ALTHOUGH on the morning of this trip the greenish waters of Shoal Bay were relatively clean by Darwin standards, visibility was still less than a metre. Luckily, we weren’t relying on sight fishing to find today’s targets. Rather our eyes were firmly locked on an electronic screen – being fed the marvels of modern technology – to show not only what was lurking barely two metres under the keel, but also 30 metres out to either side. It didn’t take long before the side-scan on the port side revealed a dozen large fish sitting up on a flat, adjacent to a drop off to deeper water.“Do you reckon they’re barra or jewies?” asked visiting sandgroper Tim Carter who was aboard the green boat. “Timber… I think that’s a school of big jewies…” was my enthusiastic reply. I was excited because to date, Tim had yet to experience the thrill of a hot session of rampaging black jewfish hooked on the cast in less than a couple of metres of water. Fingers-crossed today would be the day.
With the CW Eliminator now spot-locked down-current of the located school, rods were quickly readied with seven-inch long soft rubbers rigged on sturdy 7/O jig heads. For the next hour or so we made long casts to the school which stayed pretty much in exactly in the same spot as when we first found them.
Despite a number of lure changes, varying jig head weights, as well as alternating both the type and depths of retrieves, not even a single nudge or bump rewarded our disciplined efforts. With the mid-morning tropical sun now making its presence felt, we decided to take a ten-minute break for some refreshments and to reassess. Between bites of a sandwich, I explained to Tim that the morning low tide was now less than an hour away and hopefully the fish might fire up as the current slacked right off. However this logic is somewhat counter intuitive, as when targeting jewies and reef species in deeper water the old saying of “No run No fun” usually applies.
As we readied our gear for the next casting effort, Tim pulled out of his tackle box a tube of Halco Tackle Scent and smeared it very generously over a rigged Paddle Prawn. I looked at him and said, “Certainly worth a shot to try and get these bloody lock-jaw jewies to bite.” Personally I’m not really one to add additional scent to my lures. But I do always keep an open mind when on the water, especially in situations where getting a bite is proving particularly difficult.
Well, you could have knocked me over with a trout rod when – on the very first cast after our break – Tim’s now scented Paddle Prawn was walloped! Looking at the serious bend in his little spin rod, and the speed of braid peeling off the spool, I was pretty confident he had hooked his first shallow water black jewfish.
As usual for northern jewies hooked in the shallows, the first run is a real screamer and Tim’s fish was no exception, easily peeling off 50m of braid from his small spin reel. Now Tim has fished all around the world – catching everything from big barra to huge billfish – so it wasn’t too long before patience and judicious rod work had the big jewie beaten and secured alongside in a large landing net. I began readying my camera gear for some mandatory grip and grin shots before the fish was to be released. Tim turned to me and with a big smile said, “Better make the photo shoot quick Pete… I want to catch more of these!”In short order we were ready to start fishing again. Before his next cast Tim reapplied more tackle scent to his Paddle Prawn. Less than three casts later he yelled
“Fish on!” A few minutes later another big gleaming jewie was boat-side and Tim was rightly beaming like a Cheshire cat. With the fish now really on the chew, this fish too was quickly photographed and released. Over the next 40 or so minutes Tim hooked another 3 storming jewies, successfully landing two of them with the other smoking him on a near-by rock shelf. Despite the slow start to the session, a final score of four jewies released, ranging in size from 115-120cm, was indeed a cherished morning’s fishing to remember.NORTHERN JEWIES
While many a southern visitor heads north to catch an iconic barra, a fair number also want to add a black jewfish (Protonibea diacanthus) to their lifetime bucket list of captures. This is because catching a big jewie down south can be quite challenging as they are far more elusive than their northern cousins. From what I’ve read and been told, many a freezing winter’s night has been endured in the failed pursuit of this highly prized but mysterious finned foe.
Somewhat similar in appearance to mulloway found in southern climes, black jewfish are very fondly regarded by northerners for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they can be easily accessed by those with small tinnies and even land-based, especially if fishing around marine infrastructure such as wharves and jetties. Secondly, few fish pull as hard as a hooked jewie wanting to cut you off on an oyster encrusted pylon, shipwreck or rocky bottom. Lastly, black jewfish are a great tasting fish. On average most black jewfish caught range from 10-20kg in size. So those big juicy white fillets not only help feed a fisher’s family, but also their surrounding neighbours as well.
