Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » River Jewies

River Jewies

Guy Struthers

Chasing jewies (mulloway) in creeks and rivers is great fun. They are an apex predator that eats lures, pulls hard and is good on the table if you are chasing a feed. We release most fish we catch so they can keep on breeding and fill our local systems with potential trophy size fish.

When targeting jewfish (mulloway) we have had most success fishing structure such as rock walls, drop offs and ledges in 3-8m of water. Targeting the base of bridge pylons on the slack tide has also produced quality fish. Night fishing seems to produce best results as there is less traffic and pressure on the water and it also allows you to fish heavier leaders without putting the fish off. Not all jewies are caught at night though, if you fish slow and deep through holes and along ledges during the day, you're a chance of hooking up. We had a run in with a 60cm jew on 2lb braid and 3lb leader while working structure from the kayak... what an epic battle!

We generally concentrate our efforts around the last of the run out and change of the tide.

The jewie (mulloway) is a relatively lazy hunter that often waits for slack water to feed. Less run also allows you to work your lures slow and deep. Most fish we catch are in the 55 - 85cm range and there's plenty of quality by-catch to be had including cod, bream, trevally, flathead and tailor.

When targeting jewies gear choice comes down to what your confident using. Some anglers prefer baitcast tackle, while others opt for a 2500 - 4000 size spinning reel and rods of around the 4 - 6kg will do the job on larger fish. Depending on gear selection braid of around 12 - 30lb and fluorocarbon leader of 20 - 50lb is ideal. Fluorocarbon leader has a few advantages; it sinks to help the lure get down and help you stay in touch as the lure sinks, has less stretch for added bite detection and is more abrasion resistant than monofilament to better withstand the mouths of fish and also structure. Fluoro is also virtually invisible in water, but this is less of an advantage when night fishing.

The gun lure for us has been the ZMan 4" SwimmerZ in Pearl. This swim bait has a realistic poddy mullet profile and a deadly action. The buoyancy of the ElaZtech material creates action in the tail even at super slow retrieve speeds and it's 10X tough construction allows the SwimmerZ to stand up to fish after fish. On one trip we landed about 20 tailor and 3 jewies on a single ZMan SwimmerZ. We fish the 4" SwimmerZ on a TT Lures HeadlockZ HD jighead in 1/4oz or 3/8oz 5/0, depending on water depth and tidal flow.

Cast the lure into the shallows and work it down the ledge or rock wall and into the hole. Alternatively fish parallel to the ledge or rock wall targeting fish that are feeding along the base of the ledge or wall. The retrieve we use is a super-slow roll and most times we ensure that we are staying in touch with the bottom.

When targeting jewies around this type of structure I also carry a few TT Lures Switchblades with me that I tie on if the fishing gets a bit quiet on the plastics. My preferred sizes are 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2oz Switchies, depending on depth and current. I fish these along the drop offs and ledges using a slow lift and drop retrieve. It's important to stay in touch with the lure on the drop as most takes will be in the form of a twitch or the blade will stop prematurely, so set the hooks!