Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » Fishing For Jacks
Fishing For Jacks
By Warren 'Wazza' Smith
NT Guide and Tackle Tactics Pro Angler Warren Smith runs us through targeting one of his favourite species, mangrove jack, including many tips that can be applied to other jack systems throughout Australia. Fish on!
This article mainly applies to the way I target mangrove jack up in the Northern Territory, however hopefully it will be helpful to anglers living in other jack areas. After spending seventeen seasons on the Tiwi Islands, which have more lure munching jacks than anywhere else I've fished so far, you start to get a bit of a handle on them. Thirty to fifty mangrove jack is very common in a day's fishing on Melville.
The stage of the tide plays an important role in finding the fish, with the last three hours of the run out tide and the first two hours of the incoming being the prime times to fish. The size of the tides (rise and fall) can also be important. Very neap tides (less then 300mm of movement) can make finding willing fish harder as little water movement fails to concentrate the bait enough. On big spring tides (3.5m or bigger) the window of opportunity gets a bit smaller, with the prime time being the last hour of outgoing tide and the first hour of the incoming, as the flow slows down and allows bait to congregate. The days with around 1.5m of run are the best days to be chasing jacks (by run I mean how much the water drops in 6 hours of run out tide cycle).
Next is the spots to look for them. We call them pressure points. When you travel along a river or creek, look for places where the flow of water is hitting or pushing against the bank. The more twists and turns a waterway has, the more pressure points are to be found. If these spots have a deep hole, or even better a nice snag or rock bar in them, so much the better. However sometimes very shallow water can hold heaps of fish as well.
Find the bait, find the fish. The water flow pushes the bait into these spots and the mangrove jack congregate to take advantage of all of the food being brought to them. These pressure points will change depending on the direction of water flow and what was a hotspot on the outgoing tide might be lifeless on the incoming tide. I've drawn a couple of maps to help explain the areas that generally hold fish.
What lures work? That's really easy and I've said it many times over the last few years. ZMan 3" MinnowZ paddle tail plastics rigged on a TT Lures 2/0 ChinlockZ with around 1/4oz of weight is my first and last choice. Simple as that. There are other plastics out there that work but most others last one hit from a Jack and that's the end of them. ZMan plastics can handle 20+ jacks easily.
If the fish need a bit of encouragement add a squirt of one of the Pro Cure Super Gel scents and this can turn them on. When it comes to colour of choice I'm not that fussy and I'm pretty sure I've seen jacks eat at least three quarters of the 3" MinnowZ colour range first hand. If I really had to choose one colour, one with lots of red such as Calico Candy or Red Shad would be the go.
Gear? When guiding most clients use baitcaster gear, so a rod rated 6kg with a length 6' to 6'6" works well. Braids rated 30lb, with leader around 40lb to 50lb (sounds heavy but you never know when a good barramundi will join in party) are the usual set up. When fishing with my mates I will have a baitcast rod set up but I mainly use a spin set up as I find it easier to cast plastics around with it.
Skipping ZMan plastics under overhanging trees is a lot easier for me when using this set up. I have been using a 7' Okuma Cerros Travel Spin rod rated 3-6kg, paired up with a Helios SX Spin reel and loaded with 20lb Platypus P8 Braid, with a 20lb Stealth FC Fluorocarbon 20lb Leader. I have found this combo works really well, however I would be a bit worried if a good barra scoffed the lure and would be wishing it was 40 or 50 lb leader instead!
I love chasing mangrove jacks and I hope this article helps others find a few more of them.
Cheers, Wazza
Gearing Up:
Okuma Cerros Travel Spin Rod - CER-S-703M 7' 3-6kg
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reel - HSX-30
Platypus P8 Braid
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
ZMan 3" MinnowZ
TT Lures ChinlockZ Jighead
Pro-Cure Super Gel Scent