# JEWFISH / MULLOWAY techniques



## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Ok guys we all no what a secretive lot Jew fishers can be. So lets break the secrets.

What i propose is we all post our best tips and techniques, I will then put them together onto the wiki page on jewfish / mulloway for everyone to access.

If you want you can add spots in.

I'll start with what i know

LIve baits - use a variety of live baits jew fish can be very fussy, put out everything avaqilable from the local area, eg: yakkas, tailor, slimies all at once.

Dead Baits - fresh is best, butterfly baits like your going to cut a fillet off each side but stop at the head then break the back bone section out
the baits should be double hooked, one through the mouth the other near the tail. the bait should be hooked in the smallest profile
possible so it won't spin. The bait flapping is good but spinning is bad

SP's - Are best in a strong current, hold on the bottom with a large snapper lead with 2 metres of leader to let the sp work in the current, large squigies 
yellow body and black back with stripes.

Deep holes or drop offs with current, full moon best, on the run out of the smaller tide of the day

Hope you can all share

Cheers Dave


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWRzBslMAAApXgAAQQAMEoBgAL23fACAAQU09TRHpog9TBCgAADJkAlqQaTRS9s+LMAISk/lrIHXLf1De2YNvE6mUIi9k1raniHabFXiMDkWeI0VxH+LuSKcKEgOYNkpg


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

dave: great start...the only other method i could think of using is jigging with metal slices, works well in deep holes

cheers
carl


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## pcsolutionman (Apr 9, 2007)

Working large poppers in and around creek mouths after heavy rain when the water is discoloured can also account for some good quality fish. as well as large bibbed lures worked at night around river mouths and deeper holes can produce some sizeable fish.

Lee


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

In ocean washes and heavily broken water around headlands and breakwalls, Jewies will regularly attack large HB lures, POPPERS and softs over 6". Softs and big diving Halco's like the 190's account for most of the runs but they'll absolutely smash a slow drawn popper on the right day.

You've gotta find them because they won't come to you. Off the rocks, I've found they'll run furthest from the landing ledge that offers the easiest access to gaff them.

I prefer the new moon.


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## Gunston (May 10, 2006)

Great info Dan
Something that I was told many years ago, when using live mullet as bait.
When the Jewie strikes, you let him run until he stops and then strikes again!
The reason is that the Jewie takes the mullet by the head and swims him backwards through the water, thus scaling him, then he eats it.
I have found that when I have had a big run in the Nerang River, and missed it, the bait had no scales on it.

Regards
Chris


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

> Something that I was told many years ago, when using live mullet as bait.
> When the Jewie strikes, you let him run until he stops and then strikes again!
> The reason is that the Jewie takes the mullet by the head and swims him backwards through the water, thus scaling him, then he eats it.


Thanks Gunston what i ahve been told is they roll the fish against there gill rackers to scale but same diff really



> I prefer the new moon.


Its a bit of an issue that one everyone i have talked to has there own ideas on it. I think the tides probably mater more.

Another point is day or night, I ahve always fished late into the night for them but the best jews i have heard of being caught were in the day ?

This threads coming along well keep the posts coming guys and we will put a good resource together.

Cheers dave


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## Fishpod (Oct 11, 2006)

My 2 cents. I've read heaps on this subject and this thread is a great idea.   
1. Bait must be FRESH - can be whatever is "local" but fresh mullet fillets or whole fish butterflied is to me the best. A live mullet with a nick out of his tail would be great too. 
2. Mulloway are timid, cunning and lazy.

3. Good circle hooks will negate the need to "strike " at the right time. These can be used with live and dead baits.

4. Best moons are on the week preceeding the full and the few days after the new.

5. Night is usually better than the day. If fishing at night then go when the moon is up and high

6. Time 5. above with a tide change and then only up to 2 hours after the high or the last hour of the run out. This reccomendation will vary in different environments, but I have repeatedly heard that a jewie will only feed around the slack water time.

7.Put in lots of time.