Now while black jewfish can be found both inshore and offshore, most northern fishers target them in deeper water, ranging in depths from 15-30 metres. In simpler times a 100-200lb handline rigged with a piece of squid and heavy sinker was the preferred tackle used to extract hard-pulling jewies from their deep-water haunts, be it snaggy reefs or artificial structures such as shipwrecks. But even using such heavy gear was (and remains) no guarantee of success when hooking such big powerful fish tight to structure.
Like most bottom fish hooked in waters deeper than 10 metres, research shows that black jewfish will suffer the effects of barotrauma when raised to the surface. The expanding of internal gases in the swim bladder of a black jewie causes irreparable damage to internal organs. If a landed fish is looking distended or has swollen eyes or its stomach is visible (when looking into the mouth), then it’s very likely to have suffered the effects of barotrauma. Even if the swim bladder is deliberately spiked to release excess air pressure, and the fish released back to the water while still alive, it will still most likely die due to injuries already sustained. This is why anglers fishing in deeper waters are advised to stop fishing once bag limits for certain species are achieved. This is particularly so for black jewfish.SHALLOW WATER SPORT FISHING
In more recent years targeting black jewfish on lures in shallow water has become an increasingly popular pursuit. In some ways it is similar to our northern hemisphere cousins chasing red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) on the flats, albeit you can’t actually sight black jewfish as they don’t breach the surface like free-swimming red drums do.
While of course any Top Ender worth his or her salt never tires of catching chrome saltwater barra, mixing things up adds spice to our angling lives. Like when chasing big barra, catching big jewies in waters only a few metres deep allow them to be successfully released to fight another day.
Some may be surprised to learn that northern jewfish are often found in the very same environments where you would be targeting big saltwater barra e.g. shallow creek mouths, around rock bars, as well as holding up in deep holes further up the creek. Just like barra in these deep holes, jewies can both be trolled up or caught vertically jigging lures.
In northern Australia tidal movements can vary greatly, often exceeding more than seven metres between high and low water, all happening within a period of just 6 hours or so. On big spring tides the water clarity inshore can be simply awful and resemble a barely liquified cup of cappuccino. Conversely, on smaller tidal ranges the water clarity improves greatly. For many these are the preferred conditions for targeting jewies along shallow flats.
With the advent of side-scanning sonar technology, fishos can more easily find where fish are holding at a given point in the tide cycle. Often schooling jewies hugging the bottom in shallow water are not actively feeding. They are just resting up and conserving energy until the next ideal feeding window opens up. It is important to keep in mind too that fish in shallow water are often very cautious and even more so in water with better clarity. In nature everything is both a predator and/or a prey item for an even bigger predator. Big fish usually get big by being a little cleverer (and luckier) than their compatriots. This in turn makes them more circumspect and thus harder to get a bite out of.
Sometimes you do get fortunate and find a school of shallow water jewies that are keen to eat a lure straight away. However, as described in the introduction to this piece, there are times you just have to keep persisting to get that first hit. Annoying fish to get a ‘reaction bite’ is a well proven strategy to make something out of an otherwise nothing (fish with lock-jaw) scenario. Predatory fish holding up or waiting in an ambush position are most likely facing into any on-coming current or tidal flow. Making sure that your lure retrieves are made with the current – as opposed to against it – maximises the chance your presentations are more ‘natural.’ It is for this reason when chasing jewies (or barra for that matter) any static positioning of the boat should be down current of the target school.TACKLE OPTIONS
Apart from the earlier mentioned heavy mono handline, usually when people think of gear to conquer northern jewies their first thoughts turn to a big heavy overhead, spooled with 50-80lb braid or mono mounted on a boat rod with the bend characteristics of a broom handle. Sure these outfits work very well soaking baits in deep waters tight to snaggy structure. But in cricketing speak, chasing jewies in shallow water is more the delicate back-cut behind point off the leg-spinner, rather than the big tail-end slog over cow corner off the fast bowler. But at the end of the day a boundary is scored either way so it comes back to user preference.
