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» Mangrove Jack Tips - A Day at Hinchinbrook
Mangrove Jack Tips - A Day at Hinchinbrook
By Jeff Wilton
It’s October in north Queensland and I can tell you all that when it comes to choosing the best time of year for chasing tropical species like barra and jacks… well, its NOW. That’s my opinion anyway, as the weather settles down, water starts to warm up, and best of all, the jacks get angrier… hungrier… and meaner. Now, if you’re a keen mangrove jack fisho then I think I already have your attention, and if you’re not… well you soon will be. I’m guessing you may even just start looking at making that trip north with the boat in tow! Read on as you ride along on a recent session fishing the waters of Hinchinbrook Island, north of Townsville.
Work and family commitments normally mean that when I get even the smallest window to fish, I will go, no matter the tide or weather. We can all relate to the fact that it always seems that when you CAN’T fish, the weather is perfect, or the tides are spot on. On the other hand, it always seems that when you CAN fish, the weather is horrific, and the tides are terrible.
On this particular day, I was excited as everything had lined up, including great weather and near perfect tides! The forecast was for a bright sunny day which I love as it will form a distinct shadow line from the mangrove overhang. The tides were small, with only a metre of run between high and low, so the baitfish and the jacks would be forced out of the back of the mangroves and would have to sit of the edges. Perfect!
I basically never stop thinking about chasing jacks and today they were top of the list again. The plan was to head right up the top of a few creeks and skip cast my way out as the tide dropped. On low it would mean a change up to flats fishing, so I was hoping to get a few fish before I was forced out of the creeks. Skip casting is by far my favourite way to fish hands down, and when you get good enough to be able to skip your plastic anywhere you want, it is deadly on jacks. I will normally have two or three rods rigged up with different soft plastic styles and hooks. I’m a huge fan of the TT Black Mamba spin rod in the 2-4kg, matched up to the Okuma ITX-2500. This is a perfectly matched combo, and it feels great in the hand.
It's always exciting when you finally kill the motor, and the electric gets deployed. What is even better is the sound of baitfish getting smashed at the back of the mangroves while scrambling to get rods out of the locker. There is no surprise that the first plastic of the day is the ZMan GOAT. This plastic has proven itself as irresistible to our local jacks. The profile is perfect, and the paddling action is immediate. If you all didn’t know it already, I love the GOAT!
The water was still a little high, so it meant I had to really skip that plastic deep under cover. It makes you smile when that plastic disappears out of sight. After firing several casts into some great looking overhangs for no strikes, a changeup was needed. There was still the odd jack slashing into baitfish, so I decided to change it up and the Pop FrogZ was brought out. The best thing about the Pop FrogZ is that they still skip really well, while the larger profile can cause more commotion and give predatory fish something to hone onto.
Sure enough, my first cast got absolutely smashed by an angry fish, but it didn’t find the hook. Quickly shooting another cast into the same spot and it was fish on. A near locked drag and some heavy-handed rod work is needed to turn these fish quickly or you will be wrapped around several branches. It’s always very satisfying landing solid fish out of wild mangrove overhangs. The fish has the advantage but good gear, quick reflexes, and a little luck helps us anglers.
A few more fish were boated, skipping various plastics as the tide dropped out, however it was now sadly time to change techniques and areas. When I say sadly… I just mean I couldn’t skip cast anymore, but there was going to be a lot more fish caught no doubt. It was time to flats fish and Hinchinbrook has plenty of this on offer. The same rod and reel combos are used so the topwater offerings were cut off and a changed up to TT HeadlockZ HD jigheads in various weights.
For the flats I will rig three different ways:
- A 1/8oz TT HeadlockZ HD jighead (3/0) / 3” ZMan MinnowZ
- A 1/6oz TT HeadlockZ HD jighead (3/0) / 4” DieZel MinnowZ (the 3/0 size allows for maximum tail movement)
- A 1/4oz TT HeadlockZ HD jighead (4/0) / 4” SwimmerZ or DieZel MinnowZ
Arriving at the first flat I was greeted by schools of baitfish rippling in the shallows, which is a great sign. The hard thing with flats fishing at times is punching casts far enough to reach the fish. They can be sitting with just enough water to cover their backs, or sometimes they will even lay on their sides to hunt.
Fishing the Platypus Pulse X8 Braid in 10lb means long casts are no problem, even with light jigheads and small plastics. Okuma has several rods suitable for this style of fishing but it’s the TT Black Mamba and Red Belly 7’, 2-4kg rods, that I can’t put down! It is plenty of fun drifting along silently in less than a metre of water, whilst you make casts at dirty water lines, baitfish, or even better, sight cast to cruising fish.
It wasn’t long before a few fish were caught and fighting them over shallow water is loads of fun. They can’t dive deep, so they will rip some drag whilst screaming over the shallows at speed. On occasion I was missing the hook up as the jacks were hitting the plastic and racing straight at the boat. Only winding flat out to keep tight to them, before striking, meant more fish actually hooked. It was interesting that during this session the larger profile ZMan 4” DieZel MinnowZ was getting more attention than my go-to ZMan 3” MinnowZ. Being able to fish this plastic slower when rigged on a 1/8oz jighead, as the natural buoyancy of the plastic stops it sinking as quickly, means more time in the strike zone.
With the tide now pushing in the session was coming to an end, but this is when I like to make a few casts with a larger profile plastic and slightly heavier jighead. The trusty Pearl coloured SwimmerZ, rigged on a 1/4oz jighead, is just the ticket for a few exploratory casts in the deeper water. Allowing the plastic to hit the bottom, then working it back with a slow retrieve, proved effective on a few more fish. With that it was time to call it a day. The sun was setting and motoring home, while taking in the views of that prehistoric island, was a near on perfect end to the session.
Cheers, Jeff
Gearing Up:
TT Black Mamba Spin Rod – BMS701ML 7’, 2-4kg
TT Red Belly Spin Rod – RBS701ML 7’, 2-4kg
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels – ITX-2500
Platypus Pulse X8 Braid – 10lb
ZMan 3.75” GOAT
ZMan 4” Pop FrogZ
TT ChinlockZ / ChinlockZ SWS – 4/0
ZMan 3” MinnowZ
ZMan 4” DieZel MinnowZ
ZMan 4” SwimmerZ
TT HeadlockZ HD jigheads – 1/8oz – 1/4oz (3/0, 4/0)