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Mangrove Jack Time!!!

SouthEast Fishing

By SouthEast Fishing
in Saltwater

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SouthEast Fishing Newbie

SouthEast Fishing

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6/9/11

Jack is Back

G'day all, well its that time of year again and with the start of spring there is one thing on a lot of sports fishos minds and that is the mighty mangrove jack. In my opinion mangrove jack are the holy grail of estuary fishing in SEQ. As this is my first article just a quick bit to introduce myself. I adopted the nickname Barra Bob in my late teens fishing the Gulf of Carpentaria and working in the mines. As a kid I grew up on Bribie Island just north of Brisbane. Armed with a rod, tackle bag and push bike the Island was my backyard and the world was my oyster. These days I live at Beachmere and fish the Caboolture River and Pumicestone Passage as much as I can, only now I have a boat and a few more rods. Hopefully I will be able to keep you all up to date with whats biting in my local area.

I was fishing in the Caboolture River last week, casting 4 inch Gulp soft plastics, it was a warm spring afternoon with an arvo storm brewing. It was a run out tide and I approached a submerged snag pile silently with the electric motor. I punched a cast up into the current and worked the plastic high in the water column to avoid snagging first cast, then CRUNCH! With an explosive first run and about 30 seconds of mayhem I had the jack laying at the side of the boat. At 44cm not a huge jack but still a jack, my first legal for the season and a good sign of things to come as when the water starts warming up the jack become more active.

Knowing your local waterway gives you a home ground advantage and is one of the most productive fishing techniques you can have in your arsenal. (Meaning you can put the time in and study and record your captures). Before to long you can see patterns forming and take advantage of prime bite periods such as low light or tide changes.

I have found that jack are particularly active around the first quarter of the moon phase and if you can get a tide change at dusk or dawn then you are giving yourself a real chance. For locating magrove jacks pay particular attention to bridges, submerged structures such as snag piles and rock bars in rivers creeks and canals. Give pipes and weirs a red hot go in man made tidal lakes, lagoons, and backwaters around the top of the tide.

Its up to the angler whether you chose to use a baitcaster or threadline at the end of the day it comes down to what you are most comfortable with and accurate at casting. I use a 2-4kg 701 spin rod with 2500 Sienna loaded with 3-10lb braids and use 10 lb fluro carbon leaders. Yes its light and yes you do occasionally get smoked but with a tight drag, some handy rod work and a little luck you can still land some very respectable fish. Sometimes you just have to fish light to get the bite in Metro waters. My go to lures are the River to Sea Bubble Pop in the 45mm & 65mm range, Halco Laser Pro 1m diver, 4 inch Gulp Minnows/Powerbaits and 65mm Squidgies Fish rigged on lightly weighted Atomic Seeker jig heads. I use Atomic because they have the best keepers going and sport super strong and sharp hooks. Also when using hardbody lures make sure to upgrade trebles and make sure your knots are up to the job. Here are a few examples of leader knots Albright, Slim beauty, Albright Special. At dawn I will start with a popper then work deeper as the sun rises and the opposite at dusk. If I am confident in a snag I will give it 20 to 30 casts before moving on. In saying this not all mangrove jack are found directly on snags, often they will venture away from there homes for a feed at prime time.

It is always a good idea to have a back up plan, being spring the flathead will be moving to the mouths of our estuaries and creeks to spawn and can sometimes save the day after a long session jack fishing. Sometimes you've just gotta put a bend in it so good luck, see ya on the water,

Cheers

Barra Bob. SEQFA

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SouthEast Fishing Newbie

SouthEast Fishing

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Hey mate in the gulps we have been doin really well on the smelt and pearl watermelon. just take the time to rig them straight you will know when you have a good one when you swim the plastic in the water and it doesn't loop or twist and just swims straight with a really natural tail movement. Also 4inch powerbaits in bullnose brown are dynmite!

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SouthEast Fishing Newbie

SouthEast Fishing

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hey mate, retrieve depends on what structure im fishing at the time. so far this season i have been working a few submerged snag piles which are in about 2meters of water I normally postion the boat first then cast to the snag and work the top of the water coloum for a few casts which is a quick retrieve not letting the plastic go near the bottom . If this fails I try a slower retrieve and hop the plastic slowly along and over the snags. Luckily most of the hits so far have been while working the top of the water coloum which saves money on plastics and jigheads. both methods i cast up into the current and work the plastic back with it over the structure. hope this helps

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freedomhawk12 Newbie

freedomhawk12

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Awesome read barra bob. I hope too add one of these to my caught list this year before I head home. The 2 main chasers now are Saratoga and a nice mangrove jack. Was pretty happy to tick off a yella last week. Caboolture and pine rivers are both close to me so will be out there somewhere nearly every weekend giving it a red hot go.

Thanks for the report!

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