8. Put in some more time

9. Digest all of the above along with all of the other great advice on this thread and work out a plan. I spent many hours on the beach at night and eventually got a jewie at 2 in the afternoon. It was overcast and the other factor for the specific location was the weather - which was right, and it was an hour and a half after high tide. I went so crazy the lifegaurd came over to see what was going on. We were the only ones on the beach because it was also RAINING. Overall though my best piece of advice would be lots of time with a bait in the water.

Like many AKFFers I too want too pull one into the yak sometime soon. I see hobievic has mentioned some guys doing that - anyone on this forum caught a good Jewie from the Yak??


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## garrick (Sep 2, 2006)

The only one that I have caught so far was on a sp 110mm against a deep dropoff in the mid morning. It was Overcast and outgoing tide in tuross estuary. I was actually targeting BIG flathead. What I have red is that they stay in the holes during the day and move out to hunt during dusk and at night.


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

This rig is perfect for sitting at anchor on the yak or stink boat because it doesn't twist - never!
The leader to the hook is about 1m long and holds a livebait on a circle hook.

I've dropped 2 x jew on this rig on a mates stink boat (in the last 2 trips) and the last fish landed on it from the yak was a 7kg mack tuna.

60lb jinkai
44lb 3 x way crane swivel
3oz bomb sinker (must have a moulded swivel)
6/0 circle hook


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## mal.com (Feb 10, 2007)

Hi all ...Back in 1975'ish my deckies brother, Gomer Garret, who was about 16 at the time, landed 10 jewies off the Ballina North Wall in one night using Ballina chook feather leadheaded lures, they averaged 20-30lb each, he reckons he lost many more than he landed and he didnt have a gaff.

This presented quiet a problem for the kid, as he got out to the wall on his bike. Back in those days any licenced pro fisherman, (ie every deckie, ie Gomer) could legally sell fish through the Co-Op. The question was how do you get 10 big jewies back from the wall to the Co-Op, when your only means of transport was a push bike.

Incidently the Ballina chook feather jewie lure was invented by Freddie Webber,(a Ballina Fisherman) it may of had a name if so I can't remember it but during flood water times they took an unbelievable number of Jewies. It featured a lead head and mostly white chook feathers and a bit of red, and only worked in zero visability during major floods.

cheers

mal de mer


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

I have followed the pattern given me by a club jewie champion many years ago in Port Macquarie, he could catch a jew every comp regardless of time of year.

He would catch a few tailor first, and no bleeding of them and never used livies...cut off a fillet and fold it length wise with the flesh out and skin inside the folded bait, and he used 9/0 hook inside the fold...he looked for a deep hole with suds over it....after about 40 minutes he replaced the fillet with a fresh one as he felt the juices were now leached from the original bait....the scrap fillet and fish frame was thrown in where he fished as more berley....don't plan on C&R with this method as they are gut hooked most times

I prefer an hour either side of slack water on a full moon, if on the water about that time hook the first fish to the boat in the back and throw it in as a livie [regardless of species, I've caught jew on bream and whiting as well as the normal bait species]

When a jew is felt and takes the bait, let him run with no tension until he pauses, then on the second run apply the weight on the rod and he's yours if you can land him


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## FletcherG1991 (Apr 17, 2007)

Ok here we go :

First up, baits MUST be fresh, servo pillies or squid wont cut it, spend the time and get the livies, Squid, Snook, Yellowtail, Slimies, Garfish, Tailor etc are all very good baits. Learn how and where to get your bait so your not stuck there for 3 hours every time you go out. If you want to freeze squid DO NOT let it touch fresh water, freeze it in saltwater. I have had squid that i have defrosted a month or so after catching them and they look like they have just been caught, still have ink flowing out of them and lumo eyes.

