doing well and I know stuff all about it. Another learning curve for me. Cheers, Steve.

[Sean]

Thanks fellas, I understand about the crowds issue, Especially somewhere like here where unfortunately, with the massive numbers of members now there seems to be a few that are.......how shall i say.......dickheads. No offence anyone, I guess some people are good being mates with someone else.
But thanks for the help. If you see me out there I have a black punt, the previous owner had some sort of sick sticker fetish, it has a transom mount electric on the bow on some dodgy homemade bracket.......Hang on....I made that!! Sean

[paulez2]

With so few people actually catching Jew, the rivers and Estuaries must be full of them. I am led to believe anywhere near bridge pylons is good!?

I'd love nothing more than to catch some nice size Jew. Or any size Jew.

[rabbi]

G'day Paulez2, In actual fact the rivers are not full of jew most of the time even though jewie fisho's take a few. You understand why when the reason the jew come into the river is to spawn and they will congregate in large numbers in certain spots. I know some of these spots and have seen 20 to 30 big jew 50 feet in front of me thrashing the water to a froth chasing mullet as we did at least a dozen times last year. Then you see a Pro boat coming in with the floor covered in big jew and the schools are no more and they don't come back til next year(if theres any left).
There are jew that stay in the river but a lot of them are offshore travelling jew that move around at certain times, tides and moon phases. These are the jew I pursue(bronzies).
Structure is good as it offers a source of food and protection. cheers.

[rabbi]

G'day Sean

Mate, I know you asked Steve and not me and I don't want to appear to be a smartarse or steal anybodys thunder - but just in case he doesn't get to reply to your question I thought I'd send this PM with some info I have. This is just 2nd hand info and I don't claim to have any personal knowledge since all of my jewfish have been caught outside on bait except for 2 on Snapbacks on the top hook of a paternoster rig.

1st of all Steve has said on this site that any lure that looks like a mullet is the go

2nd I have a book by Frank Prokop called Lure Encyclopaedia which has tested all sorts of lures on a broad range of species. His top 10 for Mulloway in order are:

Killalure Jewie 150
Bill's Bugs Jew Lure 126
Predatek Viper 150
Manns 12+ Boof
Illusion Lures Wedgetail deep 12
Illusion Lures Jester
Majic Lures Mulgar 10+
Mudeye Lures Nomad
Larrakin Lures LK 150
RMK Scorpin 125DD

To get an idea of what these lures look like you could browse the book - I think K-mart will have them in stock - they do in Lismore.

PS I was going to PM this but thought it would be interesting to see if Steve uses any of these so I'll put it up.

FWIW

Tony

I'll take that one back Tony. I have caught jew on the mudeye lures. One of these days I am going to learn how to read, cheers mate.

[Fishpod]

Hi Rabbi / Steve. Thanks for all the info and tips. Its gold mate. And thanks for all the encouraging words, I asked a question of you once in a previous post back late last year and you encouraged me to keep on trying and I got my first Jewie on boxing day - 26lb - very happy. Could you let us know your rod and reel set up(s) for lure fishing for the Jewies?? Hard bodies and the softies?

Thanks again.
Anthony

[rabbi]

Good stuff Fishpod,
Glad you persevered and came up with a good jewie, I have always said the first one is the hardest and they will start to come easier. I think having a positive attitude is a good place to start.
A couple of years back I took a mate out jewing.
He christened me Rabbi as everytime he saw me there was a jew nearby(pardon the pun) American humour probably!!
My bigger gear setup is a modified Wilson "Mulloway" rod and a Okuma EZ90 eggbeater which holds 330 metres of 13.6kg Penn Mariner line and was emptied twice last year. Always take a spare spool now. This is for rough weather and big HB's. Jew have a lot more power and stamina in heavily aerated water.
Drop back to 10kg for smoother water. Too much rod for any lesser breaking strain line and will break line if too much pressure is applied.
The fun gear which I prefer to use is a Berkley 6'10" Dropshot rod rated at 6kg and use an Okuma MQ45 eggbeater reel with 10kg braid or 6kg braid depending on conditions.
The next step down which is the gnats knackers is the Dropshot rod with a little Okuma Avenger ABF20 eggbeater loaded with about 270metres of 4.5kg braid which is exclusively SP gear. Never been spooled but came within a few turns of line left before the fish stopped on more than one occasion. I landed a 20.5kg jew on this gear last year and it was an adrenalin rush of big proportions.
I only use braid on the light gear as it is harder to pull hooks with a little rod.
The Dropshot with the 6 and 10kg is used for both HB's and SP's and the same for the Wilson rod.
Just bought some classic F18 HB's. All 210mm of lure which look the goods. Green SP's and White SP's around the 75mm to 150mm work well at the right time.
If I sold all my jew gear I would be able to retire now!!
Pardon the long winded story guys.
Cheers, Steve.

[Nowhere Bob]

Shalom Rabbi.
In your case the longer the better.

Funny we want to share ourknowledge, but don't want to give the game away.
I'm trying to convince my 13yr old that if it's too easy it's not worth doing.
But how many of us have heaved lures for hours for no result and wonder if we are even on the right page.
Moon & tide eh? mmm

[rabbi]

Yeah it"s abit like that Nowhere bob,
A lot of fisho's are not sure of what gear to use on jew and don't know where to start. When I first started chasing jew 8 years back, I went out with a 9 wrap rod, 50lb line and a very large Alvey chocka with line. Big gear, big hooks, big bait.
Apart from doing a workout with all the heavy gear and sitting patiently for hours without catching a thing, my thoughts were "Well,this sucks".
This what the jew fisho's of the time told me to use otherwise your wasting your time.
Banshee was the one who convinced me to change to lures>Thanks mate.
It took a while to work the jew out but now I get a big kick out of landing a big fish on small gear whilst being landbased. It helps to know the capabilities of your gear and big fish on small gear is easier than most people think and fun.
Time for another story guys.....
The old man and myself went to sth Ballina beach today for a fish. Dad is going 80 and pulling up at a hole is an easily manageable walk from the 4wd to the water. Lots of people on the beach today. Found a little puddle of a hole that had a closed end and looked the goods. There were quite afew fisho,s up from us tossing slices for tailor but none at our hole.. We used small rods and SP's. I lost several small fish in as many casts and then landed a bream close to a kilo. At the same time dad caught a flathead about 1.5kg. We kept the fish for a feed and by the time we walked back down to the hole from the 4wd there were 3 other blokes tossing SP's in and another 4wd pulled up and we were surrounded. The old fella hooked up to another good flathead and one of the blokes was intent on casting over dads line trying to hook the line whilst the other fisho's had little respect for anybody that was around them apart from one fisho that left. The fish that dad had hooked got broken off.
We left them to it.
And that is one of the reasons why I don't tell too many people where and when. Not all fisho's are like that but there are a lot that are.
No insult intended to all the courteous fisho's out there because we all help each other out at times but people like this are no help to anybody.
Moon, tide,water conditions,barometer,Temperature, food supply and jew travelling patterns and it will all come down to a very short jew feeding window.
Cheers, steve.