Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus )

*General Info*

Mulloway are one of the most highly sort after species here in South Australia. Not only are the fighting qualities excellent but they are a high fancied table fish for many people around the country.

They are an extremely challenging fish to find a lot of the time, let alone fight and land!...If you're not blessed with with a fair amount of patience ,id say mully's probably aren't going to be your thing. I guess this is what gives me the drive to keep chasing them as i definitely love the art of fishing for the sport and challenge.

If you have an inclination that you may want to chase mulloway the only way to try and learn them is to put in the hour’s. I’ve caught them at all stages of the tide, all moon phases but mostly targeted them from sunset onward’s. My general rule(moto) is to fish whenever you can ! regardless of whether someone tells you its not the best as I’ve even caught fish on dodge tides. Having said all this ,there are patterns you will observe if you spend enough time targeting them! and I’m not about to give all the secrets away ;). Only time and patience will reward you with consistent catches.

*Tactics*

Ok ,now for the interesting part. In my experience if you want to catch legal sized mully's consistently in estuaries and rivers ,then live bait is the only way to go.In South Australia preferred baits can be mullet, gar, tommies and trumpeters. From surf beaches, rigs and baits generally differ somewhat as livies take a pounding in the surf. Baits for surf tend to be big fillets of fish, squid and pilchards.

I generally use two snooded size 5/0 or 8/0 gamakatsu hooks in octopus style, which are extremely sharp and reliable, not to harsh on the hip pocket either. Obviously you need to adjust hook size according to size of the bait being presented.. Trick is to lightly pin the hooks through the live bait to keep it healthy and lively. Ill put up a post in the rigs section explaining methods i use to rig the live bait.

Generally it pays to present the live bait using the most natural presentation possible, No good anchoring you bait to the ground with a running sinker rig consisting of a big ball sinker. Not only does it not look good but increases the chances of crabs destroying your baits which can be a big problem during the warmer months. Overhead reels are my preference for chasing them but shimano baitrunner is a great spinning reel chasing mully's from the shore if you're not proficient using over head reels.

They're quite partial to lures also with hard bodied minnows, soft-plastic grubs/worms and fish all potential fish catchers.

A very well earned land based jewie capture! ————>

The fish went 16kg’s.