mangrove jack

[roz]

caught a couple of nice jacks, one while fishing for flathead on lures and the other on live bait, that fish was a little over 2.5kg and I had to use my mackeral gear to get it. Since then I have spent countless hours for nothing. No one would ever want to go jack fishing with me now. Anyway I generally use 8kg line, no trace and a 6/0 in the back of anything I can catch for live bait. It worked before. Would night be better? I just have to catch another one. Female pride at stake here.

[basserman]

hell roz i'll go chaseing jacks with ya!
never caught one of them yet :-[
but only problem is i'm mid north coast NSW :'(

[Girella]

So to hear about your case of Jack madness.
The bad news is there's no cure !

[MarcusD]

Catching Jacks regularly is almost a science. Tide, location and rig play a huge part in targeting Jacks. They like structure and usually only go hunting for food out of the structure when the tide is not moving. They're not too fussy on baits and tend to strike anything that moves.

Night and early morning are good times but it also depends on the river you are fishing in. Some places fish better at different times. I've caught them all day round by targeting the right areas.

I think you might need to rethink your rig - 6/0 is too big for Jacks. 2/0 or 3/0 is more than enough and think about using wide gap hooks as they tend to lip hook which is vital for steering the Jack away from the snags. Baits around the 3-4 inch size are ideal, or lures that dive to around 10 foot.

Countless hours goes hand in hand with Jack fishing - I spend every weekend all summer and I'm lucky to get one Jack a day.

[kc]

Hey Roz,

Save a few bob and go to Weipa......to coin a phrase...Jack Lives Here!! You will learn more in a week than you will at home in a year...trouble is home will never quite meassure up again and then instead of having Jackmares you will be homesick for a place you have never actually lived in.

KC

PS : Jack Lives here!!

[wacco_fozzy]

Since this is a current topic I'll post my request here.

If anyone on the Gold or Sunshine Coasts is intending to go after Jacks in the upcoming months, I'd love to tag along some weekend

A) to learn from more knowledgeable people about techniques, tackle etc

and B) maybe actually catch one.

Dave