Jack Secrets for virgins

[Ricardo]

Heaps of great info in this thread, cheers to the gecko and to everyone else who contributed

[breakthelines]

I've just stumbed accross a whole new way of getting mangrove jacks connected with artificials.........very very effective, even more so than the old techniques with livies.
I think I will keep it to myself for a season or two though.

Mate i've been using poppers, plastics and shallow divers and all work just as well as livies/bait. More fun as well!

[martinies]

Thanks Gecko!!! Excellent reading...

I haven't specifically target jacks but it's good to know skills and knowledge are more important than splurging a few hundred dollars on new jack gears.

[Chalkandcheese]

good lot of info there gecko. i personally wouldn't go out telling every man and his dog how to catch them, let them find out for himself.
there still is lots more to know thats for sure. hopefully its a good season this year

[nipsta]

Well done gecko great thread for sure someof the best jack facts i ve seen writen and like you said all the rivers have these locations you just got to pu the effort into looking for them and working them over till ya start to crack a pattern .With jakc fishing there can be many trips of no results and then bang it will start to happen . Me i love live bait be it mullet ,silver bddys or gar all seem to work and dont fret if ya livey gets smashed and he is a tad injured cause they will smash a dead but just the same
Any way good luck to all those who have a crack

[Matthias]

In the past few years, some guys would search a jack fishos old posts and try and get an idea of where they were fishing (dont bother, Ive been lying about my locations for years, Im not even in the same river that you think Im in ).

Yeah I know how that feels....

Hey nice thead Gecko.
I don't think you gave away any info that couldn't be found by rumaging through a few mags and posts. It's just much better to see it in detail and length. I don't know about the 2second fight rule though. I have had many jack fights in which they have done me up after the third or fourth run.

Just want to add a great rig which equals an almost 100% hook-up rate on jacks- I tie two hook rigs with livies. The first hook is a Mustad Tarpon and the second is a strong treble. I put 1 hook through near the tail and then stick one point of the treble just behind the head of the livie. It works very well.

Cheers
Pete

[chops_rx2]

Removed....

[funkngroovy]

Thanks Gecko, got my first jack last night 11pm. 1 hour after the change. Stuck to your plan and it paid off. I'm stoked!

[yanjarra]

dont know if its been proposed before but how abouts a 'hall of fame' type section for the forums?


threads such as this and others of similar nature which are somewhat timeless and will constantly be referred back to could be put there.....

[Horse]

Bump....its Jack time again

[Gon Fishun]

Thanks to Andrew & Jack. It has opened my eyes and enthusiasm to chase Jack more intently now I have a much better idea and understanding of how to fish for them. Biting at the bit to get out and amongst them now. Thanks again guys.
Cheers.
Bob.

[wayno60]

yes it is and next week ive got a week off work so ill be in the H20 every day i can.
if the swell and wind drop a bit ill be heading out the end of the sea way wall and the pipeline.....I love summer.

Just reopening the debait.... about live or dead baits, ive caught most of my jacks of a night on live bait, but having said that i got one in the middle of the day useing the head half of a whiting.....so both work.

this one is out of the coomera river fishing up against the rock wall you can see in the back ground useing a slab of mullet.

[bluefin59]

This is too good a thread to leave of the top of the page so i will bump it up as a few people are starting to ask the questions again ,and thanks again geko for a great read ...matt

[shayned]

If you can bear with my poor memory, i'll try to share some info on the Jack's lifecycle. I read some pretty good research a while ago from some of the folks at DPI which did some good work before the money ran out yet again.
Jack Life Cycle
Adult mangrove jacks are another reef dwelling fish growing up to around a metre in length. They are a broad cast spawner releasing large amounts of fertile material. The spawn as it grows moves in shore, usually reaching the mouths of creeks and rivers at somewhere around 20 to 25mm in length. At this point the fingerlings looks for a secure spot to hide, rock walls with small cavities being a favourite. At this point the fish will also push a long way upstream into brachish and also fresh water as it looks for a secure spot with a food source to call home. Interestingly jacks which get land locked into fresh water will not only survive, but can thrive in these conditions.

The fish is territorial and very agressive, the toughest jack gets the best snag, although it has been seen in some very heavily stocked creeks that smaller fish will get pushed out into areas which seem very un-jack like.

The jack will normally stay in the estuary systems until sexual maturity, which is somewhere around 50cm. Researchers did however find fish between 30 - 40cm out on the reef, so maturity may be an action related to time rather than size.

What this means is that every time you let a jack go, you increase the chance that it will breed on a local reef and it's spawn will return to the system you are fishing in. Of course this does have limits. The other part to this is that it is theorectically possible to set up a fresh water fishery based on mangrove jack which can grow up to around a metre in those conditions.

The other interesting observation is that upon sexual maturity in fresh water, the jack behaviour changes from a ambush predator to a pelagic patroller of the deeper water in a dam. Makes you wonder what could be done doesn't it.

[rabbi]

Geez, I thought they were hard to catch.

I got two a few days back chasing flathead with S.P,s near a rock wall bout lunchtime.
The good old evil minnow has been hooking everything of late.
I even hooked a good muddie on one last week but it threw the hook near the boat