wttmrwolf Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Caught my first Jewfish on Tuesday night in the hacking. I actually posted in Fishing chat asking if anyone wanted to join me (see - http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=40357) Photo of the beast attached. It was only 75cm 4kg but still lots of fun on 14lbs braid. Good to get a feel how they fight. Textbook run at the start kind of gave it away. I dropped 3 before I hooked this one. The first 3 times I had the beach rod on the ground and drag loose. Got a good 5+ meter run each time but the fish dropped the bait. The wharf was packed with people fishing for yakka so I had no choice but to lie rod down while passing the time fishing for bream. As it got late and the wharf emptied I found a rod holder and tightened drag to fighting tension. Not long after I saw the tip of the rod tapping. Before I got to the rod BANG, ziiiiip. Nearly pulled the rod out of the holder. The fish caught itself. Yakka fillet pinned once through the tip. Couple of big fast runs and then it was tired. Easy job bringing it back to land. Luckily one of the others had a net. I figured the moon was right and over the weekend we had the first strong april westerlies. On the forum some people were chatting about the mullet run starting in april when the westerlies hit. Apparently all the mullet migrate out of the esturies into open ocean. I figured the Jew might be more active if the mullet were moving. Big THANKS to jewgaffer and tide'n'knots, it was the combined theories of these 2 legends that helped me land a Jew. 4th ever Jew session so it pays to listen to those guys. Here are the technical details for all the fisho's who get into this: * 12ft beach rod * 14lbs braid with 20lbs fluro leader * 5/0 octopus hook * yakka fillet * drag set around 2kg (fishing drag) * bait cast over a ledge where bottom dropped from 6m to 12m * runout tide half way between high and low * wind WSW steady for 2 days * barameter had risen from 1014 to 1022 during the afternoon * southerly wind change around the time I hooked fish * and this is the big one - intuition was screaming that Tuesday night felt REALLY fishy Thanks to everyone on this forum for their advise. There was enough info here for me to put together enough pieces of the puzzle to catch that first jew in only 4 session. Happy fishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmak Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Do your homework, persevere and success!! Congrats on your catch! Some people try for months or years before they get one. Look forward to more reports of your captures in time to come ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wttmrwolf Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Do your homework, persevere and success!! Congrats on your catch! Some people try for months or years before they get one. Look forward to more reports of your captures in time to come ... No pressure of course I'll be picking my nights but it won't be long before I'm out there again trying to repeat the exercise. Especially after I realised how nice Jewfish tastes. Feed 7 hungry italians at the inlaws. They were skeptical of my asian receipe but OMG it tasted amazing. http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=43235 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie big bob Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Congrats on your catch This wont be your last jew now you have the taste cheers Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Well done Wttrmrwolf... Terrific report mate..... Some great stats for the session in your report too and it was the best barometer rise you'd ever hope to see as it happened, and it actually settled around 6am of the morning you fished. Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahajo Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 WOW nice port hacking jew!! Good luck next time you go out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Congrats on a nice jew. It's not only that you got one but you also had a few other runs. The conditions sound perfect. It would be a good idea to forget the bream fishing & fish with your jew rod in hand with your outfit in gear. If you were fishing like that you I'm sure you would have bagged out. It's great to see the site has helped you on your mission. Well done. Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) Top advice for mrwolf Grant.. . This is what I use when fishing landbased or on a boat that only has only plastic rodholders so that I can have my rods on tight drag... I haven't adjusted it properly for the pic... It's thickly padded and wide all the way around and it's an excellent back support as well Cheers jewgaffer Edited April 30, 2009 by jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King slayer Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Top advice for mrwolf Grant.. . This is what I use when fishing landbased or on a boat that only has only plastic rodholders so that I can have my rods on tight drag... I haven't adjusted it properly for the pic... It's thickly padded and wide all the way around and it's an excellent back support as well Cheers jewgaffer Interesting belt there Byron, I am just imagining you standing on the shore with hree rods attached to you thrown out in different directions to cover the area nicely I think my mate Brett would say that I should do that cause he thinks I bring too many rods....but hey, I say, Like Bayden Powell, "always be prepared". Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squid hunter Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 great hacko jew regards Squid Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klainz Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Great report wttmrwolf, and really appreciate the extra details! Can never learn enough and sharing info on conditions especially when there is a good catch can only help us all! Never really had a proper go for jew with yakka fillets but knew they were a great bait to try, will definitely give them a go now and the fact you fished in a well fished spot is interesting too. Catching it mid run out tide is also interesting. I get a little fixated with fishing the run in to the high and an hour or two either side but will try fishing other conditions with more hope. The rising barometer is noted too. Agree, intuition also can help! Bring on the optional template of overall conditions for future report postings... Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangus Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 congrats on your jew .were u fishing on the wharf left or right? or on the rock on the right side on the car park? might go ther for fri,sat and sun might see u ther if not going on the boat cheers bangus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Top advice for mrwolf Grant.. . This is what I use when fishing landbased or on a boat that only has only plastic rodholders so that I can have my rods on tight drag... I haven't adjusted it properly for the pic... It's thickly padded and wide all the way around and it's an excellent back support as well Cheers jewgaffer hows your back Byron, you better now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.dawg Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Nice Jewwy Just off wally's wharf right?