Doughnuts on the jewies again!!

[DougieK]

I know the pain Nick, they do your head in. Just keep presenting live/ fresh baits and it will happen. I now always have a big rod out when catching bait fish as they don't seem to understand when it's just a dedicated bait gathering session- advice your probably gonna hate.

I'm doing this any any saltwater session. It takes about 45 seconds to tie on a premade righ and chuck a bit of squid or a salmon strip out. Even though i'm yet to crack a big snapper or gummy or jew, i've had some awesome fun on rays and skates, banjos and swell sharks. Even if it's an undesirable species i still feel good about landing a bigger fish amongst the salmon / squid / mullet.

[Fishsniper]

Have you tried the Maribornong river? Wait for a full or new moon and concentrate fishing 3 days around that period, fish at night from Essendon down to the cordite and use mullet fillets, and oh, try a bit of burley and you might be surprised.
Good luck

[Lecterfan]

Deepest sympathies. I did the RAAFs beach thing religiously for two full seasons a few years ago. I caught heaps of rays and assorted nuisance critters, but not once did I get a run on anything that resembled a jew (I would've been more than happy with a gummy or anything quality and big). I used fresh (a few hours old) slabs of salmon or live mullet.

I had to go interstate to catch one, and even it was nothing worth talking about. Good luck mate, dedication certainly pays off in a whole heap of ways, just not always in the way you want it to.

[nickb123]

I know the pain Nick, they do your head in. Just keep presenting live/ fresh baits and it will happen. I now always have a big rod out when catching bait fish as they don't seem to understand when it's just a dedicated bait gathering session- advice your probably gonna hate.

About the only time I've ever had one hit a livey was bait gathering and wasn't much I could do on a 1000 stradic with 6lb braid winding in a mullet and boom some grabbed it ran like crazy and busted me off, I'm assuming it was a Jew, fished that same spot countless amounts of times for nothing

[greggo]

You're going to find it gets a lot tougher as the water warms up. There are still a few around in the Yarra throughout the summer months, but not in any great numbers. The positive side is, the ones that are around are usually 85cm plus...!

Docklands is probably your best bet. Of a night you can see the baitfish milling around on the surface, and then all of a sudden they'll bust up, a sure sign it's a Jewie under them. Obviously they aren't feeding on the bottom. You should throw out a lightly weighted livey under a float, which puts a bait right where they're feeding. Personally, I find the best method is to use soft plastics (6" squidgy fish or similar) on a 1/4 oz jighead and work it around the bait schools. This also allows you to be mobile and move around the whole Docks area chasing bait schools.

I use a 6'8", 2 to 5 kilo rod, Daiwa Sol 2500 spooled with 10lb braid and 12lb leader. This may sound under-gunned, but I've landed way more than I've lost on this rig. Most off the losses have been due to rubbing on pylons. You also need to fish as light as possible so that your lure works effectively, and can strike at that tell-tale bump of a Jewie just before he spits your lure out.

I hope this helps, but as you already know, you wont catch one without having your rod in the water.

Cheers, Greggo.

[sloth]

Greggo - that sounds like my docks bream outfit

[bilby]

That is massively frustrating. My advice is simple - while you are in a 'down' period, fish with bait that anything might have a go at. This way, you up your chances of catching something - pinkies in particular, but perhaps flathead, trevally, etc. as well.

[greggo]

Greggo - that sounds like my docks bream outfit

Haha...I'd believe that.

[greggo]

That is massively frustrating. My advice is simple - while you are in a 'down' period, fish with bait that anything might have a go at. This way, you up your chances of catching something - pinkies in particular, but perhaps flathead, trevally, etc. as well.

That's fine to fish that way, but you're drastically reducing your chances of catching a Jewie. If by a remote chance you hook one, it will only be seen as a by-catch, and that doesn't give any satisfaction compared to catching your target species. You wouldn't have gained any experience or knowledge regarding Jewie fishing, and would be no further enlightened toward "cracking the code".

It took me about two years before I caught my first Jewie, that was spending many winter nights in the rain and cold, I had the odd run and bust-off, but still no Jewie. After my first it became a bit more consistant, and gets easier the more you target them. I caught over 60 this year between April and August (on plastics), another mate who fished for them every day, totaled 230 for the same period (on plastics). Those numbers make it sound easy, but it's only because of all the years before, doing exactly what you are doing now...learning how to target Jewies. There are no tricks or secret things to know, it would be like telling someone how to ride a bike...all you can really say to them is to get on it and practice.

That's just my opinion, I'm sure many will disagree.

Cheers, Greggo.

[bilby]

Maybe there were just a lot around this year? I was catching at least one every trip over the same period you mention - all on bait. And caught a lot of snapper, too. I think we managed to land 9 in about as many weekends, with plenty of break offs and lost fish too. The soft plastics sound very effective, though - I just find it hard to maintain my interest in lure fishing, personally. But yes, live mullet is ideal for specifically targeting mulloway, if you can find them.