Lousy Leatherjackets

[quintrex]

I have bottom bashed over many years from off The Entrance to south of Cronulla but have never been bothered by leatherjackets until july 2004. Since then I have given up trying to catch flathead in 50m water because of the loss of rigs. Is there anywhere within 2 nautical miles of the Sydney shoreline which is relatively free of these pests? Do you think that we will always have them in plague proportions? Why the sudden increase in leatherjacket numbers?

[TheDiko]

I don't think there is anywhere at all where you can not get bothered by leatheries, whether its around Bate Bay, the 30m mark through to the 80m mark, the Peak or 12 Mile those bastards will be there.

Whatever you do when you catch them, please do not let them go back into the water

IFS

[stylo]

What is wrong with the leatherjackets ?

Don't taste too good ? Pests ?

[TheDiko]

They are nice on the plate that's for sure.

But they are a huge pest when fishing for bigger and better table fish like Snapper, Morwong or Nannygai.

IFS

[Flightmanager]

Leatherjackets when they are on the chew will bite anything that has the scent of bait on it. So if you have touched your line with bait smelling fingers , old mate leatherjacket will bite straight through it , and everything below that point will go to the bottom , never to be seen again!! Gets very expensive tackle wise !!

Ross

[stylo]

Leatherjackets when they are on the chew will bite anything that has the scent of bait on it. So if you have touched your line with bait smelling fingers , old mate leatherjacket will bite straight through it , and everything below that point will go to the bottom , never to be seen again!! Gets very expensive tackle wise !!

Ross

Nice one .. thats for that bit of info !

[SUBLiME]

what.. so u mean they chop right through the line??

what if you're using braid?

[bolan]

what.. so u mean they chop right through the line??

what if you're using braid?

Buddy, If I could swap my Shimano braid sissors for their teeth, I'd do it in a flash.

They were chomping through 60lb braid, or 80lb mono last week without me feeling a trick !

[Laredo]

Yup, they were biting through the assist hooks lanyards on my jigs no worries at all

[Flightmanager]

Barbed wire seems to slow 'em down a bit , but its murder on your guides and fingers!!

Ross

[livo]

The only thing I know of thats got better choppers than Jackets is big Green Toads. I've seen them chop long shank hooks in half. You bring your rig in with the shank of the hook still tied on. Don't put your finger anywhere near them if you get one to the boat. Teeth like a guillotine. These guys sometimes frequent the mouth of the Hawkesbury as I'm sure others can attest.

I'm actually quite adept at catching Leatheries on a hand line, as my father trained me to do it as a kid, and I've since trained others in the art, but put the same rig on even the most sensitive of rods and your gear is gone 9 times out of ten.

[Laredo]

The only thing I know of thats got better choppers than Jackets is big Green Toads.

Yeah, I remember seeing a photo on here of someone's squid jig damn near bitten in half by one of them