Page 47 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing magazine

Lessons from Lisa Simpson and a unicorn
In Dealing with finicky feeders
LEARNT early in my jewfish target- ing career that they
Just Jew
by TYE PORTER
Mischa with his 11.1kg jew sh taken on a toy rod and a small Alvey reel.
In the 1980s, when there would be a low tide during the day, just before dark in Mobbs Bay at Ballina I would catch sand mullet and keep them alive in the back of my four- wheel-drive until after 12.30am in the morn- ing, when all the other anglers had left to catch the last ferry home.
Most times jew will take the bait, as you’d expect them to, but there’s always the odd occasion that they would either very quickly just take the mouth of the mullet and let it go or slam it really hard and kill it – in both cases it all happens so quickly that I hardly have time to strike.
Mischa eagerly took up the challenge but upped the ante by say- ing he could catch one on his kid’s toy Lisa Simpson rod – Rebekah had picked it up on the side of the road in a council kerbside rub- bish pick-ups – that he now used to jig live her- ring with.
can be finicky feeders at times, especially when using live bait such as mullet.
Then I’d go out to the wall and fish the run- out tide until daylight.
their finicky moments – both Ted and I missed a couple of fish each.
By that I mean, one day jewfish will swal- low the bait right down into the gut and the next they will slam it and kill it all within sec- onds.
My standard live bait rig then – and now – for mullet was two 10/0 Eagle Claw hooks, with one pinned behind the back of the neck and the other underneath the fish above the anal fin.
After an hour or so of Mischa’s smart-aleck comments about us be- ing too old and slow, I challenged him to take one of his 3/0 trebles off his hard-body lures and fish how I used to years ago.
Warmer weather fires up river species
* from P46
The 48-fathom lines
recommend starting there on your next trip out.
River Nature Reserve and has been put in place because the road leading out has narrowed from ero- sion and is danger- ous, apparently.
have been producing quite a number of quality pearl perch as well as kingfish.
Finally, I wanted to give everyone a heads-up if you are thinking about com- ing to Ballina and are planning to fish the south break wall – NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service have erected a large gate, which has been locked to prevent anyone from driving out to the wall.
Squid or mullet fil- let have been the pick of bait, and if you are keen to fish this wide, I would do it sooner rather than later be- cause I’m expecting the current to pick up substantially very soon.
Hopefully they get it rectified sooner rather than later.
Lennox Heads 48s have been a little bet- ter than those south lately, so I would
Anyway, please be aware of this as you will have a reasona- ble walk out and back if you wish to wet a line out there.
The gate is back at the Mobbs Bay area within the Richmond
Well that’s all from me.
Until next time – tight lines!
www.bnb shing.com.au
* continued P48 Bush ’n Beach Fishing, November 2020 – Page 47
One night when they were in their finicky feeding mood, I decide to swap my two 10/0 hooks for two 1/0 tre- bles and, as soon as I felt the fish touch the mullet, I struck and bingo – fish on!
Fitted to the rod was an Alvey A550 reel, with about 80m of 15lb line and no more than 20m of 30lb backing.
Now sure, I still miss the occasional fish but gone forever are the long nights of utter frustration.
Ted and I nearly fell off our chairs laughing. The challenge was on. I swear that rascal had not had bait in the wa- ter for more than ten minutes when he yelled out that he was on, and within a further ten minutes he had a 11.1kg jewfish flapping at his
Back to 2020.
feet!
Well, to say that Ted
Recently, Mischa and I were fishing for jew with his girlfriend Re- bekah and our mate Ted McLean, and the jew were having one of
and I haven’t lived that moment down to this day would be an under- statement.