Jack Attack

[FishingCrazy]

Morning all,

The jack addiction has well and truly kicked in again now the weathers getting warmer.

Managed to get out for an afternoon flick using soft plastics and hard body lures. Picked up a few flathead bycatch but not much action for most the afternoon.

I had pretty much given up any hope of a jack and was about to pack it in and thought I'd throw a couple of casts under the bridge next to where my car was parked and hook up to a nice 43cm jack.

I was lucky it ran away from the closest bridge pylon heading towards the pylon on the other side which gave me a couple of seconds to turn its head.

Hooking up close to the pylons usually end for me in a split second, you feel the hit and by the time I've lifted the rod back its all over with a snapped leader wrapped around the oysters on the pylon. 

And if you can't turn them quick with a tight drag, they usually drag me and the kayak into the bridge pylon within a few seconds.

You can see in the vid, in only the few seconds till I got it's head up it had almost dragged my kayak into the bridge.

They are such a strong aggressive fish.

Sorry for the over excitement in the vid when I get it in the net, just couldn't believe I hooked one when I'd thought the day was over.  

 

[ellicat]

It only takes one good fish to make a day on the water worth it. Would like to have seen the dropped flattie.

[ellicat]

It's' a very pale jack compared to one's I am familiar with, which are much more red. Is that the normal colouration from your local ?

[Andrew_P]

Awesome fish! Thanks for the vid

[FishingCrazy]

3 hours ago, ellicat said:

It's' a very pale jack compared to one's I am familiar with, which are much more red. Is that the normal colouration from your local ?

No, it's the most silver looking one I have caught. Was red on the tail and dorsal fins but very light coloured.

I have seen pictures of similar so it's not uncommon but would be interest to know the reason. 

Maybe it's just come from the clear ocean waters from around the headlands and they get darker the longer they are in discoloured creeks???? Albino lol?? Male or female????  

I don't know but maybe someone on here might know the answer. 

 

edit.. I just found this info on the web.

"Observing these fish on a daily basis, Tom gave me the heads up on some of the unique characteristics of Mangrove Jack. Some of his observations worth noting are:

Their ability to instantly change colour from silver to red when they are cranky, stressed or feeding.

They are very intelligent, an example of this was when he had quite a large fish that was asserting its dominance over a few smaller fish. The smaller fish took a real dislike to this and ganged up on the larger fish and killed it in a pack mentality style."

Edited November 23, 2022 by FishingCrazy
extra info

[Andrew_P]

Fish have the ability to change colour depending on their environment. That jack looks bridge pylon cement grey to me! Love how you got a second chance

[FishingCrazy]

52 minutes ago, Andrew_P said:

Fish have the ability to change colour depending on their environment. That jack looks bridge pylon cement grey to me! Love how you got a second chance

Its got me wondering if it was the same fish all fired up and hit it twice or if there was a second fish.

[Mylesfisher]

I hjave hth 4" zmans too they work a charm what retrieve do you use when targeting jacks in an open area i know that slow reatrieve is for pontoons

[FishingCrazy]

Hi Mylesfisher,

In the snags (rocks and trees) rigged weedless I let it sink till it stops then slow roll gently, if it snags don't pull hard as you may set the hook into the snag. Let the pressure off and slowly lift hopefully over/through the snag. Slow roll around bridges as well.

I have caught a few jacks in the open around weed beds in the shallows just on dark when they come right out of their snaggy homes hunting in the cover of darkness. I use the same slow roll along the gaps in the ribbon weed then hop it down the deeper drop offs letting it hit the bottom them 2 jerks up, hit the bottom again and rinse and repeat like I use to do with conditioner when I had hair. lol

I don't do much "open area" fishing for them though as that's not where they live and hunt most of the time.

Late arvo's have been better, for me anyway, over early mornings. Those stinking hot afternoons in summer with a big thunderstorm on its way seems to fire them right up.

Lots of time on the water, they say the hardest jack to catch is your first one and the second hardest after that is the first one of a new season.

Good luck and hope this helps.

  

[Mylesfisher]

thankyou i will slow roll in shallow when skipping and hopping at deep

[Mylesfisher]

Cheers

Edited November 27, 2022 by Mylesfisher
pointless