# "Fish of the Month" - Mulloway



## mcbigg

Name/UserName: McBigg (a.k.a. JewGuru)
Where I fish: Glenelg River, Victoria
Area I fish: Around Sandy Waterholes.
Rod/Reel I use: Penn 'Prion' 2000 rod and reel combo from Kmart, loaded with 8lb Fireline and 12lb Vanish leader.
Hard Body Lure/Soft Plastic: Gulp 5 Inch Jerk Shad in Lime Tiger on 1/2oz 3/0 Nitro jig head.
Bait I use: Frozen Pilchard
Technique: For soft plastic: Cast towards the bank, let it sink to the bottom, raise the rod tip slowly about a metre and then let it drop again. 
For pilchards: I usually 'park' the yak at the base of my favourite cliff, facing out into the middle of the river. I cast two lines out with a half pilchard on 3/0 ganged hooks on each. The bream come and tear them to shreds fairly quickly (making a good berley trail) so there is constant re-baiting. Every now and again one of the lines will run and keep running. I let it run whilst I wind in the other and push off the bank into the river. I then spend the next 5 mins letting the mully (you WILL know when you have hooked one, there's no mistaking it!) run when it wants to and getting some line back when it stops. After 2 or 3 runs (they get shorter each run) the fish is usually beat and comes to the surface where it will float on its side, where I then lead it to the waiting net or lip gripper (don't trust a leader to lift it in!). 
My hot tip: Be patient. Be persistent. Put the time in and you'll eventually get one. I've only got as many as I have due to putting in the hours.
Hot Tip #2: Have the drag light enough to let them run when they want to. Sometimes the hook will be through its lip or just through a flap of skin in its mouth. If you put too much pressure on them, the hook will just tear out. Letting them run also helps to wear them out nicely. Of course, this method only works when they're heading _away_ from snags. (Although you can turn them by putting a _little_ more pressure on them if they are).


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## kritter67

Thanks for the tips Mcbig ,i will have to wait untill next summer as my arm is effed and needs to heal befor i tackle one of those , but it is a goal of mine to do so and all tips are stored in the mental computer as there is plenty of room in there :lol: .When you're fishing pilly's when do you strike ? befor you start to bring in your other rod or after it has run for a ways ? regards ,Kieran.


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## mattyoga

Name/UserName: mattyoga
Where I fish: Swan River, WA
Area I fish: deep water channels 
Rod/Reel I use: Silstar crystal power tip 6-10kg + Pfluger criterion C60 spin, loaded with 20lb braid and 40lb FC leader.
Hard Body Lure/Soft Plastic: not taken one on HBs or SPs yet, though the areas I fish don't have stucture /light changes to chuck lures at
Bait I use: Mulie or yakker
Technique: Stick the Mulie/yakker on a pair of snelled 5/0s mustad reds on 50lb FC with a no2 bean sinker close to the snells. Cast out and let it sit on the bottom. When a run comes, wait for a noticeable pickup in speed then strike ( well more just load her up). Important to fish with the reel with as lighter drag as possible to let the muller play with the bait. Once hooked up - let it have its head on the first run (unless heading for snags)

My hot tip: Be prepared to wait.......and wait... and wait. Need to put in the hours.
Hot Tip #2: Have a pair of gloves on board for landing them - the big ones won't fit in a net and they're usually pretty spent after coming up from the deep water - can just grab them and pull on board
Release tip - They don't release well from deepwater in my experience - don't plan on relasing them from 8m+ so fish conservatively. I've chosen to limit myself to one a year now


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## Swamp

Name/UserName: Swamp
Where I fish: West lakes and Coorong SA
Area I fish: 'deeper' water and around drop offs
Rod/Reel I use: Exceler 2500 size real, 2-4 kg strudwick sicstik, 8lb braid, Nitlon FC 10lb leader
Hard Body Lure/Soft Plastic: Cultiva Rip'n Minnow SP80, Low light - gulp 4 or 5 inch plastic any colour, Daylight - Lime tiger and nuclear chicken or similar colours
Bait I use: I don't
Technique - West lakes: Dead slow troll along to edge of drop offs/beaches at first or last light with a suspending lure. I mean dead slow... Paddle a few metres make a cast with a SP, same retrieve as Mcbigg. Paddle a few more metres cast again. The casting is more to keep me entertained because i wouldn't be able to go slow enough otherwise. 
Techinque - SP: Fish the shallows when its dark the transitions in the twilight and sound for fish in deeper water during the day.

My hot tip: Know your area. Find the structure and the bait and fish the obvious feeding times. I have put in hundreds of hours on westlakes bream fishing studying my sounder. I know where bait holds in the lake in certain conditions. I have regularly sounded big fish in certain areas. 
Hot Tip #2: Keep your ears to the ground for reports in your area. Catching a mulloway is exciting and a lot of forum goers are eager to tell their mates. Not just mulloway captures, bream fishers complaining about being blown away or only catching STs are a good sign in westlakes.

Conservation tip - Let em go! The Coorong is a breeding ground.


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## kritter67

With so many jew club members here i thought there would be more tips :lol: .


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## mattyoga

they must be keeping them under their hat. ;-)


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## Buff

kritter67 said:


> With so many Jew club members here I thought there would be more tips :lol: .


