~alan~ Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) The recent change to the minimum legal length of Jewfish in NSW from 45cm to 70cm has motivated me to share my experience with catching and releasing a larger jewfish earlier last year. With this increased size limit it means a lot more Jewfish will be released. Well the story goes I was heading away for a 2 week holiday to the South Coast. One of the days a high tide coincided with a low-light period (about 7:30am) so I decided to get up a bit earlier and fish a Jackall Transam 90 through the slack tide. I was using a 3000 series Stradic reel loaded with 15lb braid and 20lb leader when the strike came. I small tap through the line had me load up the rod of what didn’t feel like a significant fish. As I put more pressure on the fish I would get a series of surging short runs, but no headshakes so I was assuming I was connected to a monster flathead. I took my time with the fish (around 15-20 minutes) when I began to see colour and it was indeed a Jew (93cm). The fish was spent after the fight, I supported it’s belly and took some photos quickly wanting to get it back into the water. For the following 5-10 minutes I swum the fish next to the boat feeling no life from it. Believing I could not revive it I began regretting having such a long-drawn out fight. I thought I would give it one last effort and rigorously ‘thrashed’ the fish back and forth in the water trying to shock it back to life with oxygen across its gills. All of a sudden there was a big kick, I released the grips and it swam off like a bullet to the depths! Surprised and relieved at the same time I almost felt like crying tears of joy (but didn’t because that would be very un-manly). So my main encouragement is to keep trying to revive a Jewfish destined for release as they can come back from the dead. I hope this post has been informative and ultimately helps us release Jewfish in a more healthy state that aren’t destined for the table. Thanks Al Edited February 18, 2014 by Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfisherman Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Thanks for sharing that with us, it takes a bigger man to release a fish like that, than to keep it. Good on you. Harry If it's to good to be true, it usually is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbdshroom Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Well done. It's funny how the headshakes are not so pronounced at that size. I always swim the jew until it kicks away, even if it takes me 15 mins. Have had them all kick away eventually even when they have seemingly given up the ghost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elferoz777 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Thanks for sharing. Where on the south coast did you go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~alan~ Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Thanks for sharing that with us, it takes a bigger man to release a fish like that, than to keep it. Good on you. Harry If it's to good to be true, it usually is... I have caught all my largest fish approx. 5 hours north and south of Sydney when I go on holidays and I can definitely see the impact fishing can have on some species. I have probably caught 1000+ flathead out the Hawkesbury and it's tributaries with the biggest going 69cm. To put it in perspective, I have probably caught 50-100 flathead on holidays with 3 bigger specimens 70.5cm, 73.5cm (Narooma) and 82cm (South West Rocks) being caught. I do like to keep the occassional flathead but aim for the 40-55cm size range. Well done. It's funny how the headshakes are not so pronounced at that size. I always swim the jew until it kicks away, even if it takes me 15 mins. Have had them all kick away eventually even when they have seemingly given up the ghost. One thing I would worry about is reviving a jew for long periods at night in bull shark infested waters. Using grips can help alleviate some of the danger. Thanks for sharing. Where on the south coast did you go? Hey mate. The area I was fishing is Narooma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paikea Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 A great post and a great result, thank you for sharing what was obviously a happy experience for you. Cheers Paikea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish53 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Ah, Wagonga inlet has some great action. I've only caught one Jew and that was in Wagonga while bream fishing. Caught on a nipper and 6lb line on a fly rod I was using. Released ok but as you say took a while after the extended fight. We'll done and thanks for sharing. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boattart Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I would have hoped the mods would have corrected the spelling in the title.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I would have hoped the mods would have corrected the spelling in the title.... Done Congrats on a thoroughly enjoyable report Al. I can relate to your experience and reckon you've done a great job putting it into words. That underwater shot is a gem! Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~alan~ Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Cheers guys. Glad you enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinsoi Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Magnificent fish Al Lovely story and photos and wonderful release. Good on you and thanks so much for sharing with us. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean01 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks for sharing Al, as I don't get to get out much, reading stories like that make me jealous but I love reading them. Cheers mate, Dean. A bad days fishing's better than a good day at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Sometimes the jews take a while to recover, A couple of times on light line, they have floated up to the surface, dead. Not much can be done then. Most I have released have swum away, but the odd one has popped up to the surface a short time after swimming off from the boat. Jews are a species that do not release too well after capture, it's just the way they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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