Monster Jewie Tips, With Luke Anstiss
“For most of us keen anglers, catching a mulloway or Jewwie as most of us call them is the ultimate prized catch. While so many anglers will never get the chance, I have been very blessed and landed some good Jew in my time. My first Jew came as a youngster fishing with the old man in our local estuary. We only ever caught little soapies around the 60cm mark but when they surfaced no matter the size it was aways hi fives. There is just something so special about them. As a mid teen I took up rock fishing and of course one of my target species was mulloway. I never did land a Jew from the stones, how ever I always ran into by catch such as big king fish and snapper. Next came the offshore scene which offers such variety of options to target Jew. This is where I grew my passion for the elusive Jew fish. Living in Sydney offered an amazing fishery to hunt Jew. Estuary, beach and offshore.
I was very fortunate to meet a few old sea dogs who were old hands at catching Jew offshore and began learning the ropes. Since then I have caught my fair share of good size Jew, but nothing has come close to my latest beast that I caught from the beach. Like all Jew anglers we hold our secret’s very close and for good reason. These secret’s don’t come easy, in fact to get the knowledge I have has taken over 20 years. Long nights fishing from the sand in the winter rain.... at times poring rain all for zero results. The thing is, every Jew session tells a story and documenting every trip is how you will lean the Treasured secrets of the elusive silver ghosts. Once you have them worked out they are literally like clock work, although there will still be the odd night where they won’t turn up.
My key points to my success, by the way I’m no expert!
No.1 the gear: Now we all have our favourite way to fish from the sand and for me mine is a heavy spin outfit, I use the Gomoku Surf 1303H 13 ft 12-20kg coupled with the ever reliable Shimano 6500b bait runner loaded with 35lb low stretch mono. Buy the best you can afford cause these fish will find any weakness in your gear. I like to run a 60lb leader with twin snelled 6-8/0 hooks depending on bait size.
No.2 Bait: For me I can’t go with out live bait, and don’t be scared to go big!! Even the smaller Jew with attack a big livie. For me mullet is a go to but they can be hard to find in the colder months. Jew really aren’t that fussy when it comes to bait, in fact a good mate has caught 115cm Jew on another jews guts! Wtf you say, well he ran out of live bait and thought why not cut open one he had just caught. Most of the bigger Jew I have caught have had everything thing from eels, bream, snapper, yakker and so on in their gut. I recon they will eat anything live that gets in their way. If I’m going to use dead bait it has to be fresh not been frozen. Mullet and tailor would be a go to for me.
No.3 When and where: A good place start would be around each phase of the moon like the quarters, New and full. I find different spots will fish better on different tides and moon phase than others. I like to fish around high but low can be just as rewarding. Generally the depth of the gutter you want to fish will determine the tide you fish. Where, the location for me isn’t all that important but having proximity to a river mouth, headland of structure will increase your chances. Next is a deep gutter is essential, I like to look for a gutter at low. If it’s visible at low it will be deep at high.
No.4 Patience: You will need to put in a lot of time, be prepared for lack of sleep and plenty of donuts in the beginning but don’t give up, and remember to document everything. Look for patterns in your documents once you start getting a couple and you will work out when to go pretty quick. Cause once you have, you won’t need to be on the sand for more than 2 hours a session. As I say I’m not expert but I hope these tips help you all land one of these majestic fish.” -Tight Lines, Luke AKA Gill Fanatic
Have a go at this thing! it just goes to show that if you put the time, effort and knowledge together the results will come.
Absolute fish of a lifetime Lukey, congrats mate!!