With the advent of modern quality tackle, just about anything is now possible. Many a dedicated southern bream chaser has successfully landed a huge mulloway on the lightest of spin outfits. It just goes to show what can be achieved when great gear is matched with good angling skills.
Up here in the north, a light high-modulus 2.1m spin stick matched with a quality 3000 sized reel is a good choice for chasing black jewies in skinny water. Given that many smaller boats also now have bow-mounted electrics, if a small diameter spool is quickly losing too much line, then it’s pretty easy to come off spot lock and chase a big jewie down – but that’s if you’re not the only one aboard! Alternatively, those without an electric can use a quick release anchor system or choose a bigger reel with increased line capacity to stay in the fight without needing to move the boat.
If fishing for jewies out on the flats, then 20lb pound braid is more than sufficient as there’s unlikely to be much for a rampaging jewie to wrap you around or cut you off. Choosing braid of this thickness and strength also allows for long casts with larger lures. When it comes to leaders, thicker mono or fluorocarbon is necessary as the mouths of black jewfish can be very
abrasive. For peace of mind harder wearing leader material in the 45-55lb range such as that made by Schneider has always worked a treat.
With regards to using thinner diameter braid on reels, it is important to ensure that when spooling up the braid is laid down as tight as possible. If not then under a heavier drag setting there is an increased likelihood the braid will bury into itself to the point where it completely locks up on the spool. This invariably results in the braid snapping off at the spool itself. Having used braid since the mid-1990’s, I’ve only seen this happen a handful of times, usually in a situation where a large shark eats a much smaller fish which was hooked on lighter gear. But twice now it has happened on the first powerhouse run of a big jewie hooked in very shallow water.
As evident in the accompanying images, we have had a lot of success catching big jewies in less than 2 metres of water using longer style soft plastics rigged on lighter weighted jig heads. Choosing too heavier a jig head kills the action of your plastic and in shallow water turns it into a bottom dredger. However it is important your retrieves do remain as close to the bottom as possible, as jewies who are simply holding station, are unlikely to rise more than a metre from the bottom to take one of your offerings. Adding a bit of tackle scent to a soft plastic can also increase your odds of eliciting a strike, particularly when fish are very inactive. In water deeper than a few metres, sometimes it can be easier to fish in the vertical. In such scenarios an alternative lure option are soft or hard vibes.
… it is important your retrieves remain as close to the bottom as possible, as jewies who are simply holding station, are unlikely to rise more than a metre from the bottom to take one of your offerings.
Whatever lures you choose, the most important factor is a dogged persistence to keep casting to the school you’ve marked. The golden rule often quoted is “You should never leave fish to find fish.” While sometimes rules do need to be broken, this is not one of them when you’ve found a school of jewies in shallow water. It equally applies when you’ve found a school of big barra. Playing the odds, if you stick with a school and persist for long enough, your chances of being rewarded with an exceptional capture(s) are definitely enhanced. Gun Territory barra fishos often sit on a school of big barra for hours waiting for that moment when a switch is finally flicked and all hell breaks loose. More often than not it’s the most dedicated fishos who end up reaping the biggest rewards.SUMMARY
It’s understandable that targeting black jewfish on the cast in skinny water is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially for those card-carrying members of the “Big Barra Only” club. However, for those who want to have a crack at something a little different it can be a truck load of fun. It provides a great opportunity to chase another (even harder pulling) big predator in shallow water during those cooler months when barra are in full lock-down mode. An added side benefit is you might accidently catch a metre plus saltwater barra that got in the way of a lure meant for a jewie. So as far as by-catch goes, then there’s not too much to be complaining about.
For me the awesome power of a big black jewie, hooked on the cast in less than 2 metres of water, pulling like a runaway freight-train across a shallow flat is a very adrenaline pumping fishing experience. What makes it also special is the time you put in to make it finally happen. Sure, the overall effort put in up north is really nothing compared to the poor dedicated southern mulloway fisho on a freezing night in the dead of winter. But then again we northerners never liked the cold anyway.
