Jacks are my poison through and through. They appeal from every level, be it the bull-at-a-gate hit, the violence of the fight and even the way their eyes follow you, as if they’re planning to attack while being unhooked and released. That said, jack fishing in waters in their southern range is never easy. Yet each year, as the days warm and water temps begin to rise with the coming of summer, my attention swings towards these, the most shockingly brutal of all our estuary species. Success comes with a one-eyed commitment and the ability to click into an automatic “pump-wind-pump-again” retrieve, irrespective of whether or not you fear for your rod!
Recently, in order to bolster the brood stock of Southern Cross University’s mangrove jack research program, my supervising…