Mine were by-catch from chasing bream :lol: ;-)


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## solatree

I've caught some - Schoolies in the Coorong, mainly trolling SPs slowly. But I don't feel in any way that I can claim any real expertise. However, this link could be helpful. http://www.yak-fish.com/kayak_fishing_mulloway.php


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## AJD

Name/UserName: AJD
Where I fish: Moreton Bay and nearby creeks and rivers
Area I fish: reef edges and drop offs + close to deep holes on river bends
Rod/Reel I use: anything from 2500 to 4000 size spinning reels and matched rods to 8kg. 6 to 10lb braid + 10lb leaders
Bait I use: Livies are the gun bait. Poddy mullet and glass herring have accounted for 80% of my jewies. BIG squid heads account for the rest.

Hot TIP 1# no secrets here - fish the slacker water periods for the best results.
Hot TIP 2# Fish at night. All my fish have come in the darker hours despite fishing the same spots with the same baits during the day.
Hot TIP 3# Shallow water will produce just as many fish as deeper water. The presence of structure/drop offs/reefs is important nearby but the fish will feed right up into 1m of water. Don't be afraid to put a bait in the shallows.


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## drawicki

anyone had any success on jewies in the yarra? a few years ago got a couple from the bank but havnt tried since i got the yak


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## mcbigg

drawicki said:


> anyone had any success on jewies in the yarra? a few years ago got a couple from the bank but havnt tried since i got the yak


I have seen a couple of stories in the fishing mags (in the last 12 months) about people having success with the metal vibe lures around bridge pylons in the yarra.


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## LoboLoco

Hot tip: Mulloway are big beasts and consequently they will spent a lot of energy trying to feed in fast moving water. Fish the slack tided, that is when they are most actively feeding. If you can find some nice structure on the bottom or a bridge pylon in fast moving water, there will usually be an eddy and a 'lull' in the water behind (down water) of the structure. These areas offer refuge for small bait fish and large mulloway...... the rest follows from that....
Good luck!


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## RangiRocks

Sounded up about 20 large Mullaway in the Yarra in 7 metres on the end of the ebb

In a ( secret ) hole but where you would expect them to be

Couldn't get livies and no luck on lures

They are there but very hard to catch - ave 15-20kg at a guess


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## fishsmith

Sounded up about 20 large Mullaway in the Yarra in 7 metres on the end of the ebb

In a ( secret ) hole but where you would expect them to be

Couldn't get livies and no luck on lures

They are there but very hard to catch - ave 15-20kg at a guess

 :shock: :shock: I'd still be there now if i had a spot like that................


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## Hantu

Name/UserName: Alex (Hantu)
Where I fished: Longreef beach in NSW (land based)
Rod/Reel I used: I had a surf rod with a large alvey sidecast cant recall brand of rod
Bait: Fillet of eel smothered in glow bait

My cousin was living in Sydeny at the time and I would go visit for fishing holidays. we were land based surf fisherman back then. anyways he hails from WA and we were very keen to try for some mulloway in the surf. I only evre caught the one and that was on the fillet of eel smothered in glow bait (dont know if that stuff is still around) I had the fillet about 8" long flopping around in the wash on a set of gangs of which i forgot the size... caught the jewy at about 22:00 in evening and he put up two big runs which were fun but exhausting to reel in on the alvey. fish weighed in at 12kg and i was super happy. Dont know if this will help as I dont target Jewfish primarily but any info maybe good info foryou guys out there.


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## Saltiga5

Name/UserName: Billy Papa (Saltiga5)
Where I fished: Yalata - Far West Coast SA
Rod/Reel I used: Daiwa sensor 13ft / Saltiga Surf 6000
Bait: Whole mullet / live salmon trout

We headed of to Fowlers Bay to catch some bait for our Yalata trip on the 5th until the 7th.
We did not have much luck fishing around Scotts but did manage to hook a 1m Mulloway while fishing off a reef around Fowlers which spat the hooks.
We also hooked and lost a kingy off the ledge and landed a big eagle ray plus had a few bust offs from suspected sharks.

We arrived at Yalata on the 7th with a 120L esky filled with squid.

The first 2 days produced nothing but rays so we decided to head out to the bait hole to catch some fresh bait. I ended up getting a nice Flathead on a live mullet and we picked up plenty of salmon trout and big mullet for bait.
The next day we knew a cold front was approaching which meant the barometer was dropping, we knew this would turn the fish on.
I ended up hooking a nice 131cm 20kg Mulloway using a whole fresh mullet as bait, we also lost a few fish which took over 200m of line and ran around the reefs. The next day the cold front hit. Sitting for 6hours in the pouring rain the rod was almost pulled out of the rod holder, I was using a freshly caught Salmon trout as bait. 15min later after thinking the fish was a shark I landed another 21kg (46 pound) Mulloway at 130cm.

Over the next few days we landed heaps of rays, a few gummys and bronzies.
*
Tackle -*
Rod: Daiwa 20-40lb Sensor Surf 13ft
Reel: Daiwa Saltiga Surf 6000
Line: Saltiga Surf 30lb with 40lb Black Magic Supple Trace shock leader
Trace: Penn 10x 100lb
Hooks: 2 x 8/0 Gamakatsu Octopus
Swivel: 264lb Owner Crane Swivel


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