donjuarez Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Hi All, Reading many a report, it's not uncommon to hear mention of the old "dreaded" leatherjackets. I find them to be great eating! Taste and Flesh both awesome! Though I've only ever caught them as by catch when fishing for something else, when i can be bothered downsizing my hooks, I start targetting them if they're talking all the bait anyway! i know they're absolutely everywhere, is that why not many people like catching/dread them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 They chop lines, demolish baits intended for other species and get you very angry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 They chop lines, demolish baits intended for other species and get you very angry But they taste good?!?! not the hardest fighters, but they do give a bit (when a decent size) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti-Carp Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Unless you're rich don't fish plastics around em. They are of the same ilk as toadies and choppers for soft plastic wreckers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Unless you're rich don't fish plastics around em. They are of the same ilk as toadies and choppers for soft plastic wreckers Agree! learnt that lesson already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 They come in plagues at first, generally very small so no good to eat. found commonly on the bottom, mid water and every now and again on the surface pretending to be a pelagic... basically they can be anywhere. Ive had them snip lines cubing for tuna, cubing for reds, chumming for sharks, bouncing the bottom for flatties & other reef species, down rigging for kings, live baiting for anything and even when jigging and trolling lures... the only form of fishing i can recall where i havent been snipped by an LJ is flyfishing and blue eye cod at browns (thank god because that would cost me a shitload in braid and terminals). They eat all baits live or dead - they will strip a live yakka down to its skeleton in a matter of seconds. They also eat soft plastics, burley, monofilament, braid, hooks, sinkers, floats, carpet, fingers, basically anything!!! and they will do it all without you knowing it no matter how thin your braid is!!! They resemble a sack of shit both in appearance and fighting qualities; They start to become commonly found just offshore around about this time of year The only thing they have got going for them is that yes... they do taste great. Based on the above i think it is fair to call the common leather jacket a sneaky, tackle theiving, time wasting, bait stealing sack of tasty shit CFD Well put, but as stated they do taste great, haven't seen many in Botany Bay but they may come in later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frantic Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Ive only been fishing broken bay area the last couple of years, so i'm only new to the area and found them in plague proportions out about 2 mile from the lighthouse . When i first found them i wasnt equipped so a lot of lost tackle for a couple of visits but i like the flavour and the only fish that comes close to sweetness is the whiting (i think its the bone/flesh ratio).anyway when there about i love it using a double patornoster of light wire 2 long shank hooks,pieces of ocean squid for bait which one will cost you about $5 which is heaps of bait and light rod and 6lb line and if you get 2 at a time its good fun.When nothing else is about hail the leatherjacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Agree with that. They interrupt every type of fishing , trying to catch yakka's, the yakka's outnumbered jackets in a ratio of about 30:1 but still we caught twice as many jackets as yakkas and we got 15+ yakkas. Thats one fish we shouldn't be concerned about how much of it is netted, and seeing as they taste good the work is done for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 and, their guts smell like rotten egg! Hate Jackets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hulafish Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 G'day guys , Next time the jackets are around and nothing else seems to be biting or dosent get a chance to , get a couple of old burley fish or fish frames ( salmon and bonito are great ) tail rope em and throw em over the side of your boat and when the jackets come up scoop em with your landing net . Works a treat . Cheers ' hulafish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 You don't even need the frames or burley a lot of the time, we've got heaps that we've just seen around wharves that we've scooped up for the sake of it. They would be a good fish to spear, get a fair bit of satisfaction out of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh88 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 (edited) We did that the the other day when trying to get yakkas, throwing prawn heads, guts etc... away from us. It does help Edited March 26, 2008 by Josh88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregL Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 if they are about in numbers fish for them on a Ecogear VX35 vib. They work a treat! Haven't lost a lure to them yet. We got a great feed while breaming one day in Cowan. I think Pat got 9 in a 20 min run. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 if they are about in numbers fish for them on a Ecogear VX35 vib. They work a treat! Haven't lost a lure to them yet. We got a great feed while breaming one day in Cowan. I think Pat got 9 in a 20 min run. Greg Might give that a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caine Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 plastic ment for a king fish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted April 6, 2008 Author Share Posted April 6, 2008 they have no hestitation in taking any bait intended for any other fish really... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtime Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 They also eat soft plastics, burley, monofilament, braid, hooks, sinkers, floats, carpet, fingers, basically anything!!! You forgot jellyfish! Back in the good old days when you could fish any method, we used to drop a fish trap off the end of our wharf in the Georges River with nothing but 2 or 3 orange jellyfish inside. Low and behold, the next day the trap would be full of leatherjacket and mangled jellyfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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