Jack advice

[dirvin21]

I've been casting under a bridge on the way to work, the baitfish have been schooled up under the lights, the bream and flathead have been smashing the bait on the surface (watched a approx. 70cm flattie actively chase a mullet around the surface was quite a spectacle)

I had several small to medium mangrove jacks come in and go for the lure (a bream sized 40mm tango shad) they savagely chased to the edge where I paused and then they sat there all but kissing the rear treble before swimming away, is this common behavior I have never targeted jacks on lures, with bream I pause until they pick up the lure but with jacks should I keep it moving?

frustrating stuff but that's what makes it fun

Dave

[Crossfire63]

Dave

Just keep it moving slowly. One thing though Id chuck the treble and just run single hooks.

You'll get more hookup and its better for the fish if your releasing them

[Jewhunter]

Well the good thing is that they're interested in your lure.

Here's a few of tips that should work. Try a double split ring from the lure to your rear treble.

This makes the hooks hang a bit further back & if they kiss it then they

should have a mouthful of treble trouble.

Try stick on lead strips so your lure suspends. Sometimes the up & down movement

of a floating lure puts a finicky fish off at the last minute. If it suspends & hangs in their face

at one level they tend to bite.

Try some scent. Scent often turns a kiss of a lure into another bite once they have the taste.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Grant.

[dirvin21]

thanks guys

went back again tonight and actually tempted about a 20cm into having a go hooks didn't stick but I'm getting closer I'm gonna give the scent a go I do believe that may make the difference

I worked out the fish are really flighty (even worse than bream) and so I'm all but hiding while casting

victory will be sweet when I land one of the suckers

cheers

Dave

[Adsy91]

thanks guys

went back again tonight and actually tempted about a 20cm into having a go hooks didn't stick but I'm getting closer I'm gonna give the scent a go I do believe that may make the difference

I worked out the fish are really flighty (even worse than bream) and so I'm all but hiding while casting

victory will be sweet when I land one of the suckers

cheers

Dave

Have you tried the Z-man swimmerz?

I was up there over summer and didnt manage to net one but lost three over 50cm on barra gear with 20lb braid and 40lb leader.

The most luck I had was with the 4 inch red or white swimmerz with a bit of pro-cure in the slit of the plastic.

They definitely like a suspending lure over a floating or sinking too...the more horizontal the lure stays when suspending the better too.

I would probably use a pretty consistant speed, not quite pelagic spinning speed but definitely not a slow roll or anything like that. If they aren't touching get real jerky with the hardbodies.

-Mick Horn - "the jack guru" has some nice vids on youtube around the canals and Broadwater.

Good luck!! There are some monsters on the Goldy!

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[dirvin21]

after many many attempts with the closest being a busted treble from a enormous red flash (which almost buried me around a pylon), tonight I had some casts and was about to leave then I thought I'd try a steady roll retrieve rather than the twitch retrieve which I generally do, and unbelievably out of 20cm of water my lure gets smashed right near my feet after a solid run I managed to extract a 34cm Jack from amongst the rocks quite a task on 8lb leader, I will post some pictures up later this fish has taken a lot of time and effort but definitely worth every minute spent

[Mike89]

Well done. My dad has some great stories of chasing jacks up in QLD when he was a kid, although he was never sophisticated enough to be using lures! I'd love to have a crack at this species, they have a pretty strong reputation as tough and dirty fighters!

Look forward to your pic.

[Adsy91]

Good work mate! Now you can start putting a pattern together and show us lots of big toothy reds! ☺

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