Next, Where to look, Drop off's, Holes, Breakwalls, Bridges, Junctions etc are all very good places to start looking. Anywhere that creates an eddy will produce fish as they sit in it waiting for baitfish to swim by in the current. All of these places are great but there is one more just as deadly place, baitgrounds. I see heaps of people stopping to catch bait for jewfish at various baitgrounds and then go off and fish else where, even though there there for an hour or so they never bother to put a livie out, whenever i have a scholl of whatever sort of baitfish around me i always put atleast one out, where there is bait this WILL be jews. Another thing, if Jews are around they will hit your bait, people are always staying put for to long, fish the certain place at the right time then move onto the next spot.

Now we move onto Lures. Soft Plastics are one of the more popular lures for Jews, simply because they work. 5" and 7" Stickbaits and 4"+ Shads have been working very well, but Jew will also hit little 3" plastics intended for bream, so you never know. Hardbody's are great for around Breakwalls and Bridges, any of the Barra lures will work fine, Classic Barras, Goldbombers, B52's, X-Raps and others like Lazer Pro's. Popperslike Roosta's and Cotton Cordell Pencil Poppers are probably some of the better ones to choose from but anything that creates some noise will work. One i have been experimenting around with is the River2Sea Live Minnow, this is a sort of HB/SP hybrid and swims on the surface/subsurface just like a mullet or something similar (perfect for trolling behind the yak at slow speed's)

When the best time is to catch them seems to change angler to angler, some say new moon, some say full, some say they can only be caught at night, some say only slack water. Personally i don't have any hard and fast rules, Jew's may feed better on a certain tide or moon but that doesn't meen they won't feed in between those times. I have found a run out tide better but it depends on areas i supose. They still have to eat and if there is a big slimie infront of them there not going to let it get away. Night might be a better time for them but i have seen some huge jews caught in the middle of a bright sunny day, if you can only fish daytimes, try dawn/dusk or overcast weather.

The standard jewie rig is simple enough, a 5/0 (minimum) suicide or circle conected to 50cm - 1m of 40 - 80lb flurocarbon then to a swivel, you then put a swivel on the line so it can run up and down the line alowing the jew to pick the bait up without feeling any weight, you can attach your sinker to this swivel. I will put up a picture to explain this abit easyer. Don't go cheap on terminal, I only use Owners or Gamakatsu's as they are one of the strongest hooks available.

Gear is simple, a 6- 7ft rod capapble of fishing 30 - 50 lb braid, a spin or ovhead in the same range (6500 baitrunners, 750 spinfishers, Saltist (30, 40 or 50's) Toriums etc, or if you want to spend abit more, Saltiga 4500's, Stellas, Saltiga Overheads etc). 30 - 50lb braid/gelspun is all you will need. For SP fish, a 6'6" - 7' rod in the 20lb range with matching reels and 15 - 15lb braid/gelspun.

A few good rules to remember, Don't hold your rods, leave them in the rod holders and fish with your reels in gear, don't have them in free spool, all that will happen is that when the jew runs he will drop the bait ..... and he aint coming back ! By letting the jews hook themselves or you hook them there is no chance of the fish dropping the bait.

I think thats about it from me, probably forgoten a fair bit. Ill put some pictures up later on with rigs, lures, gear etc.

Hope this has helped.

Cheers,
Fletcher


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

This is great guys I will start putting it together in the wiki tomorrow at work.

I think the overiding themes have been

Everyone thinks a different moon but at night when the moon is high, whatever phase its in(this may be true of the day too).
Dead baits must be fresh, butterflied or filleted, but soft flesh showing seems to be the go.
Places to fish deep holes and drop offs with bait fish around
I will list the lures and sp's mentioned.

Keep the posts coming, we might soon have a whole heap of expert kayak jewfisherman 

Cheers Dave


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

I think you would have to be either very lucky or extremely skilful and brave to pull a decent one from a yak up here. They are rarely caught during the daytime and they are very dirty fighters. I got bricked and busted 8 times last nite on 50lb line(not in a kayak)with what appeared to be big jew at a close-in reef. You would be hard pressed to exert enough pressure on these guys from a kayak. Heaps of fun if you could bear the cold though.
A few beauties are caught in the Maroochy river at times. More civilized but still dark!


