Bush 'n Beach Fishing Magazine Location reports & tips for fishing, boating, camping, kayaking, 4WDing in Queensland and Northern NSW
THE fourth Mangrove Jack Anglers Fishing Tournament was held recently and it was the biggest event to date.
The sense of the Mangrove Jack Anglers event growing into something remarkable is overwhelming. We had 178 entrants, up 98 percent on the March competition, with 75 jacks landed. The 75 jacks were caught by 40 fishers (35 percent of entrants) and came to a combined length of 32.12m, or one and a half cricket pitches, at an average length of 42.2cm per fish.
The longest jack prize went to Colin Christensen with his 59.2cm fish caught on live bait in one of those deep and dark corners of the Gold Coast. Remarkably, this was Colin’s first-ever mangrove jack capture! He took home our major prize of a hand-carved wooden trophy supplied by Mick Molnar Marine Art and a $500 BCF voucher as well as a Weapons Custom rod made specially for big jacks.
The incredible thing is Colin’s maiden and major prize-winning jack capture was made possible thanks to a Jarvis Walker spin combo with 10lb line and 30lb leader. Allow me to throw out my $2000 worth of rods and reels and take me to Kmart please! So stoked for Colin. Another amazing outcome from the comp was Arnold Joseph’s win for the longest combined length.
Arnold managed to catch an unprecedented nine jacks over the weekend with a whopping 443cm in total length.
He won $500 worth of gear from JML Anglers Alliance. For this comp we introduced a prize for a mystery length and a bonus species. The name of the bonus species was released at sign-on and was revealed to be a cod/grouper over 50cm. Plenty of cod were caught as by-catch but only one came in over the minimum size, with a 53cm cod caught and released by Andy Bee. With this year’s biggest jack measuring 59.2cm, it only seems a matter of time before we break the 60cm barrier during comp hours.
Over the history of the tournament we now have an even split of winners between lure fishers and bait fishers. For some anglers, rivalry is what drives them to get up early and hit those pontoons, not stopping fishing until an hour after midnight. For many others the comp is about fishing a combination of lures during the day and then sitting somewhere for a few hours at night soaking a live bait… with a cold drink of course.
Similar to rivalries between Ford and Holden fans or surfers and bodyboarders, our lure and bait fishos are passionate and know their trades back to front. One thing both styles of fishers are wondering is how big can these jacks get inside the Gold Coast canals? We are yet to see a 60cm fish taken in the comp and this is driving us to gain the support of sponsors that attract the fishers who can find these trophy fish.
They are out there. Once again we would like to thank our major sponsors Dream Kayaks, BCF Oxenford, JML Anglers Alliance, Weapons Custom Rods, Marquee Events and 2DEEP.We would also like to thank our other sponsors for their contributions – Burleigh Brewing Co, Mick Molnar Marine Art, Bush ‘n Beach Fishing magazine and Coomera Watersports Club.
A big thanks to John Costello who once again offered his time to MC the presentation.
No one seems to be able to get jack fishers to spill the beans better than John. If you haven’t yet seen his DVDs, be sure to jump over to his ‘The Jack Guide’ Facebook page and buy a copy.
John also runs independent lure views on his Facebook page and YouTube channel ‘My Lure Box’. Behind the scenes we are working as much as we can to not only keep this competition running well but also keep listening to what competitors say to improve the comp’s conditions, sponsors and prizes.
We have a few ideas for the next 12 months in the pipeline, so keep in tune with the MJA Facebook and Instagram pages. This is now one of the fastest-growing fishing tournaments in southeast Queensland. It is the biggest specialised mangrove jack tournament in Australia and is rivalling big Gold Coast fishing comps while keeping the entry cost down at a low $30 per person.
March is the month when you really want to be on the water targeting mangrove jack, so that’s when our next comp will be. Keep reading Bush ‘n Beach for exact dates.
A big thanks to John Costello who once again offered his time to MC the presentation.
No one seems to be able to get jack fishers to spill the beans better than John. If you haven’t yet seen his DVDs, be sure to jump over to his ‘The Jack Guide’ Facebook page and buy a copy.
John also runs independent lure views on his Facebook page and YouTube channel ‘My Lure Box’. Behind the scenes we are working as much as we can to not only keep this competition running well but also keep listening to what competitors say to improve the comp’s conditions, sponsors and prizes.
We have a few ideas for the next 12 months in the pipeline, so keep in tune with the MJA Facebook and Instagram pages. This is now one of the fastest-growing fishing tournaments in southeast Queensland. It is the biggest specialised mangrove jack tournament in Australia and is rivalling big Gold Coast fishing comps while keeping the entry cost down at a low $30 per person.
March is the month when you really want to be on the water targeting mangrove jack, so that’s when our next comp will be. Keep reading Bush ‘n Beach for exact dates.
