Mondo Rock Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Hi Raiders Well I thought I'd update you all on my latest attempt to snare a beach jew in Sydney. Planned for a beach session on Sunday evening - new moon and high tide at 9pm gave me confidence that I was in with a good shot. After hitting Broken Bay and the inshore reefs in the new boat on Saturday morning, and catching nothing at all, I dropped by my trusty squidding spot on the way back to Sydney to see if I could rustle up some squid land based. The squid were tough in the southerly, but after an hour of flicking from the shore with the smallest jig I owned I had three in the bucket, and that was enough jew bait for one night. On Sunday afternoon I eschewed my regular beach and headed to Cronulla to see whether I'd have any more luck at a new location, fresh squid in hand. Started off by catching a few beach worms (there seems to be a really good population on Cronulla beach) and flicking for whiting as I waited for the light to fade and the tide to fill in. As has been standard this year I didn't even get a touch on the live worms and so quickly gave up on the whiting. The fishing was quiet from 6 till 8, only a couple of small hits from what were probably tailor, but then once dark fell properly I started getting some results. First up was a huge flatty on a squid head and worm combo (I was getting bored and therefore creative with my baits) - would have easily gone 80cm but was gut hooked on 30lb line so barely fought at all. I thought about the various recent studies on survival rates, quickly snipped the line as close to the hook as possible, and then released the old girl back into the suds. Dunno whether she survived - she DID have a 6/0 stuck well down in her throat - but I reckon the absolute worst thing you can do with a gut hooked fish that you want to throw back is try to remove the hook. Anyway, I chucked a fresh strip in and within a couple of minutes there was a rat-a-tat series of bites, some strong pressure, and then the baitrunner started peeling line. This is it, thinks me, FINALLY a run that could be a jewie (I've never actually caught one so I don't know what they feel like). I let it run for maybe 5 seconds and when it had good speed going I struck. Solid weight, strong runs, MAYBE some head-shakes (refer to previous confusion due to never having caught a jew). Got him half way back to the beach before he surged towards me with a wave, got about a microsecond of relaxed tension as I picked up the slack, and was gone. Anyway my blood was pumping now! Another squid stip was sent out and within five minutes the same process repeated. Good strikes and then line peeling off - really running hard - this time I waited longer and then struck. Bigger fish, a couple of blistering runs, but exactly the same result. Surged at me in a wave and I lost him. Hooks musn't have been penetrating or something (which is weird since throughout the first ten seconds of the fight I kept striking to try to make sure the hook was in). Down to my last piece of bait I flicked out again. 10 minutes later I had a BIG hit and then nothing - wound in to find no bait, no hook and sliced 60lb trace. Figure I was sharked on that last one. So no jewie for me once again, but at least I got a couple of runs that really could have been jewfish. No, really. I'll be trying again soon, that's for sure. (Sorry no pics cause my camera is now full of sand and doesn't work. Apparently sand has that effect on digital equipment) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveD Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 In my opinion mate, your time wasn't wasted. Like you said, a few really big bites, only problem was it didn't make it to the land for ya to get a look at what it really was. I'm sure it will come soon, lets hope its a real nice one too (make that more than one ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingsRule Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 sounds like a nice flatty Shame about loosing the 3 bigger things though , better luck next time aye! (hows the abu?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricks Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 bad luck on the fish mate, but keep trying i have alot of respect for the beach jew fisho it takes time and patience. tho im sure it will be well worth it when your carrying that fish on your shoulders back up the beach. good luck mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharky Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Dam Simon you are getting close. I should have come down but I was wrecked after work. I will be there next time for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Persistance is a virture few have. Sounds like you have it in spades Mondo. I hope your score big real soon mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dicko1 Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 keep at it mate, you'l get there! at least your learning something new every time and beach Jew have a long learning curve! Maybe you should give your hooks a quick sharpen before you use them just so you can be super confident that they will not fail to hook up... Sounds like your getting close though, shouldnt be much longer!