Mulloway (Jew) Advice

[VoodooChile78]

I have landed my first two Jew recently (74 & 79cm) but really want to get a decent fish, to crack that elusive 1m mark.

The place I got them was in an estuary close to a bridge with plenty of deep water close to the bank. The mouth of the estuary is onto a surf beach with plenty of gutters and deep holes.

My question is...do I persist where I know they are there but may only be around the 70-80cm mark or do I try out the surf beach where the bigger ones may lie? With the recent rain up the coast, would it have pushed them more towards the mouth of the river?

I am going to try using live poddy mullet as a bait this time as well as the tried and tested squid.

I only have a few months before I move to Finland and I really want to crack that once in a lifetime fish...please help! any advice or places where the big ones lie would be greatly appreciated.

[Noelm]

big jews will respond to a big live bait for sure (though I have caught them on tiny baits meant for something else) and while you are live baiting, try a largish lure as well, I have got a few like that on lures while the live bait has been untouched, but also had it the other way round, but is another option.

[the gecko]

Hmm, Im chasing em too, but not as much success as you. My local tackle shop has reliable reports from a regular, who got a 20kg jew up a GC river last week, and also got a 40kg (OMG!!) off a GC beach.

Did you see the Offshore reports section? Go the beach, mate. Are you on the GC? If so, PM me.

cheers
Andrew

[zigfreed]

Voodoo

Try the bottom two hours of low at the mouth. When the tide completly stops is when the action should really start. I would go for a live tailor, jewies love em, if u cant get that blackfish, yakkas, pike and mullet are all good. Depends what sort of mullet u are using though. I spent many nights using those live river mullet with yellow around the eyes (not sure what they are called), only to have my mate using yakkas sitting right next to me and geting 3-4 hookups to my one.

So i gave up on the mullet and started on the tailor. I did notice though on the yakkas that nothing really touched them under the 13kg mark.

The biggest secret to jew is no secret at all really........need to put BIG hours in until you get them sussed. All spots work on different tides and moons i have found some places to work best on full moon high and others on no moon low. So at the end of the day u wanna catch a biggie before you go away, spend every minute of darkness you can chasing jew and you will be rewarded hansomely.

Hope this helps


Mick

[Sean]

If you think the bait is too big....put out that bait.

[nigelr]

Hi Voodoo.
Read rabbis' replies on this thread.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...d.php?t=110083
Gold!.
For what my opinion is worth, hit the surf with large slabs of mullet/tailor or whole large squid, on snelled 10/0 gamakatsu octopus hooks, 100lb mono trace, tide change ajacent to or after dark. I look for some sort of beach feature which changes or stills the prevailing current. IMO, mulloway are clever rather than energetic, and will look for such an area and make ambush attacks on bait/squid taking refuge from the sweep/current. Works for me!
Cheers and enjoy!

[VoodooChile78]

Thanks for that link...lots of useful hint and tips...

Also going to have a crack with some lures...My Lures are: -

Classic F18-Manta Ray - Silver/blue
Halco Laser Pro 120 - Chrome Pink
Rapala X-rap "deep" XRD-10 - Hot Head
Rapala X-rap SXR-10 - Silver
Rapala "Barra" Magnum BMAG-11 - Red Head
River2Sea Pop 88 - HC-09 (Silver)

See attached pic. Should be a good mix of colours, depthes etc

if I can prove lures work...I can buy more...and what does every fisherman want? more tackle...especially if it is shiny and new! *laughs*

Will post a report...hopefully with a pic of a good Jew...*fingers crossed*

Mike L.

[VoodooChile78]

Went to the spot and got a few bites but no fish. Problem was big tide and the current was running about 6knots. Cast out and within seconds the bait was on the beach.

I am starting to learn that Jew like the slack water around either high or low tide...am I on the right path? They seemed to bite best when the water was not moving.

[mattooty]

voodoochile, the scond from the top, in king brown colour...
Tried and tested and it has regularly come up with the goods.
Great lure
Matt

[craig51063]

big baits- slowing down of the tide - FRESH slabs of tailor [work for me ] -double snell 10/0 on bottom 8/0 on top -fish at night -big hole or gutter and put in the time . i thread the 8/0 on to an 80lb leader and then about 20 winds of bait mate around the shank and leader so it can slip with a bit of force and the 10/0 looped and crimped on the bottom . the reason i snell the 8/0 this way is so you can adjust the snell for diferent size baits .




Lie long enough and loud enough and eventually the masses will believe you !!!!

[lxc]

Has anyone had success with beach worms? I don't have the ability to keep live baits, but I can catch beach worms!

[_Dan_]

yeh mate,

My grandad always reckoned big beach worms were the go, although everything else in the water loves them also. He would put one whole worm per hook. But be prepared for the pickers.

Cheers

Dan

[nigelr]

LXC, hi mate, yeah have to agree with Dan, worms will do the job very well. Best IMO is a whole or large part of a king worm either threaded up the line over the hook or formed into a large 'bunch'.
I 've found these are most effective fished on a spit during a rising tide, at night.
As Dan says, pickers love 'em, however, so make sur your bait is large, the bigger the better!
Personally I prefer either day old live worms or ones that have been preserved.
I have found they are easier to bait up with and stay on the hook better, fresh livies can tend to go all brittle at times.
Cheers.

[charleville]

I note that no one has mentioned pillies so just for completeness I should mention that the 1.1m Jewfish in the picture below my signature was caught at Mud island on a pilchard.

It was bycatch, of course, but I actually caught a second one on the same bait immediately after but because it was a very black night, I did not realize that I had him right beside the boat until the knots broke and I discovered that I only had 1 1/2m of line in the water - ie I was trying to lift him out of the water right beside the boat without knowing.

Anyway, I know that pillies are not a preferred bait but thought that I should mention that they can be caught on pillies.

[simms]

Voodoochile, I dont no where your at but I,m originally from syd.The gun bait down there was whole squid or big heads rigged on 10's.I've just moved to ocean shores & apparently there's no squid to be caught on close kelp beds, so I,ve been hitt'n bruns breakwalls with live mullet.I,ve found they prefer butterflied over live,just a week ago hooked 2 unstopppppables (1 on fresh-frozen squid &other on butt'flied mullet)& managed to pull a 15kg.As prev fisho's have said LOTS & LOTS of sleepless nights should see u with burnt palms & some memorable hook ups.If keen to T up post me,talk to ya!! Insomniac aka darren.