Reuben Ong

Thanks for the replies guys. Hi Shifty1, there's a good chance I met you at the parra river, but there were a few people that day. But I remember meeting someone that lived locally. Send me a PM and I'll let you know next time I'm down there. Also, I was fishing landbased for all those that inquired.

Well, about 2-3 months ago, I started my quest to catch my first jewfish after reading the many posts on jewie catches in the Sydney region. I read all the material on this forum and others on the internet, and went out night after night in search of that elusive jewie. After nearly 2 months of unsuccessful outings, morale was starting to fade until on one of these nights I met fellow Raider, Squidboy. After learning that I was after my first jewie, Squidboy was more than helpful in providing a lot of advice on how he fishes for jewies. And seeing as though he’d caught quite a lot, it wasn’t a bad idea to pay attention. Squidboy and I arranged to go for a fish on the Parramatta river a week or so later. Got to the spot and managed to get a couple of decent runs. No hook ups but I learnt a lot of lessons on how to hook up a jewie though. Nothing on this outing, but we arranged to go for a second outing at a different spot on the river. At the second spot, again got a couple of decent runs but still no hook-ups. Next time out, applying the rules that Squidboy taught me, my window of opportunity would start at 2am in the morning…an early start to the day, but I was wanted my first jewie. Bait in the water about 2.15am and then waited for the tide to turn. At 2.30, I hear a little buzz from the baitrunner, only short, but enough to get my interest. Then, 10 seconds later, a longer run. It took all my self-control not to strike on that run as Squidboy had told me that you won’t hook up on the first run most of the time. Then after another couple of seconds, a strong run. I set the baitrunner into gear and waited for the rod to load up…then, success! I was on. It went for an initial run, but then came in pretty easy after that. It went 58cm but not sure how heavy it was. After getting my first one, I’ve been out half a dozen times and always applying the tips that Squidboy taught me and I’ve bagged another 3 jewies – one at 67cm and two more at mid 40cm, both of these returned to grow bigger. Pics are of the 67cm model from my phone so quality not so good. I have to thank Squidboy for all the advice and showing me the ropes – hopefully we can go for another fish shortly. It makes sense but best advice was to invest the time into getting fresh bait. I caught all 4 on freshly caught harbour squid.