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## pescado (May 17, 2007)

some good tips here *edit*

i dont like to give links to another forum but this guy offers some nice subtle hints


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

So they pre-scale there fish beofre swallowing hey???? Some mighty fine information there lads much appreciated.

I have been told they often feed first light and last light and love fresh whole calamari.

Milt,


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Milt said:


> and love fresh whole calamari.
> 
> ,


Milt my best [about 40lb] was off the rocks using fresh whole octopus, with a body about as big as a golf ball


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## varp (Sep 12, 2005)

I have pretty much given up giving up the hours required to catch a decent jew. Did lose an absolute beast off the wall at Moruya but if I bang on about that there will be a pool of tears deep enough to fish.

  



> by Sunhobie on Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:23 am
> 
> I think you would have to be either very lucky or extremely skilful and brave to pull a decent one from a yak up here.


Dunno about that. That doyen of fishing Geoff Wilson has written that his preferred method is trolling a small salmon or mullet by rowing a small tinny. I would have thought that a small navigable craft would assist in the primary aim of staying connected. Plenty big fish come off a yak.

My one contribution to this thread comes from what Brendan Wing recommends. He has a new DVD out called 'Secret Silver'. Not seen it, but he has written about the importance of constantly checking your tackle. Sharp hooks, good knots, no abraded leader, bait presentation etc. Heartbreaking to lose a once in a lifetime fish to the weakest link.

.....which brings me back to the wall at Moruya ....and that monster red off St Kilda...


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## DaveJ (Apr 7, 2007)

G'day Dave :wink: 
Great thread mate. Been talking to a few guys that fish for them regularly under the bridges ie Captian Cook & Tom Ug's. Autumn seems to best in our local waters ie Hacking & Georges/Botany Bay. Possibly because fish are cold blooded & therefore are most active within there prefered body temp (PBT). Anyway, they've been getting em on Gulps ie 4-5" jerkshads using TT revhead (spinner blade) jigheads. Mainly dawn/dusk or at night either two to three days before or two to three days after a full or new moon. Livies ie yakkas, herring, squid also work well when dropped strait into the (bridge pylon) eddies :wink:

As someone previously mentioned. I remember as a kid watching all the Jew fisho's turning up at Port Mac break wall right on the slack (day or night) of the tide. Another tip I was given is that as previously mentioned, they are one of the most timid species you will ever fish for.


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Gday guys the wiki is up having trouble with the photos but hopefully Ken will fix it for me. (i was having technofear today all the machines were ganging up on me).
Anyway take a look feel free to add stuff, i have been a bit lazy an copy and pasted some of your posts instead of rewriting them  8)

http://www.akff.net/wiki/index.php?title=Mulloway

If you think of anything else please post it or add it to the wiki

Cheers Dave


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

Varp have you ever tried Westerport for a Jew, i personally haven't caught one there but have seen evidence of some monster fish been taken there around the 30-40kg mark. :shock: :shock: :shock:

Milt,


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## Donutslayer (Jun 9, 2007)

JEW scale their fish before eating it. Thats the funniest fisho story ive heard in ages. Even funnier that we believe it. Sure ya baits come back half cleaned after a take. Thats because theyre trying to hang onto it with those puny teeth while the anglers trying to rip it in the opposite direction and guess what gives? scales. Could be wrong but.


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

donut slayer, beleive it or not mate theres a lot of people that have a story very similar. 
The gill rakers are there to primarly prevent prey from escaping through the gills, but nature is a very clever thing. 
Peeled prawns always worked better than non peeled and how do you like your fish scaled or not, same reason when using fillets you turn the flesh side out its softer and more inviting. Jew fish are one of the cagier fish in the ocean so why wouldn't they have developed a way to make there meal more digestable.
Also adds in why they take one run and you don't strike until the second. Maybe were wrong but i think the amount of fisho's that have seen this and come up with the same result. Observation is usally the best form of research.
For your theory it would also depend on which way you had the hook if your first hook was to the head of the bait like most guys rig it the fish would be pulling over the scales and they wouldn't come off very easliy.(try it next time you scale a fish working the scaler the wrong way just doesn't work very well)

Cheers Dave


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## Milt (Sep 2, 2005)

A jew netted by a pro netter over the weekend in Western Port Bay, what a shame hey she was full of eggs too  35 odd kg in size.