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirost Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Bad luck on the missed fish Mondo, but I'm sure it will come. Have also fished Cronulla/Wanda over the summer and am yet to land a jew. Have mostly pulled in rays and a mate hooked an express train that we took for a jew that headed off into the horizon before busting off. Saw a group of guys pull in a school size fish on a pilchard head recently so I know they are there. Cheers mr mojo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen801 Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 keep at it Mondo you will get there for a jewie. We fished the northern beaches on sunday night for similar results. It was perfect conditions. We had a fantastic gutter no wind and high tide at 9pm. We started catching tailor and salmon and then i had an absolutely massive hit and run. I caught an 8kg jewie in this spot last october and this fish was much bigger. I was a little worried it would spool me on my 10kg outfit with about 20kg leader. All of a sudden this fish stops and i think WTF. i start madly winding in to find this fish is coming straight back into the beach. Dam as i am now thinking shark. A month or two back we landed a 5 foot bronzie and this thing was certainly bigger. Anyway when i caught up to his run back to the beach and he realized he went for another run east and i lost him. The leader line was frayed in a couple of spots but wasnt clean cut. Whatever it was i will never know. But i do know my gear handled it well and it was a buzzzzzzz. It took a chunky pillie cube. We also had out mullet and fresh butterflied tailer. Humesy also got onto a big bite but got bitten off pretty quick. The jewies were out there we could feel it. Keep at it mondo. Mate you should meet up with us on the northside when me and humesy go for the next jewie hunt. Cheers mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankp Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 (edited) keep at it mate, you'l get there! at least your learning something new every time and beach Jew have a long learning curve! Maybe you should give your hooks a quick sharpen before you use them just so you can be super confident that they will not fail to hook up... Sounds like your getting close though, shouldnt be much longer!! shame about the losses mondo, you had my adrenalin rushing while i was reading your report. just a suggestion, i have never really fished the beaches properly but are there certain hooks that work better than others. im curious to know now to. Edited March 20, 2007 by frankp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humesy Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 keep at it Mondo you will get there for a jewie. We fished the northern beaches on sunday night for similar results. It was perfect conditions. We had a fantastic gutter no wind and high tide at 9pm. We started catching tailor and salmon and then i had an absolutely massive hit and run. I caught an 8kg jewie in this spot last october and this fish was much bigger. I was a little worried it would spool me on my 10kg outfit with about 20kg leader. All of a sudden this fish stops and i think WTF. i start madly winding in to find this fish is coming straight back into the beach. Dam as i am now thinking shark. A month or two back we landed a 5 foot bronzie and this thing was certainly bigger. Anyway when i caught up to his run back to the beach and he realized he went for another run east and i lost him. The leader line was frayed in a couple of spots but wasnt clean cut. Whatever it was i will never know. But i do know my gear handled it well and it was a buzzzzzzz. It took a chunky pillie cube. We also had out mullet and fresh butterflied tailer. Humesy also got onto a big bite but got bitten off pretty quick. The jewies were out there we could feel it. Keep at it mondo. Mate you should meet up with us on the northside when me and humesy go for the next jewie hunt. Cheers mate. Get back to work Zenman and stop telling old tales! Keep at it Mondo, it helps to be obsessive with this sort of thing. Only a matter of time when you are. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flattieman Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 (edited) Mate, now that you're getting runs, you'll land one soon. No doubt. Cronulla, eh? I'm concentrating my efforts on the Central Coast... The local beach may be worth a shot after all! Well done on the flattie too - very honourable release ethics. I wouldn't be surprised if it survived (I've hooked a 40cm flattie on an 8/0 jewie hook - fought to the breakers!) Flattieman. Edited March 20, 2007 by Flattieman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Hang in there Mondo and your bound to strike it rich in Jewfish cuttlets. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Rock Posted March 20, 2007 Author Share Posted March 20, 2007 Thanks fellas - your words of encouragement are very much appreciated! FrankP: I've just got back from the shops where I bought a bunch of Owner live bait hooks - I also wondered whether better hooks might make the difference! Zenman: it's a deal. I'll PM you next time I'm heading out for a beach sess and you should do the same! Mr Mojo: It really craps me to hear of people catching jews on pilchard heads after the amount of bloody effort I've put into identifying productive sources of squid/tailor/yakkas/mullet/beachworms!!! Still - if it can be done by them then I must be in with a shot!! Ryan: I've no doubt that the central coast beaches would do better than the nulla, but given the number of jewie producing estuaries emptying into the sea around Sydney you'd HAVE to think our beaches would produce every now and then. And Sharky - you slacker!! You have a standing invitation my man, so next time we'll have to not only get there but land one of the muthas. You'll be interested to know I was fishing the exact spot we tried last time, although there was more surf on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lets go fishn Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Hi Raiders Well I thought I'd update you all on my latest attempt to snare a beach jew in Sydney. Planned for a beach session on Sunday evening - new moon and high tide at 9pm gave me confidence that I was in with a good shot. After hitting Broken Bay and the inshore reefs in the new boat on Saturday morning, and catching nothing at all, I dropped by my trusty squidding spot on the way back to Sydney to see if I could rustle up some squid land based. The squid were tough in the southerly, but after an hour of flicking from the shore with the smallest jig I owned I had three in the bucket, and that was enough jew bait for one night. On Sunday afternoon I eschewed my regular beach and headed to Cronulla to see whether I'd have any more luck at a new location, fresh squid in hand. Started off by catching a few beach worms (there seems to be a really good population on Cronulla beach) and flicking for whiting as I waited for the light to fade and the tide to fill in. As has been standard this year I didn't even get a touch on the live worms and so quickly gave up on the whiting. The fishing was quiet from 6 till 8, only a couple of small hits from what were probably tailor, but then once dark fell properly I started getting some results. First up was a huge flatty on a squid head and worm combo (I was getting bored and therefore creative with my baits) - would have easily gone 80cm but was gut hooked on 30lb line so barely fought at all. I thought about the various recent studies on survival rates, quickly snipped the line as close to the hook as possible, and then released the old girl back into the suds. Dunno whether she survived - she DID have a 6/0 stuck well down in her throat - but I reckon the absolute worst thing you can do with a gut hooked fish that you want to throw back is try to remove the hook. Anyway, I chucked a fresh strip in and within a couple of minutes there was a rat-a-tat series of bites, some strong pressure, and then the baitrunner started peeling line. This is it, thinks me, FINALLY a run that could be a jewie (I've never actually caught one so I don't know what they feel like). I let it run for maybe 5 seconds and when it had good speed going I struck. Solid weight, strong runs, MAYBE some head-shakes (refer to previous confusion due to never having caught a jew). Got him half way back to the beach before he surged towards me with a wave, got about a microsecond of relaxed tension as I picked up the slack, and was gone. Anyway my blood was pumping now! Another squid stip was sent out and within five minutes the same process repeated. Good strikes and then line peeling off - really running hard - this time I waited longer and then struck. Bigger fish, a couple of blistering runs, but exactly the same result. Surged at me in a wave and I lost him. Hooks musn't have been penetrating or something (which is weird since throughout the first ten seconds of the fight I kept striking to try to make sure the hook was in). Down to my last piece of bait I flicked out again. 10 minutes later I had a BIG hit and then nothing - wound in to find no bait, no hook and sliced 60lb trace. Figure I was sharked on that last one. So no jewie for me once again, but at least I got a couple of runs that really could have been jewfish. No, really. I'll be trying again soon, that's for sure. (Sorry no pics cause my camera is now full of sand and doesn't work. Apparently sand has that effect on digital equipment) You will get one when you least expect it, trust me on that one from experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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