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Top stuff Mr Wolf, You have done your homework and tapped into the enormous infopit that Fishraider members have created. I'm buying a watch with a barometer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scaffdogg Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 nice jew mate its always good to get that first one in the bag plenty more to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wttmrwolf Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 congrats on your jew .were u fishing on the wharf left or right? or on the rock on the right side on the car park? might go ther for fri,sat and sun might see u ther if not going on the boat cheers bangus I was casting straight out. Check out the pic I got from http://maps.google.com You can see the bottom drops off into deeper water parallel to the wharf. I don't think it matters which way you cast out. My theory is the Jews come in through the deep channel then follow the ledge around past the wharf. I just need to work out which way they are heading. Are they going back into the hole (left of the wharf) as the water level drops or heading back out to sea or going back up past lilli pilly baths? Maybe someone with more experience can hazard a guess. In theory it would be possible to catch them as they go one way then then back the other way hours later. Maybe with a bit of current the bait lifts up off the bottom and its easier to catch Jews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 So when jew fishing, are you supposed to fish the reel in gear with fighting drag set? I always thought it's best to let a jewie run 20m before setting the hook(s). Perhaps different rules apply when fishing live versus dead baits, day versus night or braid versus mono. I would love to hear the opinions of some of our jew gurus.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 (edited) So when jew fishing, are you supposed to fish the reel in gear with fighting drag set? ....I always thought it's best to let a jewie run 20m before setting the hook(s). Perhaps different rules apply when fishing live versus dead baits, day versus night or braid versus mono. Hi Keflapod I pasted this information in for you from one of the posts of mine on this subject which are all centred around my using near looked up drag using two hook rigs which I always use ... It's not as detailed as other posts I've done on the subject, but fits the questions you are asking to a good extent.... I always use two hooks as I said and find that it is more of a case of the tight drag and the jewfish run coming to a sudden stop against the rod when swimming off with the bait..... this results in having more chances of a solid hook up instead of a spit out or having the mouth of the fish roll over the round gape part of the hook if the barb of the lower hook is not facing the tail, particularly if a live bait is rigged up to swim away from the rod which I always do, except when trolling for other species.... I use this method exclusively after having found it's the one that increases the hook up rate..... You yourself, will find that jewfish are not a shy fish by any means and will try to drag a heavily weighted take along and will always come back for the bait they had a go at, provided that your bait feels by the weight that it's still on the hook and provided that you leave it there, i.e.... should you miss the hook up for some other reason or other or by using some other method... It's not only about finding jewfish but also being able to hook them up and most importantly being able to maintain a good hook up rate when you do get a take...... Below is an excerpt taken from the other post of mine which I have pasted in:- .....I use near locked up drag on small to medium size live baits once the fish has settled and the same drag on dead baits on jewfish and most other species ..... As to using large livies on jewfish - When I cast out a big livie, I use that rod as hands on but only until the livie tires and stops taking line freely and then that rod goes back into the rod holder and so on..... In that case, it's best to have the drag just tight enough to allow the livie to struggle to make leeway for the reason that a struggling fish panics and attracts attention of predators in the vicinity..... However the drag should be loose enough so that a predator can run off with the bait freely without being loose enough to cause backlash in the line as the fish runs off...... Having said that, a jewfish crushes a live fish underneath the gut area, breaks the back bone, runs off with it, pauses and turns the fish around for the head take.....This is a critical moment in fishing for jewfish with large live baits.... if you dont do it right and get too eager and strike on the first run, the hooks being on the top of the fish are likely to be missed.... if you muck around with your rod or wind in to check your bait after the pause, again you are likely to miss the hook up......A jewfish fish might take off slowly not sensing anything wrong at that point, and as the line takes up again, the fish will feel restricted and will run off for freedom (but still pulling on and taking the bait with it).... that's the point where you stop the reel with your hand and the sudden stop sets the hooks..... on hook up, turn the drag a couple of turns tighter each time the jewfish fights against the rod as you haven't preset the drag and that's where using bait runners comes in handy..... Edit - By the way, as to night and day drag settings, there are no differences I can see there, ....As to live bait v dead bait, I have covered both live baits and dead baits.....I use 80lb braid on live and dead baits where braid is appropriate and 40 lb mono on Alveys otherwise and I don't use mono main line on big spinning reels but I would have long mono wind ons up the front around rocks etc if have to use a spinning reel....... As to braid v mono, a jewfish will take up the slack but I make sure of that slowly but surely before I lift a bending rod and play the fish.. Hope this helps Cheers jewgaffer Edited May 1, 2009 by jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocofallon Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Top advice for mrwolf Grant.. . This is what I use when fishing landbased or on a boat that only has only plastic rodholders so that I can have my rods on tight drag... I haven't adjusted it properly for the pic... It's thickly padded and wide all the way around and it's an excellent back support as well Cheers jewgaffer Gday Byron that belt is awesome. Lets just hope you havn't set your drag to tight and three passing hoodlem 30 kilo kings don't take each bait simultaneously or you could be learning how to barefoot water ski. Great stuff have you ever had multiple hookups whilst wearing the waist rocket launcher? cheers, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now