Milt,


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## garrick (Sep 2, 2006)

In the last 2 weeks alone I have bought 3 fishing magazines that specifically talked about jewfish. For those of you who want to expand your library try and get these. I am staying in Canberra so for you other guys staying far away, I hope you can also get them.
SPORTFISHING MAGAZINE WINTER 2007 ISSUE 38: 1 article
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE ANGLER NO 6: 1 article
PRACTICAL SMALL BOAT FISHING: 3 articles :Mulloway in estuaries
Mulloway offshore
Tackle for mulloway

Now I might be wrong but when i come across this many info at once at a specific time of the year my alarm bells go off. This must be one of the best times for catching jewies I would guess. Does any body else have any idee about the best time of the year.


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

Its gotta be fun trying, but a decent jew pulls like a freight train and will have you around the closest structure in a millisecond. Take plenty of rigs with you and don't plan on having fish for dinner.


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## varp (Sep 12, 2005)

Milt - Only tried once for jew up the Warneet/Cannons Creek Arm in W/P in the canoe with a live salmon out the back on a leisurely paddle. Full moon, tide change, freezing cold and zippo.

Did try hard in NSW and only cracked it for a 12 pounder....mind I was very happy with that, but as Sunhobie says I connected to the aforementioned freight train once for what seemed like hours and got colour, then a head with a mouth like a bucket appeared and then no more....my @#$%$^&#^*(%$#$% friggin knot gave up the ghost.

Unforgetable,unforgivable and totally regretful.......I now let the f###ers have their way.

Shallow Inlet has a nice hole.........but I'd get that hundred mile stare again and I am completely over competing with rays. A worthy pursuit though and I dips me lid to those that do.

An extraordinary fish.


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## Sunhobie (Jun 22, 2006)

Mulloway are a ferocious predator. They hunt the large schools of migratory tailor and I guess salmon etc. Those species make the best bait, live or dead. Full and new moon cycles seem to be best when there is plenty of run in the tide. Thats what happens in God's country anyway.


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## Fishpod (Oct 11, 2006)

Donutslayer, The theory about the Jewies scaling their prey is one I too have consistantly heard. I got most of my tuition from a Jew Guru on the Sunshine Coast and that was one of the first things he told me - and then went on to explain how to scale ,fillet and bait up a hook with a massive slab of mullet. He also told me never to use a keeper hook, due to the jewie having a sensitive mouth. I beleive the main reason they come into any surf zone is for the worms. Now you can't tell me a fish which can grow up to 6 feet long and weigh up to 90lbs + is going to get any worms if he doesn't have a sensitive mouth. This is why I subscribe to the "Strike" theory when hooking them - if he's running he's hooked and he knows it. Further to this is the fact that many are caught on squid/occy and also whole Beach worms - all _*SOFT*_ baits. (Remember what I said about a jewie being lazy).

I laughed also when I first heard this and saw a lady down on the wall at Yamba catching slimies and calmly scaling them and STOMPING on them on the rocks!. She was only little but needless to say there wasn't much structure left to the bait when she'd finished with it. She assured me that Jewies love _soft_ baits.

Now, anyone in Brisbane / sunny coast keen to try and pull one of these guys out of the maroochy river (Cod Hole) one night???

Also, I'm heading down to Yamba mid August to try for a monster off the wall.

Cheers


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

I just picked up some unbelieveably fresh squid. It's currently blowing a 25 knot westerly (offshore) with zero swell and crystal clear water.

I think lures tonight would be pointless. The best chance of a jew off the stones is probably baitfishing the deepest gutter just after dark. Brrrrrr - Its gonna be chilly... But that's jewfishing.


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